News Updates from CLG
16 June 2015
Previous edition: Defeat for Obama on trade as Democrats vote against him. Before that: Texas Police Officer Eric Casebolt Resigns in Wake of Pool Video, which Yahoo relegated to the sp*m bin.
CIA torture appears to have broken spy agency rule on human experimentation --Timeline suggested CIA manipulated basic definitions of human experimentation to ensure the torture program proceeded - watchdog | 15 June 2015 | The Central Intelligence Agency had explicit guidelines for "human experimentation" - before, during and after its post-9/11 torture of terrorism detainees prisoners - that raise new questions about the limits on the agency's in-house and contracted medical research. Sections of a previously classified CIA document, made public by the Guardian on Monday, empower the agency's director to "approve, modify, or disapprove all proposals pertaining to human subject research". CIA director George Tenet approved abusive interrogation torture techniques, including waterboarding, designed by CIA contractor psychologists. He further instructed the agency's health personnel to oversee the brutal interrogations -- the beginning of years of controversy, still ongoing, about US torture as a violation of medical ethics.
'Human experimentation' and the CIA: read the previously classified document | 15 June 2015 | This document, updated over the years and still in effect at the Central Intelligence Agency, was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the ACLU and shared with the Guardian, which is publishing it for the first time. The guidelines for 'human experimentation' were still in effect during the lifespan of the agency's controversialinterrogation torture program.
Senators push to limit CIA torture techniques | 13 June 2015 | Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has joined a bipartisan team pushing to limit brutal interrogation torture techniques -- such as waterboarding, sleep deprivation and electric shock -- the CIA can use on detainees. McCain and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act in the Senate last week that would prohibit the use of so-called "enhanced interrogation" tactics and allow the CIA to only use techniques listed in the Army Field Manual, such as deception, the silent treatment and isolation. The amendment would make permanent an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in 2009 that limited interrogation techniques to those found in the Army Field Manual.
Moscow threat on US weapons: Russia says it will put arms on border if Washington stations tanks in Poland | 15 June 2015 | Russia last night warned that it will build up weaponry on the EU's borders if the US stations tanks and heavy arms in Poland. A Moscow defence ministry official [accurately] called the US plans reported in Washington 'the most aggressive step by the Pentagon and Nato since the Cold War'. General Yuri Yakubov said: 'Russia will have no option but to build up its forces and resources on the western strategic front.' Meanwhile in eastern Ukraine, pro-Putin separatist leader Denis Pushilin warned: 'We are actually on the brink of a big war right now.'
US considers storing heavy weapons for up to 5,000 US troops in Baltic and Eastern Europe - report | 13 June 2015 | The Pentagon is reportedly poised to store battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy equipment for up to 5,000 US troops in Eastern European and the Baltic countries. It says the move is to reassure its NATO allies. According to the New York Times citing American and allied officials, the equipment would be stored in each of the three Baltic nations: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, as well as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and possibly Hungary. The move, if it is approved, would be the most serious deployment of military hardware in Europe since the end of the Cold War; although the plan falls short of a permanent presence of boots on the ground. US bioterror false flags: Pentagon sent live anthrax to Japan in 2005 | 12 June 2015 | The Pentagon on Friday added Japan to a list of countries that received live anthrax samples from the U.S. military, while a news report said the lab that sent out the bacteria faced sanctions in 2007 for failing to kill specimens but was never fined. The sample that went to Japan was sent to the U.S. military base of Camp Zama about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Tokyo in 2005 and was destroyed in 2009 [It took four years to destroy it?], Defense Department spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said. Five countries outside the United States are now known to have received live anthrax samples: Australia, Canada, South Korea and Britain, as well as Japan.
'Inadvertent shipments' of Pentagon's live anthrax went to 66 labs in 19 states, D.C., and three foreign countries --U.S. base shipped live anthrax to 19 states plus D.C.: Pentagon | 08 June 2015 | The number of labs that received live anthrax samples from a U.S. military base in Utah [Dugway] has risen to 66 in 19 states, Washington and three foreign countries, the Pentagon said on Monday. Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Defense Department spokesman, said 31 people were receiving precautionary treatment for exposure to live anthrax, unchanged since the Pentagon's last update on the incident. Warren said one new state, Pennsylvania, had been added to the list of locations where live anthrax had been sent. In addition to the U.S. states and Washington, the pathogen was sent to South Korea, Canada and Australia.
Possible Pentagon destruction of evidence in NSA leak case probed | 15 June 2015 | Two government watchdog agencies are investigating whether the Pentagon inspector general destroyed evidence improperly during the high-profile leak investigation of former National Security Agency senior official Thomas Drake. The Justice Department acknowledged the probes in a letter last week to a federal magistrate judge who recently received the allegations from Drake's lawyers. The judge is determiningwhether she should take further action in a case that ended in 2011 when Drake pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. The Justice Department told the judge the inquiries are being conducted by a committee that looks into allegations of misconduct by inspectors general offices and the Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that investigates whistleblower complaints. Feds plot course to resume NSA spying | 08 June 2015 | The National Security Agency (NSA) is taking steps to turn its massive collection of Americans' phone records back on. After President Obama signed legislation last week to end privatize the controversial program, the Justice Department submitted a legal memorandum to the secretive federal court justifying authorization for the NSA collection for another six months, as the new law allows. "[T]he government respectfully submits that it may seek and this court may issue an order for the bulk production of tangible things" under the law, "as it did in...prior related dockets," the Justice Department said in its memo. The legal analysis was submitted on Tuesday, less than an hourafter the White House announced that the president had signed the USA Freedom Act into law. The memo was not revealed to the public until Monday.
