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empty
Supporter
| Joined: | Tue Jun 28th, 2005 |
| Location: | Plano, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 1834 |
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Posted: Mon Dec 19th, 2005 05:04 pm |
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zippo wrote: You know, if the frickin phone calls were international maybe its a gray area. Personally, I don't have an issue with it as long as one end is foreign.
If it is true that this is an issue over foreign calls only, I feel a slight bit relieved ...though it doesn't say that.
The quote that bothered me was;
The president had harsh words for those who revealed the program to the media, saying they acted improperly and illegally. The surveillance was first disclosed in Friday's New York Times.
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zippo
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Posted: Mon Dec 19th, 2005 04:09 pm |
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| You know, if the frickin phone calls were international maybe its a gray area. Personally, I don't have an issue with it as long as one end is foreign.
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Vero Steve
Supporter
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Posted: Mon Dec 19th, 2005 02:42 pm |
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| Remember Weasle Clinton didn't get impeached for getting the blow job, he got impeached for lying about it....................
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Dave
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Posted: Mon Dec 19th, 2005 02:22 pm |
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weasle wrote:
bullshit is right ,clinton gets a blow job and they try to impeach him , this clown violates a federal law and congress is gonna investigate?? GEEZE!!!.
"Try" Weasle? They did impeach him. Just didn't convict him. Clinton finished his term in office...
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weasle
Supporter
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Posted: Mon Dec 19th, 2005 02:13 pm |
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| bullshit is right ,clinton gets a blow job and they try to impeach him , this clown violates a federal law and congress is gonna investigate?? GEEZE!!!.
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Vero Steve
Supporter
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Posted: Mon Dec 19th, 2005 01:57 pm |
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| Package it anyway you what but it still smells like bullshit.........
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Randy in Pensacola
Supporter
| Joined: | Wed Nov 3rd, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 935 |
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Posted: Sun Dec 18th, 2005 03:53 am |
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marc wrote: Fuck Him...
Bush: Eavesdropping Helps Save U.S. Lives
didnt they say the same thing about the atomic bomb?????
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Dec 18th, 2005 01:49 am |
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One bright spot for the White House was a new poll showing that a strong majority of Americans oppose, as does Bush and most lawmakers, an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The AP-Ipsos poll found 57 percent of those surveyed said the U.S. military should stay until Iraq is stabilized.
Whew, just when we thought it was all gonna be bad news...
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Dec 18th, 2005 01:11 am |
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Fuck Him...
Bush: Eavesdropping Helps Save U.S. Lives
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
Facing angry criticism and challenges to his authority in Congress, President Bush on Saturday unapologetically defended his administration's right to conduct secret post-Sept. 11 spying in the United States as "critical to saving American lives."
Bush said congressional leaders had been briefed on the operation more than a dozen times. That included Democrats as well as Republicans in the House and Senate, a GOP lawmaker said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she had been told on several occasions that Bush had authorized unspecified activities by the National Security Agency, the nation's largest spy agency. She said she had expressed strong concerns at the time, and that Bush's statement Saturday "raises serious questions as to what the activities were and whether the activities were lawful."
Often appearing angry in an eight-minute address, the president made clear he has no intention of halting his authorizations of the monitoring activities and said public disclosure of the program by the news media had endangered Americans.
Bush's willingness to publicly acknowledge a highly classified spying program was a stunning development for a president known to dislike disclosure of even the most mundane inner workings of his White House. Just a day earlier he had refused to talk about it.
Since October 2001, the super-secret National Security Agency has eavesdropped on the international phone calls and e-mails of people inside the United States without court-approved warrants. Bush said steps like these would help fight terrorists like those who involved in the Sept. 11 plot.
"The activities I have authorized make it more likely that killers like these 9/11 hijackers will be identified and located in time," Bush said. "And the activities conducted under this authorization have helped detect and prevent possible terrorist attacks in the United States and abroad."
News of the program came at a particularly damaging and delicate time.
Already, the administration was under fire for allegedly operating secret prisons in Eastern Europe and shipping suspected terrorists to other countries for harsh interrogations.
