ideological criminal

SUPERPOWER: The not-to-be-missed documentary

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 6 Aug 2010 | 10:41 am

"THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS": New Book from Global Research

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 30 Jul 2010 | 9:14 am

Obama Administration Considers Bypassing Congress on Immigration Reform

by Marcus Stern

The Obama administration, anticipating that Congress might not pass comprehensive immigration reform this year, is considering ways it could act without congressional approval to achieve many of the objectives of the initiative, including giving permanent resident status, or green cards, to large numbers of people in the country illegally.

The ideas were outlined in an unusually frank draft memo prepared for Alejandro N. Mayorkas, director of the federal agency that handles immigration benefits, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS). The memo lists ways the government could grant permanent resident status to tens of thousands of people and delay the deportation of others, potentially indefinitely.

"In the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, CIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations," said the memo, which was prepared by four senior officials from different branches of USCIS.

The 11-page document was made public Thursday by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who with six other senators wrote to Obama more than a month ago, asking for his assurance that rumors that some sort of reprieve was in the works for millions of illegal immigrants weren't true.

"The administration has failed to reassure us that the information we were hearing was inaccurate," Grassley said in a statement to ProPublica Thursday night. "This memo gives credence to our concerns that the administration will go to great lengths to circumvent Congress and unilaterally execute a back door amnesty plan."

The memo's release is certain to put the administration on the defensive with opponents of "comprehensive immigration reform" -- Washington code for putting many of the estimated 12 million people in the country illegally on a potential path to citizenship. It is also likely to make immigration an even hotter topic in this year's congressional elections, which have already been roiled by Arizona's controversial attempt to use state and local police to enforce federal immigration laws.

Christopher Bentley, a USCIS spokesman, said last night that the agency would not comment on details of the memo, which he described as an internal draft that "should not be equated with official action or policy of the Department...We continue to maintain that comprehensive bipartisan legislation, coupled with smart, effective enforcement, is the only solution to our nation's immigration challenges."

Bentley said that internal memos help the agency "do the thinking that leads to important changes; some of them are adopted and others are rejected" and that "nobody should mistake deliberation and exchange of ideas for final decisions."

"To be clear," he said in an e-mail, the Obama administration "will not grant deferred action or humanitarian parole to the nation's entire illegal immigrant population."

One of the memo's most controversial suggestions is wider use of "deferred action," the agency's discretion to indefinitely delay the deportation of otherwise deportable non-citizens. "This would permit individuals for whom relief may become available in the future to live and work in the U.S. without fear of removal," the memo said.

The memo acknowledges that granting deferred action to an unrestricted number of people "would likely be controversial, not to mention expensive." Instead, it suggests that this option be used for particular groups, such as the approximately 50,000 young people who would be allowed to stay in the country if Congress passed the Dream Act. That bill would provide a potential path to citizenship for qualifying young people who complete a college degree or two years of military service.

The memo also says that standards for "extreme hardship" cases could be eased so "many more spouses, sons and daughters of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents" could seek relief without fearing deportation.

In what would be a reversal of a position held by the agency's Office of General Counsel under previous administrations, the memo suggests granting green cards to large numbers of people currently in the country under Temporary Protected Status. That status typically is used to forestall deportation proceedings for large groups of undocumented foreign nationals when it would cause them hardship, such as sending them home in the wake of a major earthquake, hurricane or during a civil war.

Supporters of comprehensive immigration reform are certain to welcome any effort by the Obama administration to unilaterally open pathways to citizenship for many currently in the country illegally. But the draft is also sure to outrage immigration-restriction groups.

"The memo proposes 18 different ways for the Obama Administration to essentially eliminate our borders through regulatory fiat and in clear violation of the letter and the spirit of U.S. immigration laws, which Obama swore an oath to faithfully execute," said Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations for NumbersUSA, an organization that lobbies for tighter immigration laws and practices.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 29 Jul 2010 | 8:47 pm

Audit Notes: Obama, Labor Buster; BP Board's Blame; Google Pollution

The Washington Post had a good story last week looking at the striking disparities between autoworkers who were on the line before the crisis and those who started after unions agreed to slash wages for new hires. About half make $28 an hour or more, while the rest, the recently hired, make $14. And the "liberal" Obama administration,...

Source: CJR | 29 Jul 2010 | 6:24 pm

What's in a name? In a racist society, everything

A young Jewish Israeli woman and a young Palestinian Jerusalemite had consensual sex. Afterwards, the Jewish woman discovered that her partner was in fact not Jewish at all, but horror of horror, a Palestinian. But there was more, the Palestinian had called himself "Dudu," his nickname, but one most often used by Israeli Jews, and from this the young woman concluded she had been deliberately deceived and in fact raped. Richard Irvine comments for The Electronic Intifada.

Source: Electronic Intifada | 29 Jul 2010 | 6:14 pm

BP Defines Deviancy Down

The national press stuffs a big story today on a massive new oil spill in the Kalamazoo River. Size, of course, is all about context. And unfortunately for the Michiganders affected by it, it comes in the wake of the gargantuan BP oil spill in the Gulf, which dumped 94 million to 184 million gallons of crude into the...

Source: CJR | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:24 pm

Don't deny our rights: open letter to Mahmoud Abbas

No Palestinian institution or leader has ever accepted an exclusive Jewish claim to Palestine, which is irreconcilable with the internationally recognized rights of the Palestinian people. Our rights inhere in us as a people; they are not yours to do with as you please.

Source: Electronic Intifada | 29 Jul 2010 | 4:33 pm

Fox Faults On FOIA

Yesterday afternoon, Fox Business Network* seemed to have posted quite a scoop: Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act. The law, signed last week...

Source: CJR | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:01 pm

Admiral Allen: "Gas Seep is from the Rigel Gas Field" ... Did BP Accidentally Tap Into the Rigel Gas Field?

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:55 pm

Bringing a Big Story Home at The Omaha World-Herald

Most regional papers have relied on wire copy to tell the story of the 92,000 classified military documents released by WikiLeaks. The Omaha World-Herald, weekday circulation around 150,000, has been one of the few mid-sized outlets to supplement and advance the story with original reporting. On Tuesday, Matthew Hansen, the World-Herald’s military reporter, wrote a story that...

Source: CJR | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:09 pm

Citigroup to Pay $1 for Every $500 in Subprime Exposure It Hid

by Marian Wang

Citigroup has agreed to pay the SEC $75 million to settle charges that the bank hid exposure to more than $40 billion in subprime CDOs. (That works out to roughly $1 fine for every $500 worth of hidden exposure.) Read the full SEC complaint.

In what the New York Times called “an unusual move,” the SEC also charged one current and one former Citi executive for making the misstatements. Former CFO Gary Crittenden will pay $100,000 and Arthur Tildesley—formerly the head of investor relations—will pay $80,000. Neither Citi nor the execs admitted to any wrongdoing. 

According to the SEC enforcement director Robert Khuzami, Citigroup had boasted in 2007 “of superior risk management skills in reducing its subprime exposure to approximately $13 billion,” when in fact, “billions more in CDO and other subprime exposure sat on its books undisclosed to investors.”

“We are pleased that we have reached agreement with the SEC to put this matter concerning certain 2007 disclosures behind us, and that the SEC is not charging Citi or any individual with intentional or reckless misconduct," said Citigroup spokeswoman Shannon Bell.

As we have noted in our bailout tracker, Citi's subprime losses have been massive, and resulted in multiple taxpayer-financed bailouts—$45 billion overall.

Citi execs have in the past said they were "deeply sorry" for ... not predicting the market collapse. 

We’ve reported on some of Citi’s specific CDO dealings with a hedge fund called Magnetar, and some of the disclosure questions about those deals as well as others. For more on trouble Citi and others could be facing, check out our bank investigations cheat sheet.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 29 Jul 2010 | 2:08 pm

Q & A: Nevada Political Journalist Jon Ralston

In a state where the major newspapers are often highly partisan, Jon Ralston has been offering Nevadans some of the sharpest coverage of the U.S. Senate race between Harry Reid and Sharron Angle. Ralston, who writes a thrice-weekly column for The Las Vegas Sun and hosts the nightly TV news program Face to Face, spoke to CJR assistant editor Joel...

Source: CJR | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:52 pm

Rising Tensions on the Korean Peninsula: The Sinking of the Cheonan, Reviewing the Evidence.

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 11:34 am

Texas Officials: BP’s Lawyer Acknowledged Company Negligence

by Marian Wang

BP executives have repeatedly denied accusations that the disaster in the Gulf was a result of company negligence, but a letter to BP from Texas officials suggest that some within BP don’t entirely agree.

In a letter sent to BP last week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbot described a conversation in which BP lawyer Jack Lynch said that gross negligence was a possibility.

From the letter:

During a conference call with Gulf Coast attorneys general, BP General Counsel Jack Lynch acknowledged that gross negligence would be revealed as a cause of the explosion that led to the oil spill.

If you’re wondering whether the Texas governor just has it in for BP, remember that this is the same official who spoke at the Chamber of Commerce in May and warned against jumping to conclusions, “a knee-jerk reaction” to the spill, and suggested that the spill was “just an act of God.”

A BP spokesman told The Houston Chronicle — where we first noticed the questions about the letter — that the Texas governor and attorney general were wrong in the letter, and that “during the conference call, neither Jack Lynch nor any other BP representative stated that gross negligence would be revealed as the cause of [the] Deepwater Horizon tragedy.”

