Has the Internet made our speech a little too free?You wouldn’t drink unfiltered water. So why are you reading unfiltered information?
Municipalities around the world spend a great deal of money and effort to make certain that their drinking water is safe. But the Internet provides no such protection to the billions of people who use it every day.
Anybody can write anything he or she wants to and post it on a blog or a Web site, or send it out as an e-mail message to anyone and everyone the writer knows. Anyon... (more)
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Rep. believes Democratic media reform bill may prevent possible 'fascist' takeover of US media Rep. Hinchey: New bill would break up media monopolies and restore fairness doctrine
Warns media reform critical to prevent 'end of democratic republic'
Concerns about monopolies and fears of a possible "fascist" takeover of the US media have prompted a Democratic congressman to push to restore the Fairness Doctrine, RAW STORY has learned.
"Media reform is the most important issue confronting our democratic republic and the people of our country," Re... (more)
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Tax Resister Ed Brown in His Own Words
Ed is 64 years old. His wife is a dentist. They have not filed or paid federal income taxes since 1997. Prosecutors claim (based upon arbitrary figures provided by the IRS) that the couple "owes" $625,000 in taxes. A jury agreed in court on Thursday the 18th. He expected federal agen... (more)
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Tax Fugitive Barricaded in House: 'Show Us the Law, and We'll Pay' The New Hampshire man who is holed up with armed supporters in his fortress-like house after being convicted of tax evasion says he just wants everyone to pay attention and obey the law.
"I want people to realize that there is no such thing as an obligation to pay income tax," said Edward Brown. "It has nothing to do with the Constitution."
A jury ruled Thursday that Brown and his wife, Elaine, plotted to hide their income and avoid taxes on Elaine Brown's income o... (more)
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Bush’s War on Perception: The bombing of the Golden MosqueWe’ve heard a lot about the bombing of Samarra’s Golden Mosque lately. Bush has brought it up twice in the last week alone. It’s a critical part of the administration’s rationale for the occupation of Iraq, so we can expect to be reminded of it nearly as often as 9-11.
The destruction of the Golden-dome Mosque took place in February 2005 and has been identified as the “catalyzing event” that plunged the country into sectarian violence. Tha... (more)
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U.S. plans envision broad attack on IranU.S. contingency planning for military action against Iran's nuclear program goes beyond limited strikes and would effectively unleash a war against the country, a former U.S. intelligence analyst said on Friday.
"I've seen some of the planning ... You're not talking about a surgical strike," said Wayne White, who was a top Middle East analyst for the State Department's bureau of intelligence and research until March 2005.
"You're talking ... (more)
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Diary of a Guantánamo AttorneyI fell into the world of Guantánamo in October 2005. The Chicago Council of Lawyers had organized a luncheon discussion on the legal issues surrounding the infamous detention facility at the U.S. naval base in eastern Cuba. I received an e-mail thanking me for my attendance (I should have gone but didn’t) and asking for volunteers to represent the nearly 200 known unrepresented prisoners at the base.
I had assumed that I was well-informed about our criminal president... (more)
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After Executing 150 People, Bush Names This Sunday 'Sanctity of Life' DayFrom VOA News:
President Bush has declared this Sunday to be "National Sanctity of Human Life Day."
His designation comes before the annual protest in Washington Monday of the Supreme Court's 1973 decision legalizing abortion.
Mr. Bush, who opposes abortion, said his proclamation is a reminder that all human life must be valued - "not just those considered healthy, wanted or convenient.... (more) 
FLASHBACK:
Bush mocks born-again execution victim
The National Review
In the week before [Karla Faye Tucker's] execution, Bush says, Bianca Jagger and a number of other protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask.
Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them," he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with [Tucker], though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' "
"What was her answer?" I wonder.
"Please," Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "don't kill me."
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Was Iraq War a 'Blunder' or Was It Treason?New Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), is calling President Bush's invasion of Iraq a "stark blunder" and says that his new scheme to send 21,500 more troops into the mess he created is just digging the hole deeper.
I wonder though.
It seems ever more likely to me that this whole mess was no blunder at all.
People are wont to attribute the whole thing to lack of intelligence on the president's part, and to hubris on the pa... (more)
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Ukraine PM's top aide shot dead in hunting 'accident'Police in Ukraine are investigating the death of one of the country's most powerful and controversial politicians in what is said to have been a hunting accident.
Yevgeny Kushnaryov, described as "the right-hand man" to Ukraine's pro-Russian Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych, died this week after being shot by one of his hunting companions.
Mr Kushnaryov and nine other hunters were stalking wild boar in the heavily wooded east of the country when tragedy struck. Po... (more)
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Public may not get a vote on EU Constitution, says No 10 The British public could be denied a say over the European Constitution, Downing Street has suggested.
Officials said it was not necessary to hold a referendum over the issue.
No 10's apparent surrender could mean Britain giving up voting powers and the right to veto crucial areas of EU policy.
The plans for a European super-state were put centre stage by Germany's Angela Merkel on Wednesday.