The NSA program's existence surfaced as Bush was fighting to save the expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act, the domestic anti-terrorism law enacted after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Democrats and a few Republicans who say the law gives so much latitude to law enforcement officials that it threatens Americans' constitutional liberties succeeded Friday in stalling its renewal.
So Bush scrapped the version of his weekly radio address that he had already taped — on the recent elections in Iraq — and delivered a live speech from the Roosevelt Room in which he lashed out at the senators blocking the Patriot Act as irresponsible and confirmed the NSA program.
Bush said his authority to approve what he called a "vital tool in our war against the terrorists" came from his constitutional powers as commander in chief. He said that he has personally signed off on reauthorizations more than 30 times.
"The American people expect me to do everything in my power under our laws and Constitution to protect them and their civil liberties," Bush said. "And that is exactly what I will continue to do, so long as I'm the president of the United States."
James Bamford, author of two books on the NSA, said the program could be problematic because it bypasses a special court set up by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to authorize eavesdropping on suspected terrorists.
"I didn't hear him specify any legal right, except his right as president, which in a democracy doesn't make much sense," Bamford said in an interview. "Today, what Bush said is he went around the law, which is a violation of the law — which is illegal."
Retired Adm. Bobby Inman, who led the NSA from 1977 to 1981, said Bush's authorization of the eavesdropping would have been justified in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks "because at that point you couldn't get a court warrant unless you could show probable cause."
"Once the Patriot Act was in place, I am puzzled what was the need to continue outside the court," Inman added. But he said, "If the fact is valid that Congress was notified, there will be no consequences."
Susan Low Bloch, a professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University Law Center, said Bush was "taking a hugely expansive interpretation of the Constitution and the president's powers under the Constitution.
That view was echoed by congressional Democrats.
"I tell you, he's President George Bush, not King George Bush. This is not the system of government we have and that we fought for," Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., told The Associated Press.
Added Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), D-Vt.: "The Bush administration seems to believe it is above the law."
Bush defended the program as narrowly designed and used "consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution." He said it is employed only to intercept the international communications of people inside the U.S. who have been determined to have "a clear link" to al-Qaida or related terrorist organizations.
Government officials have refused to provide details, including defining the standards used to establish such a link or saying how many people are being monitored.
The program is reviewed every 45 days, using fresh threat assessments, legal reviews, and information from previous activities under the program, the president said. Intelligence officials involved in the monitoring receive extensive training in civil liberties, he said.
Bush said leaders in Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., told House Republicans that those informed were the top Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate and of each chamber's intelligence committees. "They've been through the whole thing," Hoekstra said.
The president had harsh words for those who revealed the program to the media, saying they acted improperly and illegally. The surveillance was first disclosed in Friday's New York Times.
"As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have," Bush said. "The unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk."
Bush has more to worry about on Capitol Hill than his difficulties with the Patriot Act. Lawmakers have begun challenging Bush on his Iraq policy, reflecting polling that shows half of the country is not behind him on the war.
On Sunday, the president was continuing his effort to reverse that by giving his fifth major speech in less than three weeks on Iraq.
One bright spot for the White House was a new poll showing that a strong majority of Americans oppose, as does Bush and most lawmakers, an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The AP-Ipsos poll found 57 percent of those surveyed said the U.S. military should stay until Iraq is stabilized.
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 08:28 pm |
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Animal Rights Activists To Face Criminal Charges
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles city attorney is preparing to file criminal conspiracy charges against a number of animal rights activists.
Rocky Delgadillo will announce the charges Friday afternoon.
Delgadillo's staff said the activists have been inciting followers by posting personal information about Department of Animal Services employees on their Web site.
The employees say they've been harrassed both at work and at home.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa this week fired the head of the Animal Services Department, something that had been advocated by animal rights activists.
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/5554211/detail.html
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Babe
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 07:27 pm |
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| Well now thats just mean! Leave some magic in a little kid's life! Jeeze!