A finding of negligence would cost BP quite a bit. As we've noted, if gross negligence is found, the company could face penalties four times larger for violations of the Clean Water Act. It would also lose the argument for having its two well co-owners, Anadarko and MOEX Offshore, help foot the cleanup bill.

We've asked the Texas attorney general's office for details about that conference call in order to check Lynch's comments with other Gulf states, and will update when we hear back.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 29 Jul 2010 | 10:49 am

Karzai’s About-Face in the NYT

On Tuesday, a New York Times front page story, “Leaks Add to Pressure on White House Over Strategy,” followed up on reactions to the publication by WikiLeaks of 92,000 classified U.S. military documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan. Towards the end of the article, a reporter sought a response from Afghan president Hamid Karzai: While Pakistani officials...

Source: CJR | 29 Jul 2010 | 10:26 am

Mexican Elections: Oaxaca and Territory in Play

The elections of Sunday, July 4th, in 14 Mexican states can be seen as a struggle for Mexican territories by diverse power groups, including the drug cartels.

Source: FPIF Latest Content | 29 Jul 2010 | 10:20 am

The Opposite Game: All the Strangeness of Our American World in One Article

Have you ever thought about just how strange this country's version of normal truly is? Let me make my point with a single, hardly noticed Washington Post news story that's been on my mind for a while. It represents the sort of reporting that, in our world, zips by with next to no reaction, despite the true weirdness buried in it.

Source: FPIF Latest Content | 29 Jul 2010 | 10:06 am

Secrecy Industry Hits Home

Unchecked growth in intelligence agencies raises troubling questions and even affects how we interact with neighbors.

Source: FPIF Latest Content | 29 Jul 2010 | 9:47 am

Mercury News: Lobbyists As "Shadow Legislature" in CA

There's the "Civics Class Version" of “How Laws Are Created," in which, in brief, a legislator has an idea for a bill, oversees its drafting, seeks support from colleagues, and then enjoys a sense of pride upon the law's passage. And then there's the “Sacramento Version,” in which lobbyists play a starring role from conception to drafting to passage. A...

Source: CJR | 29 Jul 2010 | 9:44 am

Too Big Not To Organize

BOSTON--Through the blare of screeching feedback from portable translation headsets and microphones, unionized bank workers from Brazil, England, Chile, Germany, and Uruguay are encouraging American workers to undertake an unprecedented campaign against a common enemy: Grupo Santander, the global banking giant which last year took control of Sovereign Bank. The largest bank in the Euro-zone, where it is based, Santander is the world's eighth largest banking company by market capitalization. While the company is very good at generating profits around the world (it's the world's fourth largest bank by profits), this international meeting is focusing on something else: how the bank's new U.S. branches might become as unionized as branches in Europe and Latin America. Santander bank branches are on average 75-percent unionized outside the United States, according to UNI Global Union Finance Director Oliver Roethig because most other industrialized nations have unionized banking sectors. In the United States, however, less than 1 percent of all front-office bank workers are organized. In fact, the unionized janitors working for contractors that clean Sovereign Bank's headquarters in Boston, Mass., often make more than the bank tellers and personal bankers, whose average wage is $10-$12 dollars per hour, despite individually producing millions of…

Source: In These Times | 29 Jul 2010 | 9:24 am

Obama on The View (On Afghanistan, On Snooki)

For anyone, like me, who happens not to right now be watching (and/or Twittering about), President Obama on The View (taped yesterday, broadcasting now), the New York Times' Jackie Calmes has summarized it here. In part: Pressed to defend the military escalation in Afghanistan, in a week that began with the leak of documents detailing problems there through...

Source: CJR | 29 Jul 2010 | 9:14 am

Drilling Accountability Bill Would Regulate Fracturing Too

by Abrahm Lustgarten

Tucked inside the Senate bill aimed at cracking down on oil drillers after the Gulf spill is a long-sought measure to protect groundwater from natural gas drilling.

The bill, called The Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act, would require that drilling companies make public a complete list of chemicals injected underground in proprietary formulas to break up rock deep underground and extract natural gas, a process called hydraulic fracturing.

It would not, however, reverse the exemption that prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating the fracturing process like other forms of underground injection, another important regulatory change that was initially proposed in House and Senate bills last June along with the chemical disclosure.

That bill, called the Frac Act, was sponsored by Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who pushed for its inclusion in the accountability bill now being considered.

"Proper regulation is another essential element in protecting drinking water and public health. That is a battle that we still need to fight," Casey told ProPublica in an e-mail. But he emphasized that disclosing the chemical names "is an important step toward informing the public and building accountability for oil and gas companies."

A push for disclosure and stricter regulation of the fracturing process began in earnest last year after a series of articles by ProPublica reported more than a thousand cases of ground and surface water contamination in drilling areas where the process was being used. The articles examined drilling records in more than seven states, and found both a consistent pattern of water contamination in drilling areas, and a gap in scientific knowledge about the way hydraulic fracturing affects underground layers of rock and aquifers.

Problems were severe in Casey's home state, where fast-paced development of the Marcellus Shale natural gas deposit quickly led to dozens of reports of drinking water well contamination in places where hydraulic fracturing had been employed. Residents reported flammable tap water, and state investigations found that methane had seeped into water supplies underground as a result of the drilling activity.

Investigating the cause of such incidents has been difficult in part because the EPA does not have the jurisdiction to regulate fracturing the way it does other injection processes, and because the chemical makeup of the fracturing fluids has been guarded as a trade secret.

Several states, including New York, Colorado and Wyoming, have recently passed disclosure laws of their own, and industry representatives have begun to support the notion. But the language of the Senate bill is the most specific, and would apply to all of the states where oil and gas is produced.

The disclosure proposed today would still allow companies to withhold the exact recipes they use, meaning they wouldn't have to disclose the concentrations to the public. But they would -- in case of emergencies -- be required to share that information on a confidential basis with doctors and hospitals responding to an accident.

It's not clear how far the bill will get in the face of Republican opposition. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who added the disclosure component to the accountability bill, has said he hoped to bring the bill to a vote next week. Even if it passes, it will need to be reconciled with a House version that does not include the fracturing disclosure language.

Update: Politico notes that Reid may have added the disclosure language as a note to environmentalists, who have been upset that the Senate has moved away from a bill on global warming.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 29 Jul 2010 | 9:00 am

Review: 'The Bomb'

Howard Zinn's last book leaves us with words that bring together thought, action, and passion.

Source: FPIF Latest Content | 29 Jul 2010 | 8:53 am

Balkan Accession: Slow and Steady Progress

The European Union is gradually absorbing the Balkans, but it's far from a done deal.

Source: FPIF Latest Content | 29 Jul 2010 | 8:35 am

Insurance Companies Profit From Fallen Soldiers’ Funds

by Marian Wang

For the families of fallen soldiers, funds from their loved ones’ life insurance policies may provide little comfort for their loss, but it just adds insult to injury to learn that insurance companies have set the system up so they make a profit by holding onto payouts, using the funds to make more money, and pocketing most of the earnings.

According to an excellent investigation published by Bloomberg yesterday, that’s exactly what happens with “retained-asset accounts,” which have become “standard operating procedure” in the life insurance industry.

With these “retained-asset accounts,” instead of writing a check for a lump sum, insurers send beneficiaries something that resembles a checkbook and assures them that the money is in a secure, interest-earning account.

In reality, according to Bloomberg, the insurer holds onto the funds and uses them to earn investment income. Prudential, for instance, earned a 4.8 percent return on such funds in 2008, while paying beneficiaries far less interest. Here’s Bloomberg:

Both MetLife, which handles insurance for nonmilitary federal employees, and Prudential paid 0.5 percent interest in July to survivors of government workers and soldiers. That’s less than half of the rate available at some banks with accounts insured by the FDIC up to $250,000.

What’s more, the “checks” aren’t always accepted because the process for retailers to receive reimbursement is more complicated—the money isn’t pulled directly from a bank account because it needs to first be transferred from the insurer.

Though some states are looking into the matter, few states have rules on retained-asset accounts, and the Office of Veterans Affairs—which pays Prudential for life insurance for soldiers—has allowed the practice, according to Bloomberg.

Prudential, however, said it made the proper disclosures and argued that the retained-asset accounts are helpful for families.

“For some families, the account is the difference between earning interest on a large amount of money and letting it sit idle,” spokesman Bob DeFillippo told Bloomberg.

Government workers should also beware. The practice extends beyond the military, according to Bloomberg.

“They’ve kind of created a sort of shadow banking system,” said David Evans, author of the Bloomberg piece, in an interview available online. “There are now a million of these accounts that hold $28 billion of money that would’ve been paid out in the old days to survivors, and is now being held as a profit center for the life insurers.”

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 29 Jul 2010 | 8:22 am

Rethinking “Formerly Restricted Data”

Congress should eliminate the classification category known as “Formerly Restricted Data” in order to simplify and streamline classification policy, the Public Interest Declassification Board was told last week.

While most national security information (NSI) is classified by executive order, information related to nuclear weapons is classified under the Atomic Energy Act.  And such classified nuclear weapons information in turn falls into two categories:  Restricted Data (RD), which deals mainly with weapons design and production of nuclear material, and Formerly Restricted Data (FRD), which typically concerns the storage, maintenance and utilization of nuclear weapons.  (Despite its somewhat misleading name, FRD is still classified information and cannot be shared with uncleared persons.)