UK agents 'moved over Snowden files' | 13 June 2015 | UK intelligence agents have been moved because Russia and China can read files stolen by a US whistleblower, a government source has told the BBC. The Sunday Times is reporting that Russia and China have cracked the encryption of the computer files. The government source told the BBC the countries "have information" that led to agents being moved but added there was "no evidence" any had been harmed. Edward Snowden, now in Russia, leaked intelligence data two years ago.
Al Qaida 'second-in-command' reportedly killed in U.S. drone strike in Yemen | 15 June 2015 | The leader of al Qaida's branch in war-torn Yemen, considered by U.S. intelligence officials to be the most serious terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike, according to local news reports and social media posts. Nasir al Wuhayshi, who carried a 10 million U.S. bounty on his head and once served as Osama bin Laden's secretary, also was (apparently, one of *hundreds* of) the 'second-in-command' of the terrorist network's global operations. If confirmed, his death would represent a setback to al Qaida [al-CIAduh], but one from which it would likely recover.
Saudi Arabia executes 100th prisoner in 6 months | 15 June 2015 | US top ally Saudi Arabia has beheaded a Syrian dr-g trafficker, rocketing the number of this year's executions in the Kingdom to 100. The execution took place on Monday in the northern region of Jawf. Syrian Ismael al-Tawm smuggled "a large amount of banned amph-tamine pills into the kingdom," the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement, as cited by AFP. The man was sentenced to death according to the nation's strict version of Sharia law. Public executions are mostly conducted by decapitating the accused with a sword.
Military: Armed civilian shot near gate at Arkansas air base | 15 June 2015 | A civilian armed with a rifle was shot and critically wounded after trying to enter Little Rock Air Force Base on Monday, though it wasn't immediately clear why the person was trying to enter the sprawling base, military officials and police said. The base issued a statement saying the civilian was hospitalized in critical condition, and that an injured bystander also was taken to the hospital. The base went on lockdown after the 9:15 a.m. shooting, and heavily armed security personnel sealed off access to the base, which is about 15 miles northeast of Little Rock.
Flight from Chicago to London diverted to Canadian military base | 14 June 2015 | A London-bound United Airlines flight from Chicago made an unexpected stop Friday night, providing some passengers with the layover from h-ll. According to data from the website FlightAware dot com, United 958 pulled a U-turn about three hours into the 7.5 hour flight moments after it began to cross the Atlantic Ocean beyond eastern edges of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada...About thirty minutes later, the 767-300 touched down at a Canadian military base in Goose Bay, Newfoundland, where passengers waited. And waited.
1 Dead, Multiple Injuries in Car Explosion in Sweden | 12 June 2015 | A car exploded Friday in a roundabout in the Swedish city of Goteborg, killing at least one person and leaving several people seriously injured, police and rescue officials said. Police said there were four or five people in the car when it exploded Friday afternoon in the district of Torslanda. The local rescue service said there were multiple injuries and possible fatalities.
South Korea confirms four new MERS cases, three more deaths | 16 June 2015 | South Korea on Tuesday reported three more fatalities from MERS, taking the country's death toll from the outbreak to 19 as four new cases were confirmed, the health ministry said. In what has become the largest outbreak of the virus outside Saudi Arabia, South Korea now has a total of 154 confirmed cases, with 17 cured and released from hospital. Of the 118 being treated, 16 are listed in unstable condition while most of the fatalities had pre-existing health problems. Three of four new cases were traced to Samsung Medical Centre, one of the two epicentres of the outbreak.
Burial of nuclear waste near Lake Huron subject of legal action | 12 June 2015 | A review panel decision in favour of a plan to bury dangerous nuclear waste near Lake Huron was illegal and unreasonable, a citizen's group argues in a new Federal Court application. In asking the court to set aside the decision, the group says the panel that approved the Ontario Power Generation proposal failed to consider Canada's international obligations, was biased, and violated the Canadian environmental rules. "The (panel) erred in failing to require OPG to fully study accidents and malfunctions that would result in adverse effects to human health and safety and to the environment," the application by Save our Saugeen Shores states.
You Can't Read the TPP and You Can't Find Out Who in Congress Has | 13 June 2015 | You probably know by now thatno normal Americans are allowed to see the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. It's classified. Even members of Congress can only read it by going to secure reading rooms in the basement of the Capitol. But here's what you might not know: you're not even allowed to know who in Congress has bothered to do this.