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Randy in Pensacola
Supporter
| Joined: | Wed Nov 3rd, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 935 |
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 07:14 pm |
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First grade teacher tell students "There is no Santa"....I might have to go down a whoop her ass if she was my kids teacher......
http://www.wftv.com/news/5535703/detail.html?treets=orlc&tid=2655871537813&tml=orlc_strange&tmi=orlc_strange_1_10000212152005&ts=H
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 06:17 pm |
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Sounds like something the U.S. would do....
Official: Iraq Freed al-Zarqawi Last Year
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
Iraqi security forces caught terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the Fallujah area last year but released him because they didn't realize who he was, the deputy interior minister said in an interview broadcast Friday.
The deputy minister, Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, told the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., that Iraqi police "suspected this man" and detained him "along with other members" of his group.
"Afterward, he was released because we did not know the identity of this criminal," Kamal told LBC. The station said the remarks were made Wednesday but were aired Friday.
"He was not armed," Kamal said. "He was like any other citizen who was suspected. There was a simple interrogation with him and he was released."
Kamal said the incident occurred "about a year ago, approximately." U.S. forces overran Fallujah in November 2004, ending domination of the city by insurgents and Islamic extremists, including al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq group.
Thousands of people were rounded up after the city fell. Most were interrogated and released.
CNN broadcast a similar report late Thursday, but it could not be confirmed. But a U.S. official said in Washington that American intelligence believed it was plausible. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in compliance with office policy.
There have been several reports of missed opportunities to capture al-Zarqawi, including an April 28 raid by U.S. forces acting on a tip from local informants that militants reportedly including the terror leader were hiding in a hospital in Ramadi.
Al-Qaida in Iraq and Iraqi officials also denied reports last month that al-Zarqawi was among those killed in a raid and gunfight in the northern city of Mosul.
Al-Zarqawi, who has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Iraq along with the kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners, has a $25 million bounty on his head.
He also drew criticism in his home country of Jordan after his insurgent group claimed responsibility for the deadly Nov. 9 attacks on hotels in Amman.
Jordan sentenced al-Zarqawi to death in absentia for planning a terror plot that led to the 2002 killing of U.S. aid worker Laurence Foley. He has claimed responsibility for several other plots in Jordan, including a foiled April 2004 chemical attack.
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 06:03 pm |
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They should fry this bastard....Better yet have an accident and save the taxpayers some $$..
Death Penalty Sought in Pa. Slayings
By MARTHA RAFFAELE, Associated Press Writer
A prosecutor said Friday he will seek the death penalty against a man already accused of shooting to death his 14-year-old girlfriend's parents, and announced he does not plan to charge the girl.
Lancaster County District Attorney Don Totaro also added a firearms violation and sexual assault charge against 18-year-old David Ludwig.
Totaro said Ludwig's statements have exonerated Kara Beth Borden, and convinced investigators that she did not have any role in planning or carrying out the shooting deaths of her parents Michael and Cathryn inside their Lititz home on Nov. 14.
"There was no plan or no agreement to harm her parents in any way," Totaro said.
Ludwig said only that he had no questions Friday morning as he signed a court document waiving his preliminary hearing, meaning the charges against him were forwarded to county court.
Also Friday, prosecutors dropped the kidnapping charge against Ludwig, who fled the state with Kara before being captured in Indiana. He still also faces one count of reckless endangerment.
Totaro said the death penalty is justified because the killing occurred while perpetrating a felony, the firearms charge; that it created a great risk of harm to the couple's children, who were at home at the time; and that more than one person was killed.
Prosecutors said Ludwig killed the Bordens after an argument over his relationship with their daughter. He was captured the next day following a high-speed chase that ended with him crashing his parents' car.
Police said Ludwig dropped off the girl at her house at about 5:30 a.m. on the morning of the killings, after the teens had spent the night together at Ludwig's house.
After Ludwig didn't receive a text-message that she had made it into her room undetected, he called the girl on her cell phone and learned she had been caught by her parents and needed him to come over, according to the court filing.
He returned to the house at her request — sticking a Glock pistol in his waistband and grabbing some other weapons, authorities said. He had two guns and a hunting knife when he showed up at about 7 a.m., police said.