Incredibly, each component of this three-part classification system — NSI, RD, and FRD — has different criteria for classifying, handling, and declassifying information within its scope.  So, for example, RD can be declassified by the Secretary of Energy only when it poses no “undue risk.”  But FRD can be declassified only when doing so presents no “unreasonable risk,” and only by joint action of the Secretary of Energy and the Department of Defense. And so on.  When items from different classification categories are intermingled within the same document or records group, the processing of records for declassification all but grinds to a halt.

“The entire FRD classification category should be eliminated,” I told the Board (pdf), “because it adds needless complexity to an already baroque classification system, and it poses an unnecessary obstacle to the efficient functioning of the declassification process.”

In the past, policymakers have considered transferring FRD to the regular classification system, or partitioning FRD partly into RD and partly into NSI, but they decided against it. “The cost and effort to manage such a partition, the judgment that it was unlikely for Congress [to make the needed legislative changes], and the problems discovered at NARA [where some unmarked RD and FRD were found in declassified files] resulted in no changes in the FRD category,” said Andrew Weston-Dawkes, the Director of the Office of Classification at the Department of Energy, in a statement (pdf) to the Board.

But the “no change” approach has significant long-term costs of its own, because the current three-tiered classification system is a massive impediment to the efficient production, handling and ultimate declassification of classified government records.

“A workable classification system of the future will be simple in design, easy to implement and to correct, and modest in scale,” I suggested to the PIDB.  “The Formerly Restricted Data category is not consistent with that goal, and so it needs to go.”

Dr. William Burr of the National Security Archive and Dr. Robert S. Norris of the Natural Resources Defense Council described to the PIDB the historical importance of information currently withheld as FRD, the often irrational barriers to its disclosure, and the benefits of careful declassification of historically significant FRD.  Steve Henry of the Department of Defense said that the Pentagon is currently reviewing the possible declassification of historical nuclear weapons storage locations.

Source: Secrecy News | 29 Jul 2010 | 8:03 am

Senate Assists DoJ with Leak Investigation

In response to a request from the Department of Justice, the Senate yesterday authorized the Senate Intelligence Committee to cooperate with a pending investigation of an unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

“The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, acting jointly, are authorized to provide to the United States Department of Justice, under appropriate security procedures, copies of Committee documents sought in connection with a pending investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified national security information, and former and current employees of the Committee are authorized to testify in proceedings arising out of that investigation,” according to Senate Resolution 600 that was passed yesterday.

The target of the leak investigation was not specified, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said it involved “someone not connected with the committee.”

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence recently released a copy of Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) Number 700 on “Protection of National Intelligence” (pdf), which was issued on September 21, 2007.  Among other things, the Directive mandated the establishment of “fora for the identification and solution of issues affecting the protection of national intelligence and intelligence sources and methods.”

Source: Secrecy News | 29 Jul 2010 | 8:00 am

WSJ Looks at the Overdraft Bottom Feeders

The Wall Street Journal is terrific this morning to throw the spotlight on the seedy cottage industry that feeds off the overdraft-fee racket. Starting on the 15th, banks won't be able to charge their $35 overdraft fees (which are really 4500 percent short-term loans) to customers who haven't specifically asked to be charged $30 for overdrawing their accounts. Who...

Source: CJR | 29 Jul 2010 | 7:59 am

Senator: Secrecy Obscures Cyber Threats

“I believe we are suffering what is probably the biggest transfer of wealth through theft and piracy in the history of mankind,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), referring to the penetration and compromise of U.S. information systems by foreign nations and criminal entities.

In a statement on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Sen. Whitehouse described some of the findings of a classified Task Force that he chaired and that recently reported to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The defense of U.S. information networks “is the greatest unmet national security need facing the United States,” he said. “The intelligence community is keenly aware of the threat and is doing all it can within existing laws and authorities to counter it.  The bad news is the rest of our country–including the rest of the Federal Government–is not keeping pace with the threat.”

Part of the problem, he said, is that “threat information affecting the dot.gov and the dot.mil domains is largely classified–often very highly classified” and so “the public knows very little about the size and scope of the threat their Nation faces…. If they knew how vulnerable America’s critical infrastructure is and the national security risk that has resulted, they would demand action.  It is hard to legislate in a democracy when the public has been denied so much of the relevant information.”

Among several proposed responses that he described, he said “we must more clearly define the rules of engagement for covert action by our country against cyber-threats.  This is an especially sensitive subject and highly classified.  But for here, let me just say that the intelligence community and the Department of Defense must be in a position to provide the President with as many lawful options as possible to counter cyber-threats, and the executive branch must have the appropriate authorities, policies, and procedures for covert cyber-activities, including how to react in real time when the attack comes at the speed of light.  This all, of course, must be subject to very vigilant congressional oversight.”

More than 40 bills on cyber security are currently pending in Congress, Sen. Whitehouse noted.

Source: Secrecy News | 29 Jul 2010 | 7:58 am

End the Middle East Wars to Spur the US Economy

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 7:06 am

The End of (Military) History?

Source: American Empire Project | 29 Jul 2010 | 7:05 am

Cuba and the Rhetoric of Human Rights

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Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 6:48 am

U.S., NATO Allies Prepare New Invasion Of Somalia

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Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:58 am

At Local Level, Secrecy Industry Puts a Damper on Neighborliness

Unchecked growth in intelligence agencies even affects how those who live near them interact with neighbors.

Source: FPIF Latest Content | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:49 am

In Historic Vote, UN DeclaresWater a Fundamental Human Right

The United Nations General Assembly has declared for the first time that access to clean water and sanitation is a fundamental human right. In a historic vote Wednesday, 122 countries supported the resolution, and over forty countries abstained from voting, including the United States, Canada and several European and other industrialized countries. There were no votes against the resolution. We speak with longtime water justice activist, Maude Barlow. [includes rush transcript]

Source: Democracy Now! | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:45 am

Satire: Hans Blix Finds ‘No Evidence’ of British Iraq Inquiry

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:39 am

Mounting Tensions: China Conducts Military Drills in Response to Those of the US and South Korea

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:33 am

Patrick Cockburn on Missing Billions in Iraq and Soaring Cancer & Infant Mortality Rates in Fallujah

In Iraq, an official audit by the US Special Investigator for Iraq Reconstruction found that the Pentagon cannot account for almost $9 billion taken from Iraqi oil revenues between 2004 and 2007 for use in reconstruction. Meanwhile, a new medical study has found dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004. We speak with Patrick Cockburn, Middle East correspondent for the London Independent. [includes rush transcript]

Source: Democracy Now! | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:32 am

US to establish another "NATO" in Asia to Contain China

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:28 am

British Prime Minister Cameron Calls Gaza under Israel Blockade a ‘Prison Camp’

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:24 am

On Eve of Major Protests, Federal Judge Blocks Key Provisions of Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law

A federal judge in Phoenix blocked key provisions of Arizona’s notorious anti-immigrant law on Wednesday, hours before it was scheduled to take effect. US District Judge Susan Bolton ruled a partial injunction would apply to the portion of the law that requires police officers to stop and interrogate anyone they suspect is an undocumented immigrant. The law sparked mass protests across the country and a boycott of Arizona. We speak with Isabel Garcia, co-chair of the Tucson-based Coalition for Human Rights. [includes rush transcript]

Source: Democracy Now! | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:11 am

Headlines for July 29, 2010

• Federal Judge Blocks Part of Arizona Immigration Law
• US Seeks Access to More Internet Data Without Court Order
• House Reduction of Drug Sentencing Disparity
• EPA Blasted over Handling of Michigan Oil Spill
• Coast Guard's Role in Fighting BP Oil Rig Fire Scrutinized
• Texas Launches Probe of Toxic Release of BP Refinery in Texas City
• Local Afghan Media Outlets Paid to Run US Propaganda
• Pakistan Declares Day of Mourning After Plane Crash
• 2000-2009 Marked Warmest Decade on Record
• Israel Refuses to Pay Medical Bills for Emily Henochowicz
• Peace Activist Art Gish, 70, Dies
• Israel Demolishes Bedouin Village in Negev Desert

Source: Democracy Now! | 29 Jul 2010 | 5:00 am

Blair's undisclosed business dealings conflict with Quartet role

Tony Blair's relationship with one of the world's richest men poses a clear and significant conflict of interest with his duties as Quartet envoy. Adri Nieuwhof reports.

Source: Electronic Intifada | 29 Jul 2010 | 4:10 am

Groups urge Clinton to intervene in case of jailed rights defender

Madame Secretary, we respectfully request that your office investigate the arrest, unlawful treatment, and detention of Mr. Makhoul and use its considerable diplomatic influence to bring an end to his arbitrary detention and to ensure that Israel, a leading recipient of US military and economic aid, comply with its commitment under US law and international legal norms.

