Street
preachers could face harsher penalties
Street preachers at general conference In Salt Lake City
may face stiffer penalties in the future under a bill
that has progressed to the House Floor with a low probability
of being considered unconstitutional. - BYU NewsNet
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Homeland
chief to 'waive all laws'?
Opposition to a homeland-security bill brought to the
floor of Congress yesterday largely has centered on fears
it would lead to a national ID, but some critics point
to an overlooked section that apparently gives the White
House sweeping powers to suspend laws for the purpose
of protecting U.S. borders. - WorldNetDaily.com
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IRS
Has $2 Billion In Old Tax Refunds
About 1.7 million people are missing out on more than
$2 billion in refunds for taxes they paid three years
ago. - Associated Press
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FBI
QUESTIONS PASTOR'S SERMON: MOUNT VERNON PREACHER SHOCKED
BY AGENTS' QUERIES
As the senior pastor at Southwest Christian Church in
Mount Vernon, Randy Steele thought he had encountered
nearly every circumstance a minister could face. - The
Southern Illinoisian
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How
to Protect Your Child from the Coming Draft
Document, document, document: How to
start a CO file for your child right now
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Pentagon
to Broadcast to Millions of US Homes
Moving on from its phase of embedding
journalists, or as some would say, "a policy of restricting
and controlling the flow of information," the Pentagon
will now produce and disseminate the news itself. It
will be beamed to the public at no charge.
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China
and the Final War for Resources
"What's coming will be more devastating
to the U.S. economy than any nuclear strike..." -- The
Asia Times
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How
Far Has Drug Lord Burrowed in Mexico?
Dangerous gangster's tentacles may
reach into highest level of government.
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9/11
Report Cites Many Warnings About Hijackings
In the months before the Sept. 11 attacks,
federal aviation officials reviewed dozens of intelligence
reports that warned about Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda,
some of which specifically discussed airline hijackings
and suicide operations, according to a previously undisclosed
report from the 9/11 commission.
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Sharon
to Release Palestinian Prisoners
Israel's prime minister signaled in
a newspaper interview Thursday that he's ready to release
large numbers of Palestinian prisoners involved in deadly
attacks - a key Palestinian demand - if militants hold
their fire during Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza
Strip this summer.
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North
Korea Announces It Has Nuclear Weapons
North Korea on Thursday announced for
the first time that it has nuclear weapons and rejected
moves to restart disarmament talks any time soon, saying
it needs the weapons as protection against an increasingly
hostile United States.
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HR
418- A National ID Bill Masquerading as Immigration Reform
Mr. Speaker:I rise in strong opposition
to HR 418, the REAL ID Act.This bill purports to make
us safer from terrorists who may sneak into the United
States, and from other illegal immigrants. While I agree
that these issues are of vital importance, this bill
will do very little to make us more secure.It will not
address our real vulnerabilities. It will, however,
make us much less free. In reality, this bill is a Trojan
horse -HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
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US
presses NATO to expand Iraq, Afghan forces
NATO defense chiefs gathered in Nice
Thursday for talks set to focus on boosting training
for Iraqi security forces and expanding a peacekeeping
force in Afghanistan, key fronts in the US war on terror.The
Nice talks are likely to discuss plans, again driven
by the United States, for an increasing integration
of the NATO-led ISAF force with the US Operation Enduring
Freedom (OEF)
|
Coming
to terms with Sistani
In the post-September 11 world, the
image of Sistani is not greatly welcomed by the West.
Yet nobody in the West, especially the average American,
knows who Ali al-Sistani really is.The Americans must
take Sistani very seriously. His cooperation in Iraq
is what prevents them from striking at the Shi'ite regime
in Iran, despite its nuclear program, or the Shi'ite
militia of Hezbollah in Lebanon, despite its continued
war with Israel -Sami Moubayed/Asia Times
|
Plans
to Create Senate Intelligence Oversight Panel Run Into
Snag
Congressional plans to improve oversight
of intelligence have hit another roadblock, with the
Senate having second thoughts about its decision in
October to create an Appropriations subcommittee on
intelligence.The subcommittee, approved as part of a
Senate resolution containing other oversight changes,
was designed to handle 80 percent of the $40 billion-plus
budget of the 15 agencies that make up the intelligence
community -Washington Post
|
Senate
Nears Revision of Class Actions Votes Virtually Guarantee
Legislation Backed by Bush, Business Will Win
President Bush and his business supporters
yesterday won a large and long-sought victory, with
a series of Senate votes that virtually guarantee enactment
of legislation restructuring rules for class-action
lawsuits.Consumer groups -- who warned that the new
rules will result in far fewer class-action cases being
heard by courts -- had pinned their hopes on amendments
they said would soften the impact of the Class Action
Fairness Act. But the amendments failed by wide margins
-Washington Post
|
US
Congress Debates Tougher Immigration Steps
The House of Representatives is considering
legislation to toughen U.S. laws dealing with immigration
and political asylum.Republican sponsors say the steps
are needed to protect against new terrorist attacks,
and are a necessary follow-up to steps taken since the
September 11, 2001 al-Qaida attacks on the United States.Called
the Real ID Act, the legislation is described by Republican
supporters in the House as a critical addition to homeland
security -VOA
|
Idealists
without illusions
When researchers from the Center for
Public Integrity decided to delve into the arcane world
of US government contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan,
they were met with the bureaucratic equivalent of stony
silence.After filing 73 Freedom of Information Act requests
and several lawsuits, Center investigators also discovered
that nearly one-third of the members of the influential
Defense Policy Board, a Pentagon advisory group, had
ties to companies that earned more than US$76 billion
in defense contracts in 2001 and 2002 -Katherine Stapp/Asia
Times
|
Kremlin-backed
deputies' silent protest
THE Russian Government survived a vote
of no confidence yesterday — but most of the Kremlin-controlled
majority boycotted the vote in protest at botched welfare
reforms.Some analysts said that the boycott was designed
to deflect criticism from Mr Putin and United Russia,
which hurried the law through parliament -London Times
UK
|
NATIONAL
ID II: THE DRIVE CONTINUES
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, Chairman
of the House Judiciary Committee, is intent on pushing
a measure through that would all but make the driver’s
license a national ID.The implication is that states
have the freedom to chose to comply with Federal regulations
or not, but those that choose the latter course will
find themselves under pressure from their own citizens
who must use the license as a de facto national ID -The
Conservative Voice
|
Rep.
Slaughter Calls on President Bush to Explain Emerging
White House Briefing Room Scandal
According to several credible reports,
"Mr. Gannon" has been repeatedly credentialed as a member
of the White House press corps by your office and has
been regularly called upon in White House press briefings
by your Press Secretary Scott McClellan, despite the
fact evidence shows that "Mr. Gannon" is a Republican
political operative, uses a false name, has phony or
questionable journalistic credentials, is known for
plagiarizing much of the "news" he reports, and according
to several web reports, may have ties to the promotion
of the prostitution of military personnel -Press Release
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Rice
Seeks to Define New Tone for US-EU Ties
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
seeks on Thursday to define a new tone for transatlantic
ties, offering compromise, common ground and a firm
stand on the Iran issue.The top U.S. diplomat completes
her courtship of Europe in Luxembourg, the current EU
presidency holder, at the end of a tour of eight nations
of the continent meant to smooth the way for President
Bush's trip to the area this month
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