... (more)
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EU debating armed police to operate with impunity across bordersThe EU faces a damaging split over moves led by Germany to impose a radical law and order package. If enacted into European legislation, it would allow armed police to operate with impunity outside their home countries, privatised armed 'sky marshals' on civilian flights and a wide range of joint operations against alleged illegal migrants.
The Observer has obtained confidential documents showing that Germany also wants to permit undercover officers working wi... (more)
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Israeli troops kill peace activist’s 10-year old daughterIsraeli troops confronting protesters killed the 10-year old daughter of a Palestinian peace activist.
Abir Aramin had joined a protest Tuesday against Israel’s security barrier in the West Bank town of Anata. She was hit in the head by a stun grenade used by troops trying to end the protest, and died Friday. Police are investigating the incident.
Her father, Bassam Aramin, is a co-founder of Combatants for Peace, a group of Israelis and Palestinians who had c... (more)
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The Mysterious Case of the Federal Prosecutor FiringsJosh Marshall weighs in today with an interesting column in The Hill about the rash of federal prosecutors who have apparently been forced out by the Bush administration in recent weeks. Among the latest to go is San Diego US Attorney Carol Lam, whose office prosecuted the Randy "Duke" Cunningham bribery... (more)
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National ID to Be Privatized, Activist Says He Has DocsA program to standardize state driver's licenses to create a de facto national I.D. should use a third-party -- most likely a private contractor -- to verify that a person is eligible for a driver's license or state identification card, according to a document provided to 27B by a privacy activist. The document appears to be a portion of the rules that Homeland Security is proposing for the program, which are currently being evaluated by the Office of Management and Budget before they are presen... (more)
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Bomb Found on Truck Of Posada WitnessA pipe bomb found and later detonated by authorities during the weekend was attached to a pickup belonging to a key witness in the federal case against jailed Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles, law enforcement officials said Wednesday.
The FBI had publicly identified the owner of the truck only as a witness in a federal criminal case. But two federal officials said Wednesday the witness was Gilberto Abascal, whose testimony is key to the U.S. case charging Posada with lying duri... (more)
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Bush Vs. War Powers ActWhile everyone is focusing on the question of sending more troops in Iraq, there still exist some congressional laws and sections of the U.S. constitution that the Bush Administration has not altered, for example the War Powers Resolution and Article I, section 8, of the Constitution.
The Constitution states that only Congress has the power to declare war. However, since World War II, the United States has been involved in many major conflicts without resorting to a war declarati... (more)
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Genoa riot evidence 'disappears' Key evidence in the trial of 29 Italian police officers charged over violence during the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa has vanished, police say.
Two Molotov cocktails allegedly planted by police in a school used as a base by anti-globalisation protesters can no longer be found.
The bombs are seen as crucial physical evidence against many of the defendants in the high-profile trial.
The police are accused of brutality and perjury over a r... (more) FLASHBACK: FLASHBACK: Genoa police 'admit fabrication' |
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Pelosi Won't Block Funding to Stop Iraq Troop Surge, Even Though Situation Is a 'Tragedy'There may be a growing battle between Congress and the president over the Iraq War strategy, but new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she won't block funding for additional troops.
Pelosi's position, revealed in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer, came a day after a group of senators announced a bipartisan resolution condemning the Bush administration's plan to increase U.S. forces in Iraq by more than 20,000 troops.
... (more)
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Putin's Aide Says Recent Murders of Dissidents Are Plot Against RussiaA senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the murders of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and former spy Alexander Litvinenko are part of an attack by powerful groups against the head of state, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday.
Litvinenko’s death in London on November 23 from polonium poisoning followed the murder in Moscow of prominent journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Both were critics of Putin.
“Polonium-L... (more)
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U.S. 'knew damn well' Arar would be tortured: senatorAfter sitting through withering criticism in a Senate hearing, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has promised more information on the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian who ended up in a cell in Syria after U.S. officials grabbed him on a stopover in New York.
Gonzales was grilled relentlessly on Thursday by Senate judiciary committee chairman Patrick Leahy. Leahy said that when Arar — a citizen of both Canada and Syria travelling on a Canadian passpor... (more)
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Many old truths about abortion deserve to be heard againThe 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is coming up Monday, and after writing about abortion for years, it's a bit of a challenge to say something original about it this year.
So let's say a few old things that, because they are so well- established, seldom get mentioned. Here is what isn't news about abortion, as culled from www.secondlookproject.org, a Web site of the Pro-Life Secretariat of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops:
Most Americans tell pollsters - an... (more)
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Iraq rape soldier to plead guiltyA US soldier has agreed to plead guilty in the rape of a 14-year-old girl and the murder of her and her family in the Iraqi town of Mahmudiya last year.
Sgt Paul Cortez will no longer face the death penalty and has agreed to co-operate in the trials of three other soldiers, his lawyer said.
A fifth soldier, Spec James Barker, pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced to life in prison.
The case is one of several in which US troops are accused of ki... (more)
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