Source: Electronic Intifada | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:41 am

For the Strength of Rosie the Riveter, Make It in America

Rosie the Riveter defiantly rolls up her blue work shirt to show off a brawny bicep. She’s a symbol of American strength. She worked in a manufacturing job, one of millions that constructed the defense machine that won World War II for the Allies. She said, “We can do it.” And America did. Now, however, shuttered U.S. factories and off-shored manufacturing are sapping American strength. The nation has lost more than 40,000 manufacturing plants and one-third of its manufacturing jobs, nearly six million, over the past dozen years. China is on the verge of overtaking the U.S. in manufacturing output. And Americans know it. Late in April, 58 percent of 1,000 likely voters told pollsters they believed America’s economy no longer led the world. They also told pollsters they supported enacting a national manufacturing policy to promote resurgence of domestic production — a return to the days of a robust Rosie the Riveter and a country that could secure its independence with dynamic manufacturing capability. Democrats in Congress heard that message. They’ve created a program called “Make It in America.” They plan to pass a series of bills to create an environment in which both Americans and American manufacturers make…

Source: In These Times | 29 Jul 2010 | 3:00 am

Neoliberalism, Political Repression and the Rise of Mexico's Narco-State

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:56 am

The Political Spinning of the WikiLeaks Release: Anti-war Whistleblowing or War Propaganda?

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:47 am

The Practice of Neoliberalism: How Think Tanks, Foundations, Big Oil and the CIA Undermine Democracy

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:37 am

Audit Notes: Moody's Market, Revolving Door, Tables Turned on Zuck

Kevin Hall of McClatchy has a great scoop on Moody's CEO's suspiciously timed stock sales. In one case, CEO Ray McDaniel sold 100,000 shares of Moody's stock on the same day that the Securities and Exchange Commission notified Moody's that it was under investigation. The notice followed months of federal inquiries into Moody's business practices. McDaniel, who somehow still...

Source: CJR | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:13 pm

Testimony: Settler beats Palestinian shepherd

According to Khaled Najar, 57, on 1 July '10 he was grazing his flock on private Palestinian land in the southern Hebron Hills when a settler who left the Mitzpeh Ya'ir outpost assaulted him, beating him severely. Najar, who has been assaulted before in tgram Files\QuickTime\QTSystem\

Source: B'Tselem | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:00 pm

VIDEO: "Current Government Worse than Taliban": Report on Afghanistan

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:47 pm

Yglesias and McArdle Miss on Interchange Fees

Matt Yglesias is defending the interchange industry, which transfers money from the poor to the rich—all through hidden fees. Once you keep in mind the fact that the median household income in 2008 was slightly above $52,000 it’s not at all obvious to me that this is any kind of scam. Instead, it appears to be a classic positive...

Source: CJR | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:46 pm

What We Need is a “Slow News Movement”

Walter Shapiro over at Politics Daily considers how quickly the Shirley Sherrod hackjob spread, viruslike, from Breitbart to Fox News to CNN, and declares that we—editors, reporters, bloggers and readers—need to slow the heck down. Spurred on by the “P.T. Barnum media age…where he who dies with the most clicks wins,” mistakes are made, careers are threatened, and...

Source: CJR | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:22 pm

US “Sparked Russian Spy Sensation” in Wake of WikiLeaks Broadside

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:42 pm

Climate Weapons: More Than Just a Conspiracy Theory?

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:37 pm

A Decade of Declining Home Prices Ahead

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:13 pm

The other, other sultry spy

Three high-profile incidents in recent weeks have led senior Washington officials to claim national security in the United States is being undermined by people who don’t understand the need to keep secret certain information about how the nation defends itself. Yet the gravest threat to national security may have nothing to do with the Washington Post’s “Top Secret America” series, the whistleblower site Wikileaks or a dozen Russians working inside the country clandestinely as spies. The biggest risk we face of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands may come from an unpleasant combination of the intelligence community itself and the male libido. By now you’ve likely heard all about the beautiful femme fatale, Anna Chapman, one of several Russian nationals nabbed recently after a long FBI investigation and deported back home in exchange for four prisoners being held by Moscow under espionage charges. Among them it was Chapman who became a web phenomenon and inspired endless news stories when photos surfaced depicting her good looks. In recent days you may also have learned about another alleged Russian spy, Anna Fermanova, accused by authorities of trying to smuggle night-vision devices out of the country. With the two women serving as tabloid distractions, there’s less of a chance you’re familiar with the name Robin Sage. She’s largely been overlooked but may tell a deeper story about the vulnerability of our intelligence apparatus. A Facebook profile set up for the 25-year-old Sage contained similarly tempting photos. She claimed to be an MIT grad who worked as a “cyber threat analyst” at the Navy’s Network Warfare Command. One image featured her in a sexy bikini and thigh-high socks, while in another she gazed directly at the camera with a clear, exotic face and sensual eyes. Within just a few weeks time, she gathered 300 friends and connections online ranging from military personnel and security specialists to workers at defense contractors and intelligence agencies. At LinkedIn, she became connected to men who worked for a secret office that operates spy satellites and others serving the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Sage's ties included an intelligence official in the Marine Corps and top executives at the defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. She was invited to dinner and to apply for jobs. One asked that she speak at a security conference, and a NASA researcher sought her insight on a technical paper. “Almost all were seasoned security professionals. But Robin Sage did not exist,” wrote the Washington Times in one of the few mainstream stories done about her. A security consultant named Thomas Ryan created the fictional Robin Sage to show that with the rise of social-networking sites, it could be relatively easy to penetrate defense and intelligence circles. The photos used for Sage’s profile, it turns out, were pulled from a website of amateur pornography. To be fair, while Sage made a large number of connections, the FBI and CIA did not appear to be fooled. Across the Internet, multiple people figured out quickly that Robin Sage was bogus. Others she made contact with were initially skeptical and took simple steps to confirm Sage’s legitimacy before learning she wasn't legitimate at all. Still, “no central place was established for people to warn others about the scam, and tweets or other commentary questioning her authenticity didn’t stop others from connecting with her,” the Times reported. A Defense Department spokesman argued that any access to the web and e-mail services poses a threat, not just social-networking sites. “We should address the behavior, not abandon the tool.” Cues from her online presence should nonetheless have discouraged the remaining intel and security professionals from rushing to become her friend. The job title “cyber threat analyst” doesn’t exist at the Naval Network Warfare Command, and the 10 years of experience she listed would have made Sage a teenager when she joined the workforce. Simple Google searches show that “Robin Sage” is the name of a special-forces military exercise. According to the Times:

One soldier uploaded a picture of himself taken on patrol in Afghanistan containing embedded data revealing his exact location. A contractor with the [National Reconnaissance Office] who connected with her had misconfigured his profile so that it revealed answers to the security questions on his personal e-mail account. ‘This person had a critical role in the intelligence community,’ Ryan said. ‘He was connected to key people in other agencies.’ … [M]any other connections also inadvertently exposed personal data, including their home addresses and photos of their families. … [Ryan] added that he was surprised about the success of the effort, especially given that Ms. Sage’s profile was bristling with what should have been red flags.

In an interview with Computerworld, Ryan attributed the influence of Robin Sage to the fact that “she was an attractive girl. It definitely had to do with looks.” Of all the connections Sage made, 82 percent of them were with men. So how did the social-networking sites react? Ryan said Facebook shut down Sage’s profile and barred him from using the site again, while LinkedIn deleted her account. By then the damage was done, and Ryan planned to present his findings at a security conference this summer. Robin Sage wasn’t scheduled to attend. Here at Elevated Risk, we can’t help but wonder now if the FBI had to quietly dissuade colleagues in the intelligence and security communities from befriending Anna Chapman as their investigation of the Russian spy ring was underway. Flickr image courtesy hebedesign

Source: CIR: All New Content | 28 Jul 2010 | 1:00 pm

On Day 100 of the BP Disaster, U.S. Has Two New Spills to Deal With

by Marian Wang

It’s Day 100 of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf, and if you just read the New York Times and Washington Post headlines this morning, you might be feeling pretty hopeful that soon enough, you won’t have to think about oil spills for a while.

Not so fast. On Tuesday, another spill was detected in the Gulf—the result of a boat's colliding with an out-of-use wellhead in Barataria Bay. NBC reported that it was small in size, but near a marshy and ecologically sensitive area of Louisiana.

Officials said on Tuesday that the spill would likely be contained within the day, but when I called the Coast Guard this afternoon, I was told the well was still spewing oil and gas.

“Well control did arrive on the scene and are in the process of shutting that well right now,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Tom Atkeson told me. “I do not have an exact figure on the amount of gallons that have been spilled. It looks like most of it is natural gas.”

The protective measures that we’re now all-too-familiar with have also been put in place for this spill—safety zones around the site, and nearly 11,000 feet of boom.

Up in Michigan, The Detroit News reports that workers are still fighting what “could rank as the Midwest’s worst oil spill.” More than 800,000 gallons of oil spilled from a ruptured underground pipe and entered the Kalamazoo River. Residents had detected the smell of crude on Sunday evening, but no one knows how long the leak was happening, and there are still questions of whether the flow from the pipeline has been completely shut off.

Canada’s Enbridge pipeline company has pledged to clean up the spill, but told reporters it will take months.

Benzene—a carcinogenic constituent of crude oil also detected in the Gulf—has been detected in the air. The EPA said data haven't shown levels that are “immediately dangerous to human health and life,” but added, “That’s not to say we are confident that those levels are acceptable for long-term exposure.”

As many as 30 families have been relocated, and the cause is being investigated, according to the News.

Michigan’s governor, Jennifer Granholm, has called the response to the spill “anemic.” (And yes—there are photos, if you haven’t had your fill of oil-covered birds.)