Michael Borden told Ludwig during a 30- to 45-minute talk that he could no longer see his daughter.
It was then, Ludwig allegedly told police, that he then decided to kill the couple. He shot Michael Borden from behind as he was going down the hallway to the front door, and then Cathryn Borden from six feet away as she was getting of out a chair, according to the court papers. Both were shot in the head.
Ludwig then started to drive away before turning back to look for the girl, who came running after him and got in the car, authorities said.
He told detectives that the girl wanted to "get as far away as possible, get married, and start a new life," according to court documents.
Totaro said Friday that the teens had discussed what they would do if the parents discovered their relationship.
"There was a plan if they were caught in the relationship, to possibly run away. That was the extent of the plan," Totaro said.
Ludwig's formal arraignment in Lancaster County Common Pleas Court was scheduled for Jan. 25.
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 05:57 pm |
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Senate Rejects Extension of Patriot Act
By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer 6 minutes ago
The Senate on Friday rejected attempts to reauthorize several provisions of the USA Patriot Act as infringing too much on Americans' privacy and liberty, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush administration and Republican leaders.
In a crucial vote early Friday, the bill's Senate supporters were not able to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a threatened filibuster by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and their allies. The final vote was 52-47.
President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Republicans congressional leaders had lobbied fiercely to make most of the expiring Patriot Act provisions permanent, and add new safeguards and expiration dates to the two most controversial parts: roving wiretaps and secret warrants for books, records and other items from businesses, hospitals and organizations such as libraries.
Feingold, Craig and other critics said that wasn't enough, and have called for the law to be extended in its present form so they can continue to try and add more civil liberties safeguards. But Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert have said they won't accept a short-term extension of the law.
If a compromise is not reached, the 16 Patriot Act provisions expire on Dec. 31.
Frist changed his vote at the last moment after seeing the critics would win. He decided to vote with the prevailing side so he could call for a new vote at any time. He immediately objected to an offer of a short term extension from Democrats, saying the House won't approve it and the president won't sign it.
"We have more to fear from terrorism than we do from this Patriot Act," Frist warned.
If the Patriot Act provisions expire, Republicans say they will place the blame on Democrats in next year's midterm elections. "In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without these vital tools for a single moment," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "The time for Democrats to stop standing in the way has come."
But the Patriot Act's critics got a boost from a New York Times report saying Bush authorized the National Security Agency to monitor the international phone calls and international e-mails of hundreds — perhaps thousands — of people inside the United States. Previously, the NSA typically limited its domestic surveillance to foreign embassies and missions and obtained court orders for such investigations.
"I don't want to hear again from the attorney general or anyone on this floor that this government has shown it can be trusted to use the power we give it with restraint and care," said Feingold, the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act in 2001.
"It is time to have some checks and balances in this country," shouted Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. "We are more American for doing that."
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Mikey
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 01:40 pm |
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marc wrote: Dave wrote: Planned Billboard Angers Arab-Americans
Billboard Designed To Prevent Terrorists From Getting Driver's Licenses.. Similar billboards are planned for New Mexico and Wisconsin
Tough Shit....... No one around here will be protesting...LOL...
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 01:24 pm |
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Dave wrote: Planned Billboard Angers Arab-Americans
Billboard Designed To Prevent Terrorists From Getting Driver's Licenses
Tough Shit.......
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 11:12 am |
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Something that finally makes sense...
Illinois Supreme Court Reverses $10B Verdict Against Philip Morris
Philip Morris Introduced 'Light' Cigarettes In 1971
POSTED: 8:21 am PST December 15, 2005
UPDATED: 1:22 pm PST December 15, 2005
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The Illinois Supreme Court threw out a $10 billion class-action lawsuit against Philip Morris USA on Thursday, ruling that the company that makes top-selling Marlboros and other brands did not defraud customers in its marketing of "light" cigarettes.
The court reversed the verdict and sent the case back to Madison County court with instruction to dismiss the matter.
A divided state Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Trade Commission specifically allowed companies to characterize their cigarettes as "light" and "low tar," so Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris unit did not improperly mislead customers about the health impacts of its cigarettes.
