The Hollywood Liberal

Thirty nine people said to have ‘disappeared’ in US custody

Raw Story
Excerpt
Six human rights groups released Wednesday a list of 39 people they believe have been secretly imprisoned by the United States and whose whereabouts are unknown and called on the Bush administration to abandon secret detentions,” according to advance copy of an article to run in Thursday’s New York Times.

Files Reuters: “Six human rights groups urged the U.S. government on Thursday to name and explain the whereabouts of 39 people they said were believed to have been held in U.S. custody and “disappeared.” Excerpts follow.

HL’s Take
It’s like we are in Stalin’s Russia, or some of the criminal regimes in Central America. The United States was not supposed to work this way, that is until Hitler’s “nephew” George W. Bush took over. How long before roving death squad vans are patrolling the streets. If people are guilty of crimes why can’t the administration arrest them publically, and try them? Maybe, like the Guantanamo detainees, they have done nothing wrong, but been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we’ll never know. Imagine one day someone you know suddenly disappears, You wonder what happened, maybe even call the Police after awhile, eventually you assume they are dead, and they might as well be, as far as our criminal government is concerned.

3 seperate clips here. Rudy Guiliani saying he knew the World Trade Center would Collapse, Rudy lying to firemans relative about same, Rudy having a member of the press arrested for asking about it.

Environmentalist helps Abramoff probe

Seattle Post Intelligencer
Excerpt
WASHINGTON — The head of a Republican environmental advocacy group is set to plead guilty in the Jack Abramoff scandal and is cooperating with an FBI investigation into corruption involving Congress and the Bush administration, two people close to the case said Wednesday.

Italia Federici served as a go-between for Abramoff, the once-powerful lobbyist, and J. Steven Griles, the deputy interior secretary during President Bush’s first term, prosecutors said Wednesday in documents charging her with tax evasion and obstructing a Senate inquiry into the Abramoff scandal.

Under a deal with the Justice Department, she must cooperate with authorities and is identifying other criminal targets, one of the people said.

Authorities believe Federici may be able to provide information about former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, other Bush administration officials and the contacts that she, Abramoff and Griles cultivated in Congress, the second individual said.

HL’s Take
So a member of Bush’s cabinet may be the next to go down, this is the most corrupt administraion in US history, is there any member of Team Bush who is not guilty of offenses that should have them all in Prison? We already know that Rove, Cheney, and Bush himself belong in the Pen. Who else will go down before this whole pigf**k is finally over?

Bush Derails Attempts To End Illegal Wiretaps

ROGUEGOVERNMENT.COM
Excerpt

President Bush derailed a bill by the US Congress aimed at ending the Administration’s illegal wiretapping by not providing documents related to the President’s warrantless wiretapping program to the Senate Intelligence Committee that is currently reviewing the proposed legislation.

The US house of representatives last month passed the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 bill with an amendment that makes Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) the only means by which domestic electronic surveillance for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence information may be conducted.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Intelligence Committee, but the Committee is unable to proceed as the White House has repeatedly refused to hand over the relevant documents…

HL’s Take
Gee, if only there was a way for Congress to stop a rogue President from willfully breaking the law. I mean if The President is going to openly go against the Constitution right in front of the very people that are charged with making sure he doesn’t do things like that, you would think there might be a way for them to stop him. Oh yes now I remember there IS a way, it’s called Impeachment. I guess the Democrats don’t mind having sand kicked in their face, just like they don’t mind having elections stolen from them, and letting more people die in Iraq even though they could stop that too. It must suck being bullyed around all the time, well that is until they count their money one more time, that must take the sting out of it a little.

Air passengers face more delay as US plans fingerprinting

Guardian U.K.
Excerpt
Passengers travelling from the US will have to present their fingers as well as their passports at check-in from the end of next year, according to a senior security official. Virgin Atlantic, whose customers may be forced to endure longer waits in terminals, has vowed to oppose the move.

The arrangement is a source of tension, amid anger that American authorities are also seeking access to credit card details and email accounts. European flights have also been forced to turn around mid-air after US authorities barred certain passengers from entering the country, including Yusuf Islam, formerly known as the singer Cat Stevens. Mr Jackson said fingerprinting every passenger would not lead to long queues, even though airlines would have to do the job, and the procedure would be easy to integrate, over time, “into the business model of the industry”.

Justice Dept. Still Quietly Pushing False Voter Fraud Claims

Think Progress
Excerpt
Allegations of voter fraud have been a central component of the U.S. attorneys scandal, as the Bush administration has consistently ;pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates.

In 2005, Bradley Schlozman, then U.S. attorney in Missouri, brought a suit against Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D) ;charging that her state had failed to eliminate ineligible voters from registration rolls, an alleged violation of the National Voter Registration Act.

In April, after an 18-month lawsuit, Judge Nanette Laughrey of U.S. District Court in Missouri ruled in favor of Carnahan and sharply criticized the Justice Departments weak case:

But the DOJ refuses to relent, quietly continuing to push the debunked voter fraud allegations through the federal courts. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports today that the Department has announced that it will file for an appeal of Laughreys decision. In response, the exonerated Carnahan slammed the DOJs stubborness in repeatedly chasing after her:

Im very disappointed that the U.S. Department of Justice seems determined to continue this unnecessary and costly lawsuit by appealing the recent federal ruling, Carnahan said.

Blair prepares for massive retreat on Bush and climate change

Americablog
Excerpt
After all those years of firm support when everyone else thought Bush was embarking on a failed plan to invade Iraq and supporting Bush at every turn, Blair gets sand kicked in his face in front of the world. It seemed like only yesterday that Blair was hinting at positive change from Bush (oh, it was just yesterday) but as predicted, Bush hates change and simply does not negotiate with anyone. So in this final major meeting, Blair has proven himself once again to be a foolish poodle, played once again by Bush. How does someone with as much brainpower as Blair get manipulated so often by a guy like Bush?
In a setback to Mr Blair’s hopes of securing a major breakthrough on climate change before he leaves office, James Connaughton, the head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the US was “not prepared” to back the 50 per cent reduction proposed by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and summit host.