This particular pipeline typically carries “about 8 million gallons of oil per day” from Indiana to Ontario, The Associated Press reported. With plans already in the works for another pipeline that would stretch from Canada to the Gulf, perhaps the EPA was wise—given our recent troubles—to slow down the approval process for this project just a tad.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 28 Jul 2010 | 12:44 pm

Postcard From...Nepal

The Maoists are on strike, the government falls: What's next for Nepal?

Source: FPIF Latest Content | 28 Jul 2010 | 12:25 pm

The Story Behind the Publication of WikiLeaks’s Afghanistan Logs

You wouldn’t be reading the coverage of the so-called Afghanistan logs—in The New York Times, Der Spiegel, and The Guardian—if Nick Davies, a senior contributor to the British paper, hadn’t tracked down WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Brussels one month ago. Davies’s interest had been piqued in mid-June when Bradley Manning, a junior army...

Source: CJR | 28 Jul 2010 | 12:18 pm

Americans Only Kind of Trust the Internet

The Center for the Digital Future at USC’s Annenberg School released their 2010 report on Friday, “Surveying the Digital Future,” and its findings reveal some interesting and contradictory feelings that Americans have about online content and the Internet in general. Not surprisingly, Internet usage has increased in each of the nine years that Annenberg has conducted their study....

Source: CJR | 28 Jul 2010 | 12:12 pm

Apple's Controlling Instincts Hit Time and SI

The Wall Street Journal's approach to charging the iPad has been the smartest of any of the media. The Journal app is free in the iTunes store, so you can download it and check it out. Even after a trial period is over, some of the stories remain free to read, just like on WSJ.com. But it encourages you to...

Source: CJR | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:57 am

Bedouin village razed in Negev as Israelis cheer on

Early morning on 27 July, Israeli bulldozers, flanked by helicopters and throngs of police, demolished the entire Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the northern Negev desert. Despite their land rights cases still pending in the court system, hundreds of al-Araqib villagers were instantly made homeless a month after Israeli police posted demolition orders.

Source: Electronic Intifada | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:51 am

Dutch Christian Zionists enjoy political clout

Even though they are supporting settlement activities that the Dutch government officially considers to be illegal, Christians for Israel and the Christian Friends of Israeli Communities enjoy a cordial relationship with some of the most powerful politicians in the Netherlands.

Source: Electronic Intifada | 28 Jul 2010 | 11:00 am

The WikiLeaks Documents Are NOT the Pentagon Papers 2.0

One reason the leak will not become Pentagon Papers 2.0 is that the contents tend to confirm, rather than contradict, news about Afghanistan.

Source: FPIF Latest Content | 28 Jul 2010 | 10:56 am

The ICJ Ruling on Kosovo

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 9:36 am

Briefing: Rwandan Elections and Implications for The Great Lakes Region

Let's call for a change in U.S. policy, from supporting strongmen to supporting strong institutions.

Source: FPIF Latest Content | 28 Jul 2010 | 9:16 am

Memo: Arlington Cemetery Plagued by Waste and Mismanagement

by Marian Wang

In a memo released on Tuesday, a Senate subcommittee disclosed that it has “obtained information suggesting that 4,900 to 6,600 graves may be unmarked, improperly marked, or mislabeled” on the maps at the historic Arlington National Cemetery. These problems, according to the memo, are “far more extensive than previously acknowledged.”

The Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight gave kudos to Salon.com for a series of articles about the cemetery’s mismanagement, and to whistleblowers whose concerns went largely ignored for years.

The waste and contract mismanagement at Arlington, the memo pointed out, started years ago:

More than ten years ago, the Army began the development of a new system to automate the management of burial operations at Arlington National Cemetery. Documents and information obtained by the Subcommittee show that a series of improper actions and errors have wasted millions of dollars and delayed implementation of a functioning system by years.

Despite spending between $5.5 million and $8 million to develop a better system, “Arlington National Cemetery still does not have a system that can accurately track graves and manage burial operations,” the memo reads.

There are 330,000 grave sites at the cemetery--a burial place of military veterans, Supreme Court justices, U.S. presidents, former slaves and Civil War soldiers. The cemetery is managed by the U.S. Army.

In a hearing last month, Army Secretary John McHugh testified that the Army officials overseeing the cemetery were ignorant of the problems, Salon noted.

According to The Washington Post, the Army has known about these problems for almost 20 years but has been unable to solve them. The Senate subcommittee also found that the Army—which had divided oversight of the cemetery among several Army organizations over the years—had failed to conduct “even the most basic oversight.”

The subcommittee has subpoenaed some cemetery officials, and they are scheduled to testify on Thursday.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 28 Jul 2010 | 9:10 am

Billionaires Run for the US Congress: Beware of America's Rich Political Saviors

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 8:40 am

Tracking BP Claims—Why We Did the Call-Out and What You Can Do To Help

by Quadia Muhammad

Earlier this month, Sasha Chavkin reported that although BP has repeatedly promised to “make things right,” the company has paid out less than a third of claims to date.

In this week’s podcast, Chavkin breaks down the $20 billion BP claims process, discusses the experiences of some Gulf-region claimants and explains we how are reaching out to readers to help measure the effectiveness of the claims process.

Chavkin is working with ProPublica’s director of online engagement, Amanda Michel, to develop the project.  If you are in the Gulf and are filing a claim with BP ProPublica wants to hear from you. Tell us your experience with the BP claims process here.

Stories related to this podcast:
• Mental Health Claims From Oil Spill Probably Won’t Be Paid
• New BP Data Shows Payments on Less Than a Third of Claims
• For Claims of Bodily Injury, No Payments from BP Yet 
• Many Spill Claims Remain Unpaid as BP Debates Escrow Account

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:59 am

WikiLeaks' Afghan War Diary

Wikileaks.org has done it again, publishing thousands of classified documents about the U.S. war in Afghanistan. The website provides a secure platform for whistle-blowers to deliver documents, videos and other electronic media while maintaining anonymity. Last March it released a video shot from a U.S. military helicopter over Baghdad, exposing the Army’s indiscriminate killing of at least 12 people, two of whom worked for the Reuters news agency. This week, WikiLeaks, along with three mainstream media partners—The New York Times, The Guardian of London and Der Spiegel in Germany—released 91,000 classified reports from the United States military in Afghanistan. The reports, mostly written by soldiers on the ground immediately after military actions, represent a true diary of the war from 2004 to 2009, detailing everything from the killing of civilians, including children, to the growing strength of the Taliban insurgency, to Pakistan’s support for the Taliban.

Read More

Source: Democracy Now! Blog | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:58 am

Can the Secrecy System Be Fixed?

The release of some 90,000 classified records on the Afghanistan War by Wikileaks is the largest single unauthorized disclosure of currently classified records that has ever taken place, and it naturally raises many questions about information security, the politics of disclosure, and the possible impact on the future conduct of the war in Afghanistan.

But among those questions is this:  Can the national security classification system be fixed before it breaks down altogether in a frenzy of uncontrolled leaks, renewed barriers against information dissemination, and a growing loss of confidence in the integrity of the system?

That the classification system needs fixing is beyond any doubt.

“I agree with you, sir,” Gen. James R. Clapper, Jr., told Sen. Ron Wyden at his DNI confirmation hearing last week, “we do overclassify.”

That makes it more or less unanimous.  What has always been less clear is just what to do about the problem.

In what may be the last opportunity to systematically correct classification policy and to place it on a sound footing, the Obama Administration has ordered all classifying agencies to perform a Fundamental Classification Guidance Review.  The purpose of the Review is to evaluate current classification policies based on “the broadest possible range of perspectives” and to eliminate obsolete or unnecessary classification requirements.  Executive Order 13526, section 1.9 directed that such reviews must be completed within the next two years.

“There is an executive order that we, the [intelligence] community, are in the process of gearing up on how to respond to this, because this is going to be a more systematized process, and a lot more discipline to it,” Gen. Clapper said.

“Having been involved in this, I will tell you my general philosophy is that we can be a lot more liberal, I think, about declassifying, and we should be,” Gen. Clapper said.

It is unclear at this point whether the Fundamental Review will be faithfully implemented by executive branch agencies, whether it will have the intended effect of sharply reducing the scope of the national security classification system, or whether the system itself is already beyond repair.

Source: Secrecy News | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:18 am

Can Whistleblowers Be Protected?

There are probably many reasons why people may become motivated to break ranks, to violate their non-disclosure agreements, and to disclose classified information to unauthorized persons.  One of the most compelling reasons for doing so is to expose perceived wrongdoing, i.e. to “blow the whistle.”

It obviously follows that the government has an interest in providing safe, secure and meaningful channels for government employees (and contractors) to report misconduct without feeling that they need to go outside the system to get a fair hearing for their concerns.  Unfortunately, would-be whistleblowers today cannot have much confidence in those official channels.

To the contrary, “most employees who reported disclosing wrongdoing or filing a grievance believe that they experienced negative repercussions for doing so,” according to a recent report to the President from the Merit Systems Protection Board.  See “Prohibited Personnel Practices—A Study Retrospective,” June 2010 (at page 16).

“Morale, organizational performance, and (ultimately) the public suffer unnecessarily when employees are reluctant to disclose wrongdoing or to seek redress for inequities in the workplace,” said the MSPB report, which did not specifically address whistleblowing involving classified information.

“Work remains to be done in creating a workplace where employees can raise concerns about organizational priorities, work processes, and personnel policies and decisions without fear of retaliation, and where managers can respond to such concerns openly and constructively,” the Board report said.