"If the FTC has specifically authorized the use of the terms .... PM USA (Philip Morris) may not be held liable under the Consumer Fraud Act, even if the terms might be deemed false, deceptive or misleading," Justice Rita Garman wrote for the majority.
Altria Group shares climbed $4.12, or 5.6 percent, to $77.85 in late morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, well above its previous 52-week high of $75.60.
The cigarette maker, which accounts for about half of the U.S. cigarette market, argued the case should never have been declared a class-action on behalf of some 1.1 million light cigarette smokers.
The smokers did not accuse the company of harming their health. They claimed Philip Morris knew when it introduced light cigarettes in 1971 that they were no healthier than regular cigarettes, but hid that information and the fact that light cigarettes actually had a more toxic form of tar.
Madison County Judge Nicholas Byron had agreed that Philip Morris misled customers into believing they were buying a less harmful cigarette. In March 2003, he ordered the company to pay $10.1 billion - $5 billion in compensatory damages, $3 billion in punitive damages and $2.1 billion in interest.
Two of the court's seven justices filed written dissents, and another, Chief Justice Robert Thomas, took no part in case because he had a professional relationship with an attorney in the case.
"The court's action today is predicated upon an erroneous and irresponsible interpretation of our Consumer Fraud Act," Justice Charles Freeman wrote in his dissent, arguing the ruling weakens state protections in favor of federal regulation.
Philip Morris appealed directly to the state Supreme Court two years ago, arguing the trial court's decision was flawed in several ways.
It insisted its cigarettes performed as advertised. Those advertisements met federal guidelines and never promised lights were less hazardous than other cigarettes, the company said.
Smokers who wanted lighter flavor and less tar and nicotine could get that through its light brand, prominent attorney and former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson argued for Philip Morris. It wasn't the company's fault if a smoker negated any health benefits by taking deeper puffs or smoking more cigarettes, the company contended.
Philip Morris also argued the case's class-action status should not have been granted because each person smoked differently and chose particular brands of cigarettes for different reasons. It said the plaintiffs failed to prove each customer covered in the class was defrauded.
The plaintiffs argued that requiring individual proof for every person would essentially eliminate class-action cases under state law.
* Opinion: Price v. Philip Morris
http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/tobacco/pricepm121505opn.html
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 11:07 am |
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And everyone thinks the US has some strange laws...
Brazilian City May Require Transvestite Bathrooms
City Has Nearly 28,000 Transvestites
POSTED: 12:33 pm PST December 15, 2005
UPDATED: 12:39 pm PST December 15, 2005
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- There's the men's room or the ladies' room -- and now something in between.
A Brazilian city council has passed a bill requiring restrooms for transvestites in places like night clubs, malls and movie theater.
The city, Nova Iguaca, on the outskirts of Rio, has nearly 28,000 transvestites.
The councilman who sponsored the measure said it's a real problem.
He added that men don't want them in their bathrooms and women don't feel comfortable with transvestites in the ladies' room, either.
Now, it's up to the mayor to decide whether to sign the alternative restroom bill into law.
http://www.nbc4.tv/travelgetaways/5544656/detail.html
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Fri Dec 16th, 2005 11:04 am |
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Planned Billboard Angers Arab-Americans
Billboard Designed To Prevent Terrorists From Getting Driver's Licenses
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A proposed billboard that would go up near the state Capitol in North Carolina is sparking controversy.
For the people who want to post it, it's a sign of the times. But an Arab-American organization says it's racist.
The group behind the billboard is trying to tighten standards for obtaining driver's licenses. The billboard shows a man wearing a traditional Arab head scarf, clutching a grenade and a North Carolina license. The message on the billboard reads: "Don't license terrorists, North Carolina."
A spokeswoman for the Arab American Institute said the ad sends the message that "Arabs are dangerous and violent people." She called the message "bigoted."
The president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License said, "We're not going after Arab-Americans. We're going after terrorists."
Similar billboards are planned for New Mexico and Wisconsin.
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