Why Does Obama Want This Trade Deal So Badly? | 11 June 2015 | ...More substantive objections to the Trans-Pacific Partnership have emerged from senators and representatives, who are now allowed, under strictly controlled conditions--in a guarded basement room under the Capitol, with no note-taking--to read drafts of the eight-hundred-page agreement. Senator Elizabeth Warren has criticized its provisions for "investor-state dispute settlement." I.S.D.S. allows corporations to sue governments over laws that may adversely affect "expected future profits." Environmental regulations, public-health measures, and even minimum-wage laws can be challenged under I.S.D.S., which is already a feature of many trade agreements. A Swedish power company is currently suing Germany, seeking 4.6 billion in damages, because of steps Germany is taking to phase out nuclear power, and Philip Morris is suing to prevent Uruguay and Australia from implementing policies to reduce smoking. Under the T.P.P., the international tribunals that would hear such cases would not, according to Warren, be staffed by judges but by a rotating cast of corporate lawyers.
Jeb Bush Announces GOP Presidential Campaign | 15 June 2015 | Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday, flipping the switch on an expansive campaign operation he has quietly been building for months. Mr. Bush, who becomes the third member of his family to seek the nation's highest office, spoke while delivering his official campaign speech at Miami-Dade College. Earlier, he officially kicked off his candidacy by filing paperwork to run for president with the Federal Election Commission.
Jeb Bush owns his own email server, active during time of brother's stolen election | 04 March 2015 | Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush owns the server that runs jeb at jeb dot org, the personal email account he used as governor to conduct official, political and personal business. Asked who controls the server that operates that email address, Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell responded: "He owns it." The server was housed in a state-owned office building during the years that Bush served as governor, from 1999 until early 2007. Using a personal email address and running the address on a personally owned can help protect emails from subpoenas and other legal actions. Privately, Democrats have been quick to point the finger at Bush for using a personal email as Clinton has come under scrutiny for not having a government email address when she was Secretary of State.
Hillary Clinton Urges New Era of Shared American Prosperity| 13 June 2015 | Hillary Rodham Clinton called for a new era of shared prosperity in America and told thousands at a presidential campaign rally Saturday that workers can trust her to fight for them. In the first major speech of her second campaign for president, Clinton portrayed herself as a fierce advocate for those left behind after the recession. Her campaign said her "tenacious fighter" message will form the foundation of the 2016 White House race. Prosecutors move to keep Hastert evidence secret | 12 June 2015 | Federal prosecutors on Friday petitioned a judge to keep secret their evidence in the case against former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R), who pleaded not guilty on Tuesdayto charges of trying to hide cash transactions and lying to the FBI about it. Hastert had allegedly paid close to 2 million to an individual to conceal past misconduct, which was reportedly sexual contact with a male student while he was a teacher and coach in the 1960s and 1970s. In a motion filed before Judge Thomas Durkin, who is hearing the Hastert case, prosecutors said sensitive information in the case should not be disseminated...Prosecutors asked the judge to restrict distribution of materials in the case to key defense personnel and witnesses, and asked that copies not be made without the court's permission. They also asked to submit under a court seal certain materials they said were sensitive.
Spokane NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal steps down | 15 June 2015 | Rachel Dolezal, the embattled president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP, stepped down from her post Monday amid questions surrounding her racial identity. In the lengthy statement, Dolezal mentioned some of the issues and concerns of the Spokane chapter, including police brutality, economic disenfranchisement and health inequities. She noted the dialogue had [insanely] shifted from the chapter's work to her personal identity.
NAACP Imposter Sued School Over Race Claims | 15 June 2015 | The NAACP official who today resigned in the face of evidence that she masqueraded as black once sued Howard University for denying her teaching posts and a scholarshipbecause she was a white woman, The Smoking Gun has learned... Rachel Dolezal, 37, who headed the NAACP's Spokane, Washington chapter, sued Howard for discrimination in 2002, the year she graduated from the historically black college with a Master of Fine Arts degree. [Her picture should become the emblem for "fraud" in the dictionary. --MDR]
Civil rights activist Rachel Dolezal misrepresented herself as black, claim parents | 12 June 2015 | The biological parents of a prominent civil rights activist in Washington state have claimed that she has been misrepresenting herself as a black woman when her heritage is white...Rachel Dolezal is an academic, chair of the office of the police ombudsman commission in the city of Spokane and president of its chapter of the African American civil rights organisation NAACP...Dolezal, a professor of Africana studies at Eastern Washington University, where she specialises in black studies and African American culture, has spoken out regularly on local media about racial justice...This week, however, in an interview with the local Spokane news channel KREM 2 News, Ruthanne and Larry Dolezal said their daughter's biological heritage was not African American but German and Czech, with traces of Native American ancestry.
Dallas shooting suspect dead after sniper gunfire hits armoured van --Suspect had fired several rounds at officers, ramming van into squad car before fleeing | 13 June 2015 | Authorities say they've confirmed the death of a man accused of opening fire on officers outside the Dallas police headquarters. Police said Saturday that the suspect was found dead inside his armoured van at a parking lot in suburban Hutchins, where he had been in an hours-long standoff with SWAT team officers. The suspect had claimed he had military-grade C4 explosives in the vehicle. Maj. Max Geron tweeted that a .50-calibre rifle was used to fire two shots into the van's engine block and one into the driver.
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