See, relatedly, “Whistleblowers have nowhere to turn to challenge retaliatory suspensions” by Mike McGraw, the Kansas City Star, July 24.

Source: Secrecy News | 28 Jul 2010 | 7:16 am

Disaster Aid or Aid Disaster?: Haitians' Thoughts on Foreign Assistance

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:46 am

Israel Trains German Pilots to Fly Drones in Afghanistan

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:37 am

Africa Calls upon Obama: Do not recognize Kagame’s Election

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:32 am

Israel's Shin Bet encouraged accused killer to assassinate Raed Salah

The arrest by Israel's internal security service, the Shin Bet, of an Israeli Jew accused of killing at least four Palestinians has thrown a rare light on the secret police, including attempts by one of its agents to enlist the accused to assassinate a Palestinian leader. Jonathan Cook reports.

Source: Electronic Intifada | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:15 am

The US Treasury Running on Fumes: The Obama regime has made War the Business of America

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 6:13 am

Conceding Failure of Pentagon Papers Critical to WikiLeaks' Success Ending War

The Vietnam War lasted four more years after the release of the Pentagon Papers.

Source: FPIF Latest Content | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:34 am

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange: "Transparent Government Tends to Produce Just Government"

We spend the hour with Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, talking about the biggest leak in US history: the release of more than 91,000 classified military records on the war in Afghanistan. As the Pentagon announces it is launching a criminal probe into who leaked the documents, Assange asks what about investigating the "war crimes" revealed in the leaked military records? He also talks about the media, why he isn’t coming to the US anytime soon, and what gives him hope. "What keeps us going is our sources. These are the people, presumably, who are inside these organizations, who want change," Assange says. "They are both heroic figures taking much greater risks than I ever do, and they are pushing and showing that they want change in, in fact, an extremely effective way." [includes rush transcript]

Source: Democracy Now! | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:11 am

Headlines for July 28, 2010

• House Votes to Fund Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
• Audit: Pentagon Can't Account for 95% of $9B of Iraq Reconstruction Funds
• BP Seeks $10 Billion Tax Break to Cover Spill Expenses
• 800,000 Gallons of Oil Spill in Michigan
• Major Protests Planned in Arizona over Anti-Immigrant Bill
• Nebraska City Suspends Anti-Immigrant Housing Bill
• NYC to Pay $7M Settlement in Sean Bell Shooting Case
• British PM: Gaza Is a "Prison Camp"
• US Backs More AU Troops in Somalia
• Hans Blix: US Refused to Accept Findings of UN Inspectors in Iraq
• Colombia Journalist to Be Allowed Entry into US
• Four Mexican Journalists Kidnapped
• Republicans Block Campaign Finance Law
• Massachusetts Legislature OKs Plan to Bypass Electoral College
• Groups: FBI Surveillance Program Invites Racial Profiling

Source: Democracy Now! | 28 Jul 2010 | 5:00 am

Russia, Afghanistan and Star Wars

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 4:59 am

Evolving Global Financial Crisis: The Dollar Should Head Down Again

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 4:40 am

The Noble, Criminal Western Democracies

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:46 am

Kosovo's Unilateral Declaration of Independence: World Court Demolishes International Law

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:09 am

Biting the Hand That Feeds

Early last year, even free market fundamentalists confessed that capitalism was in crisis. A Newsweek cover trumpeted, "We are all socialists now." Alas, the headline was mistaken: Government responses to the crisis did little to democratize economic power or challenge narrow market values, as socialism implies. The U.S. government had simply bailed out big finance with remarkably lenient conditions (and, even now, inadequate regulation) and had passed a large--but still insufficient--package of spending initiatives and tax cuts to keep the economy from collapsing. This government intervention saved capitalism from itself. So one might expect some humility and gratitude for the public sector from the titans of finance. You would be wrong. Instead, those same financial elites, from Europe to the United States, now oppose deficit spending to stimulate the global economy--rejecting the thinking of British economist John Maynard Keynes, let alone Marx. Capitalist elites are engaged in a frontal assault on government workers, on government regulation and on the social safety net. In other words, they are attacking social democratic institutions--the heart of the welfare state. In the United States they're often joined by right-wingers, from the "Patriot movement" to Glenn Beck, who attack government itself. The financial crisis has…

Source: In These Times | 28 Jul 2010 | 3:00 am

British politicians and media dismiss WikiLeaks details of Afghanistan war crimes

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:56 am

Congress ratifies Obama escalation of Afghanistan war

For more details, please click on the link to read the article.

Source: GlobalResearch.ca | 28 Jul 2010 | 2:52 am

Have You Filed a Claim With BP?

by Amanda Michel and Sasha Chavkin

Readers, we need your help. It’s time to examine the massive claims operation set up by BP for damages from the Gulf oil spill.

The gushing pipe has been capped.  More than 100,000 claims have been filed.  So far, BP has paid less than a third of the claims it has received, and spent a little over $200 million, about 1 percent of the $20 billion that it set aside in an escrow account to pay damages. In less than two weeks, an independent claims administrator appointed by President Barack Obama -- Kenneth Feinberg -- will take over the claims process from BP.  

We could take BP at its word that it will pay all “legitimate” claims, and trust the administration’s assurances that the people of the Gulf will be made whole.  We think it’s better to shine some sunlight on the process.  

That’s where you come in.

If you’ve filed a claim with BP, please share details of your experience with ProPublica’s reporters using this form. (This post is also available in Spanish and Vietnamese.) A reporter may follow up with you by phone, and we’ll make it easy for you to share documents and records with our newsroom.

If you haven’t filed a claim, you can help ProPublica find claimants by doing your own outreach – tweet this, post it to Facebook, send it out to a local listserv …

BP’s data show that it has returned more than half of submitted claims because they “lack enough information for BP to make a payment.”  In most of those cases, it has told people that they have to provide more documentation to prove that their claim is legitimate.

News reports have also spotlighted problems like translation difficulties between BP adjusters and Vietnamese fishermen working off the Louisiana coast. Some claims offices are hard to find. Bartenders, deckhands and other workers who earn their salaries in hard cash can’t easily document their earnings. As we have reported, repeated changes made to procedures for filing county claims have frustrated county officials.

These problems are real, but not easily put into perspective. When are people being told they need to send more documents?  Just how serious -- or trivial -- are the procedural  changes? Who has been paid, and who hasn’t?

Getting a handle on an operation this big and complex requires talking to more than a handful of people.  We want to cast a wide net to try to figure out which parts of the claims system are working and which ones aren’t, so we can add some accountability to the process.

If you’ve filed a claim with BP, share details with ProPublica’s reporters using this form.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 27 Jul 2010 | 7:00 pm

Tell Us About Your BP Claim

by Amanda Michel and Sasha Chavkin

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Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 27 Jul 2010 | 7:00 pm

¿Usted ha registrado una demanda con BP?

by Amanda Michel and Sasha Chavkin

Lectores, necesitamos su ayuda. Es hora de examinar la operación masiva de las demandas establecida por BP para los daños del derramamiento de crudo y gas en el Golfo de México.

La fuga petrolera ha sido tapada. Se han registrado más de 100.000 demandas. Hasta ahora, BP ha pagado menos que un tercio de las demandas que han recibido, y gastado un poco más de $200 millones, o sea cerca de 1 por ciento de los $20 mil millones del fondo en fideicomiso para pagar futuros daños. En menos de dos semanas, un administrador de demandas, independiente de BP y designado por presidente Barack Obama -- Kenneth Feinberg -- asumirá el control sobre el proceso de las demandas de BP.

Podríamos tomar BP en su palabra que pagará a todas las demandas “legítimas”, y confiarnos en los aseguramientos de la administración que ellos cumplirán con la gente del Golfo de México. Pensamos que es mejor enfocar la luz en el proceso.

Aquí es a donde usted figura.

Si usted ha registrado una demanda con BP, comparta por favor los detalles de su experiencia con los reporteros de ProPublica de esta manera.  (El formulario está en inglés) Puede ser que uno de nuestros reporteros se contacte con usted por el teléfono, y lo haremos fácil para que usted comparta documentos y expedientes con nuestra redacción.

Si usted no ha registrado una demanda, aún usted puede ayudar a ProPublica para encontrar a demandantes tras publicando este publicar en su cuenta Twitter, Facebook u otros registros locales. 

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 27 Jul 2010 | 7:00 pm

Đang khiếu nại về dầu tràn với BP?

by Amanda Michel and Sasha Chavkin

Xin các bạn đọc giúp chúng tôi.

Nếu bạn đã nộp đơn khiếu nại thiệt hại về sự dầu tràn của BP, xin vui lòng chia sẻ kinh nghiệm của bạn với các phóng viên của ProPublica bằng cách điền vào mẫu giấy này (bản tiếng Anh) Một phóng viên sẽ tiêp xúc với bạn bằng điện thoại, và mọi chia sẻ của bạn sẽ dễ dàng được chuyển đến phòng báo chí của chúng tôi.

Nếu bạn không nộp đơn khiếu nại, các bạn có thể gíúp ProPublica phổ biến lời yêu cầu này đến những nguời khiếu nại trên mạng (internet), trên Facebook, hay gửi đến các danh sách địa phương của bạn, v.v.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 27 Jul 2010 | 7:00 pm

ProPublica’s Unofficial Guide to BP Spill Claims

by Sasha Chavkin

This article was corrected on July 29, 2010.

The BP oil spill has caused massive economic damage to people along the Gulf Coast. To compensate these losses, BP has set up a huge, multistate operation to handle the more than 100,000 claims that it has received. For people who have filed claims, or are thinking of doing so in the future, this complex system has raised a lot of questions. We answer some of the most important questions about the claims systems below. Got other questions? Send them to Sasha Chavkin. Share details of your experience with ProPublica’s reporters using this simple form – we’re beginning to examine the claims process.

Who is managing the claims system?

So far, the claims system has been managed by BP. The company has hired contractors to handle the claims, and its primary contractor is the claims management firm ESIS, Inc. ESIS has two principal subcontractors: Worley Catastrophe Response, which is in charge of adjusting, and Innovation First Notice, which handles claims intake.

In August, the claims system will be taken over by Kenneth Feinberg, an independent administrator appointed by President Barack Obama. BP will pay Feinberg’s salary, but he reports neither to BP nor to the government. Feinberg will have wide discretion in setting the rules to determine who is eligible for payments. The money for the new system, known as the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, will be drawn from the $20 billion escrow account that BP has agreed to set aside to cover claims and other expenses.

How do I file a claim?

There are three ways you can file a claim. You can call BP’s toll-free number (1-800-440-0858), you can file online through BP’s online submission form, or you can go in person to one of BP’s claims offices that are set up across the Gulf region. You can find the location of the closest office here.

What kinds of damages can I get compensation for?

Kenneth Feinberg said that he has written a draft protocol for determining eligibility for claims, but it has not yet been completed or published. He said that his baseline will be federal and state liability law: if you would win a lawsuit against BP at either level, then you’re eligible. Feinberg said that he would sometimes go beyond this legal baseline in the interests of justice and fairness, but did not specify in what areas.

Currently, as an individual or a business, you are eligible for compensation for a number of different types of damage: property damage, net loss of profits and earning capacity, natural resource damage, removal and cleanup costs, loss of subsistence for fishermen and others who catch their food in the Gulf, and bodily injury. If you have experienced more than one type of damage, you should file one claim that includes all of the areas where you are seeking compensation, in order to avoid confusion and bureaucratic delays.

Government entities, like counties or states, are also entitled to compensation for the cost of increased public services and loss of government revenue. Government claims will be handled by BP directly rather than by Feinberg.

To date, BP has not made any payments for bodily injury claims or government requests for additional mental health services. Compensation for most damages is defined by the Oil Pollution Act, a 1990 law that requires BP to pay for the "removal costs and damages resulting from an incident,” but the act does not cover health-related damages. Feinberg has said that he will pay personal injury claims but probably will not pay mental health claims. BP said that it is still determining its policy on government requests for mental health services.

It is also unclear how claims for indirect damages will be handled, such as loss of property value not directly caused by oil damage, or declines in rentals in beachfront hotels where oil never reached the beach.

What will change when Kenneth Feinberg takes over the claims process from BP?

Feinberg has not yet provided official guidelines of how he will administer the claims fund, or set out any changes on policies such as requirements for documentation or types of damages that will be compensated. He has promised quicker and more substantial emergency payments, which he says will include six-month lump sum payments to ease economic hardship. Feinberg has also testified before a congressional committee that he will reduce the processing time to write checks for emergency payments to within two days of the approval of the claim. He will keep much of the same system – such as the claims offices and some of the contractors – that BP has used for responding to claims to date.

Has BP paid out all of the claims it has received?

As of July 27, BP’s claims statistics indicate that it has made payments on roughly 36,000 of 131,000 claims, or 27 percent of the total. Here is the breakdown of the status of claims submitted to BP:

Total Claims	131,000	100%
Claims With at Least One Payment	36,000	27%
Awaiting Documentation for First Payment	56,200	43%
Having Contact Difficulty	11,900	9%
Withdrawn, Erroneous, or Duplicate	4,700	4%
In Process, Evaluating for Payment	22,200	17%

The largest single category is people who are “Awaiting Documentation for First Payment,” which means that BP found that their claims were inadequately documented and requested that they provide further proof of damages before sending a check. Experts tell us that this proportion (43 percent of total claims) is not unusual for the early stages of a massive claims process, but it shows that providing documentation that is acceptable to BP has been a significant challenge for claimants so far. Providing documents has been a particular challenge for informal workers like deckhands and day laborers who are often paid in cash.

What documentation will I need to provide for my claim to be approved?

Currently, BP’s website describes the types of documentation that it requires for claims to be approved.

Claims for loss of income or net profits can be documented with tax records, trip tickets, wage loss statements, deposit slips, boat registrations or copies of your current fishing license. Claims that may require additional documentation are property damage, loss of rental income, economic loss for businesses, and bodily injury. All claims require valid photo ID to be approved.

As of July 27, 43 percent of claims were determined by BP to have insufficient documentation, and the company sent letters to these claimants stating that they needed to provide further evidence of the damage before they could get paid. Kenneth Feinberg will also require claims to be documented, but he testified to a congressional committee that he will “bend over backward to help anybody who claims lost wages or lost business in an all-cash business.” In these cases, Feinberg said he would also accept alternate documents,  such as letters from a boat captain, priest or town mayor.

Do I need a lawyer to file a claim?

No. Under both BP and Kenneth Feinberg, the claims process does not require an attorney. However, you are allowed to obtain legal representation if you wish, and BP says that it will treat claimants who are represented by an attorney the same as those who are not.

Feinberg said that he would also set up a pro bono program to provide free legal advice to people who are making claims, although this program has not yet started. There will also be staff in the claims offices set up by BP around the Gulf area who will be available to help prepare your claim.

How long will it take for my claim to be paid?

As of July 27, BP’s claims statistics showed an average wait of five days from “claim to paid” for individuals who have gotten checks, and nine days from claim to check for businesses.

However, this refers only to the people whose claims have been approved – only 27 percent of total claimants. BP has determined that more than half of claimants (52 percent) need to provide either better documentation of their claim or additional contact information in order for their payment to be approved. Data from the claims process and statements on BP’s website indicate that requests for more documentation are the most common reason that claims payments are delayed.

Does filing a claim mean giving up my right to sue for damages?

That depends on the type of claim that you file.

The monthly emergency payments that BP has been making do not require claimants to give up their right to sue. If you’ve been getting monthly payments for lost income, you can still file a claim or a lawsuit for additional or future losses, although the payments you’ve received will be counted in considering how much BP owes you. Kenneth Feinberg has said that he will also distribute six-month emergency payments in advance, which will not affect your right to sue either.

However, claims for a long-term settlement – payments that include projected future damages caused by the spill and are meant to cover all of your losses – require that you give up your chance to sue if you accept the money. This type of claim will not be considered until three months after the well is capped, and will erase all of BP’s liability to you when it is paid. You can still file a lawsuit if you submit a long-term settlement claim but aren’t satisfied with the offer.

What can I do if I don’t think the payment that I’m offered is fair?

You have the right to appeal decisions made by administrator Kenneth Feinberg, or to seek alternative remedies to the claims process if you are dissatisfied with its results entirely.

Within the claims process, you can appeal Feinberg’s decisions to a three-member panel that will be available to review claims that are denied and payments that you consider insufficient.

Outside the claims process, people seeking damages that are covered under the Oil Pollution Act – property damage, economic losses and cleanup costs – may appeal decisions by Feinberg to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. The Trust Fund contains $1 billion and is administered by the Coast Guard. If you’re dissatisfied with both Feinberg and the Trust Fund, you still retain the right to sue in court.

Claims in areas that aren’t covered by the Oil Pollution Act, such as bodily injury, cannot appeal to the Trust Fund for compensation. These claimants still can file a lawsuit and seek remedy in court if they aren’t satisfied with the offer from Feinberg.

Does the $20 billion fund cap the damages that BP will pay out?

No. The $20 billion fund does not put a cap on how much BP will pay out in damages. BP says that it will make payments from the fund as awarded by Kenneth Feinberg through the claims process, as ruled by the courts or as separately agreed upon by the company. BP has said that it will continue to make payments even if the $20 billion runs out.

This means that the fund will be used to pay for both the claims process and separate lawsuits and settlements – but that no one should lose the chance to get compensated if damages turn out to be worth more than $20 billion. The fund will operate for three years and you can file a claim at any point during that period.

Who is Kenneth Feinberg and what is his role as the fund’s administrator?

Kenneth Feinberg is the lawyer selected by President Obama to administer the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, which draws from the $20 billion fund created by BP to compensate damages from the oil spill. Feinberg will administer the fund independently of the government or BP, and he has broad authority to set the rules for who will be paid by the fund and how much they will receive.

Feinberg has a long record of administering funds for compensation of mass damages. He is best known for administering the 9/11 Fund, which compensated the survivors of those killed on 9/11 and those who were injured by the attacks. He has also supervised compensation funds for the Virginia Tech school massacre and Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange, and served as Treasury Department’s overseer of executive pay in companies that received money from the bailout.

Correction (7/29/2010): This article originally said that the $20 billion compensation fund created by BP was established to cover claims and known as the Gulf Coast Claims Facility . The fund in fact covers both claims and other expenses such as court judgments, and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility draws from the compensation fund.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 27 Jul 2010 | 7:00 pm

Israelis rally around officer convicted of killing unarmed Palestinian motorist

A decision by Israel's high court to double a 15-month jail term for a policeman who shot dead an unarmed Palestinian driver suspected of stealing a car has provoked denunciations from police commanders and government officials. Jonathan Cook reports.

Source: Electronic Intifada | 27 Jul 2010 | 1:30 pm

Hefty price tag for global war on terror tops $1 trillion

The cost to American taxpayers of fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has surpassed $1 trillion, but after adjusting for inflation, World War II continues to reach a far higher price at more than $4 trillion. A new report from the Congressional Research Service warns against too closely comparing armed conflicts the United States has engaged in, but it’s nonetheless a useful exercise to consider how the global war on terror figures into the nation’s history. The price tag of more recent wars from the latter half of the 20th century don’t come close to matching post-9/11 engagements, including Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf wars. The second Iraq War alone launched by George W. Bush has cost $46 billion more than Vietnam, according to the CRS report. As far as length of time goes, the Afghan War this year became the longest running in U.S. history. There are some things to consider when looking at the charts Elevated Risk has created below using the CRS numbers. One significant problem when looking at such costs may be that war-fighting technology is much more sophisticated and costly today. The Excalibur XM982 – a 155mm GPS-guided “fire-and-forget” projectile designed for the Army and Marine Corps – is perhaps a little smarter and pricier than your average Civil War cannon. It’s also important to note the size of the U.S. economy in the 19th century compared to today. The War of 1812 in constant dollars, i.e. adjusted for inflation, cost about $1.6 billion. But after measuring it as a percentage of the nation’s economic output, i.e. gross domestic product, in terms of the resources it consumed, the total comes to $300 billion today, which seems to go further in illustrating its impact. That’s why we chose to separately include the research service’s GDP figures. Staffers there, however, did not include GDP numbers for the Confederate side of the Civil War or the American Revolution, so they’re not contained in our chart. Additionally, prior to the Vietnam War, the Department of Defense didn’t attempt to calculate the actual cost of conflict beyond what amounts are normally appropriated by Congress for the day-to-day recruiting, paying, outfitting and training of personnel needed to maintain the nation's military forces. In other words, we're better now at understanding the price of defense during wartime as opposed to peacetime. And finally, the report notes that tallied costs cover military operations and not things that are more peripheral in nature or may accrue over time, such as assistance to allies, interest paid on money burrowed to finance wars and benefits afforded to veterans. Have a look at the CRS report yourself for more on these issues. warcostdashboard
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Profile of the Excalibur projectile from the U.S. Army’s 2010 Weapon Systems handbook. Click to enlarge CRS on the cost of military operations

Source: CIR: All New Content | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:30 pm

For BP and Hayward, Company Shake-Up Has a Silver Lining

by Marian Wang

BP announced today that it suffered what The Guardian is calling “one of the largest losses in British corporate history” — a $17 billion shortfall in the second quarter of 2010. It also announced a number of company shake-ups, including a plan to sell $30 billion in assets and the resignation of CEO Tony Hayward, which has finally been confirmed after much speculation.

But there’s a silver lining for the company.

The $17 billion loss is thanks to the company’s decision to set aside $32 billion to pay for the $3 billion in cleanup costs incurred to date, and $29 billion for future costs.  (That includes the $20 billion escrow fund for damages that President Barack Obama asked BP to set aside.)

MSNBC, however, pointed out that BP will be deducting this $32 billion from its tax bill, “reducing future contributions to U.S. tax coffers by almost $10 billion.” BP’s tax bill in the U.K. will also be reduced, the company told MSNBC.

According to the Financial Times, the tax deductions represent “a drop of more than a quarter in BP’s tax payments.” 

BP’s spokesman Tony Odone told MSNBC that the tax offsets are “just normal practice.”

“We will pay less in tax because we are earning less, as you would as an individual if you were earning less,” Odone told MSNBC. “We are going by U.S. laws, we’re following the accounting laws of the country. We are a business and we have shareholders we are responsible to.”

Normal practice or not, whatever BP saves in taxes is what the government will have to make up otherwise. And then there’s the matter of Hayward and his departure. His resignation goes into effect Oct. 1, but he won’t be leaving empty-handed:

Under the terms of his contract, BP is giving him a year’s salary of $1.6 million, plus benefits, and according to the BBC, he’ll also collect an immediate $930,000 in annual pension. He’ll also retain shares of BP that could eventually be worth millions more.  

BP said it plans to nominate Hayward for a position with TNK-BP, the company’s joint venture in Russia. He will be replaced by BP exec Robert Dudley, an American, who will become the company’s “first ever non-British chief executive,” according to The Associated Press.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 27 Jul 2010 | 11:55 am

Mental Health Claims From Oil Spill Probably Won’t Be Paid

by Sasha Chavkin

BP's $20 billion fund to compensate those hurt by the Gulf oil spill will probably turn down one controversial class of claims: those for mental health problems.

In little-noted testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on July 21, Kenneth Feinberg, the independent "claims czar" who will decide who gets compensated, said the fund was not likely to pay damages for mental illness and distress alleged to be caused by the spill.

"If you start compensating purely mental anguish without a physical injury -- anxiety, stress -- we'll be getting millions of claims from people watching television," Feinberg said. "You have to draw the line somewhere. I think it would be highly unlikely that we would compensate mental damage, alleged damage, without a signature physical injury as well."

Feinberg's policy will affect individuals and businesses with claims against BP, but not claims by the government. Claims by state and local governments for the costs of additional services will not be evaluated by Feinberg, and are handled directly by BP.

As we've reported, the Louisiana health department has warned of a looming mental health crisis in communities affected by the oil spill and is pressing BP to pay for its costs. On July 9, health commissioner Alan Levine wrote to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that state counseling teams were encountering "increases in anxiety, depression, stress, grief, excessive and earlier drinking and suicide ideation" following the disaster. BP has not yet responded to Louisiana's request that it pay $10 million to cover the costs of emergency mental health services.

BP spokeswoman Patricia Wright said that the calls for funding for mental health services -- which have also been submitted by Mississippi, Alabama and Florida -- have been requests rather than formal claims. She confirmed that the company has not yet responded to the requests.

While Feinberg's standard is separate from BP's policy on requests or possible claims by states, it shows that he is following the guidelines set by liability law. Tort law generally holds that mental health problems must be accompanied by a physical injury to merit compensation, David Owen, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, has told us.

However, Congress could direct Feinberg to expand the type of damages that his fund will cover. When Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D- Texas, pointedly asked him at the July 21 hearing if he would cover damages such as mental health if Congress passed a law requiring it, Feinberg replied that he would.

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 27 Jul 2010 | 10:53 am

BP’s Toxic Release in Texas City Under Investigation

by Marian Wang

Earlier this month, we reported that two weeks before BP’s blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the company’s refinery in Texas City, Texas, released 538,000 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air. The release, as we noted, went on for 40 days as the company tried to repair a key piece of equipment without stopping production.

According to The Daily News of Galveston, Texas, the state attorney general’s office is now investigating the release and looking closely at whether BP satisfied all reporting requirements.

The case is serious enough that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality referred the issue directly to the state attorney general, commission spokeswoman Andrea Morrow told the Daily News. This is not standard practice:

Normally, the environmental agency would file an enforcement citation called an agreed order that would outline the company’s violations, associated fines and orders on what processes or equipment needed corrective action. Only if the company disagreed with the TCEQ findings would the case be sent to the attorney general.

Because of the seriousness of the event and a pending attorney general’s lawsuit against BP for environmental violations, the case instead was filed directly with the attorney general Tuesday, Morrow said.

Last year, the Texas attorney general filed a civil suit against BP for “poor operating and maintenance practices” that resulted in 53 separate incidents of excessive emissions. The Texas City refinery is most infamous for a 2005 explosion that killed 15 people, but as we’ve reported, “four more workers have died in various accidents since then, and two chemical releases in 2007 sent more than 130 people to the hospital.”

Continued violations at the refinery—including failure to repair some of the very problems that led to the 2005 blast—prompted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to fine BP a record $87 million last year. That fine remains unpaid.

If the Texas attorney general finds grounds for another lawsuit over the 40-day toxic release, the charges would be not be rolled into the current litigation, but would be treated instead as a separate case, the Daily News reported.

BP spokesman Michael Marr wouldn’t comment on the litigation to the Daily News, but said, “We have implemented substantial enhancement in safety and environmental performance and reporting of emissions events at the Texas City refinery.”

Source: ProPublica: Articles and Investigations | 27 Jul 2010 | 9:22 am

Egypt remains complicit in Gaza siege

CAIRO (IPS) - Almost two months since Egypt announced it would reopen its Rafah border terminal with the Gaza Strip, operation of the crossing remains sorely limited. "Rafah has only been opened to passengers and some medical supplies," Hatem el-Buluk, journalist and resident of al-Arish, located some 40 kilometers west of Rafah, told IPS.

Source: Electronic Intifada | 27 Jul 2010 | 8:14 am

"WikiLeaks Is Not One Person...We Are All the Threat" - Hacker Magazine Editor Says WikiLeaks Is Bigger Than Julian Assange

We speak to Emmanuel Goldstein, a well-known figure in the hacker community and the editor of the magazine 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. He is also the organizer of the HOPE conference. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been slated to be the keynote speaker at the most recent conference. Federal agents were there waiting for him, but Assange didn’t show. [includes rush transcript]

Source: Democracy Now! | 27 Jul 2010 | 5:42 am