smugllama's news review
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Michael Moore interviewed Nicholas Berg for "Fahrenheit" (Salon.com)
Filmmaker Michael Moore filmed an interview with American Nicholas Berg in the course of producing his documentary film "Fahrenheit 9/11," before Berg was taken hostage and killed in Iraq, Moore confirmed to Salon in a statement Thursday. The 20 minutes of footage does not appear in the final version of "Fahrenheit 911," according to the statement. (sorry, just a teaser! not the full article)
Filmmaker Michael Moore filmed an interview with American Nicholas Berg in the course of producing his documentary film "Fahrenheit 9/11," before Berg was taken hostage and killed in Iraq, Moore confirmed to Salon in a statement Thursday. The 20 minutes of footage does not appear in the final version of "Fahrenheit 911," according to the statement. (sorry, just a teaser! not the full article)
Pending Draft Legislation Targeted for Spring 2005 (Congress.Org)
There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S 89 and HR 163) which will time the program's initiation so the draft can begin at early as Spring 2005 -- just after the 2004 presidential election. $28 million has been added to the 2004 Selective Service System (SSS) budget to prepare for a military draft that could start as early as June 15, 2005. Selective Service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005 that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for activation.
There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S 89 and HR 163) which will time the program's initiation so the draft can begin at early as Spring 2005 -- just after the 2004 presidential election. $28 million has been added to the 2004 Selective Service System (SSS) budget to prepare for a military draft that could start as early as June 15, 2005. Selective Service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005 that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for activation.
Drug causing GIs permanent brain damage (United Press International)
Six U.S. soldiers have been diagnosed by the military with permanent brain damage from an anti-malaria drug used in Iraq and Afghanistan, and health officials must reassess its safety, a U.S. senator said.
Six U.S. soldiers have been diagnosed by the military with permanent brain damage from an anti-malaria drug used in Iraq and Afghanistan, and health officials must reassess its safety, a U.S. senator said.
Monday, May 24, 2004
Iraqis lose right to sue troops over war crimes (The Observer)
"British and American troops are to be granted immunity from prosecution in Iraq after the crucial 30 June handover, undermining claims that the new Iraqi government will have 'full sovereignty' over the state."
"British and American troops are to be granted immunity from prosecution in Iraq after the crucial 30 June handover, undermining claims that the new Iraqi government will have 'full sovereignty' over the state."
Saturday, May 22, 2004
U.S. Charged With War Crimes - Court case against General Franks in Brussels (Information Clearing House)
WARNING: The video and pictures in this report contain images and descriptions, depicting the reality and horror of the U.S. - UK invasion of Iraq
WARNING: The video and pictures in this report contain images and descriptions, depicting the reality and horror of the U.S. - UK invasion of Iraq
Berg beheading: No way, say medical experts (Ritt Goldstein / Asia Times)
"According to a leading surgical authority and a noted forensic death expert, the video depicting the decapitation appears to have been staged."
"According to a leading surgical authority and a noted forensic death expert, the video depicting the decapitation appears to have been staged."
Military Punishes Abu Ghraib Key Witness (ABC News)
"A witness who told ABCNEWS he believed the military was covering up the extent of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison was today stripped of his security clearance and told he may face prosecution because his comments were "not in the national interest." Military intelligence analyst Sgt. Samuel Provance told ABCNEWS the sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib began as a technique ordered by military intelligence interrogators."
"A witness who told ABCNEWS he believed the military was covering up the extent of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison was today stripped of his security clearance and told he may face prosecution because his comments were "not in the national interest." Military intelligence analyst Sgt. Samuel Provance told ABCNEWS the sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib began as a technique ordered by military intelligence interrogators."
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Feds asking for blackboxvoting.org logfiles (George Howland Jr. / Seattle Weekly)
"The feds want to know who's been visiting the Web site of voting watchdog Bev Harris, and they're likely to get what they want."
"The feds want to know who's been visiting the Web site of voting watchdog Bev Harris, and they're likely to get what they want."
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and the Manchurian Candidate (Maureen Farrell / BuzzFlash.com)
"In 1950, the U.S. government established the first program to develop human mind control techniques. Known under a variety of codenames (most notably MK-ULTRA) throughout its 23 year history, this program was designed to exert such control, according to declassified documents, that an individual would do another's bidding, "against his will and even against such fundamental laws of nature such as self-preservation." 25 years later, the Rockefeller Commission uncovered CIA plans for "programmed assassins" and said that MK-ULTRA led to American citizens being drugged, kidnapped and tortured on American soil. In 1975, as this information was exposed, the government paid $750,000 restitution to Army biochemist Dr. Frank Olson's family, after admitting the CIA slipped Dr. Olson LSD days before his 1953 fall from a New York City building. When the Ford administration finally came clean, they promised they'd revealed everything. Yet key officials, including White House aides Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, pushed to continue to conceal information. "The family has learned that the Ford administration was keeping information from the family," the Baltimore Sun reported in 2002. "Among those who advocated keeping quiet were Dick Cheney and Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the vice president and defense secretary, the Olsons learned from memos and other papers received last year from the Gerald R. Ford Library."
"In 1950, the U.S. government established the first program to develop human mind control techniques. Known under a variety of codenames (most notably MK-ULTRA) throughout its 23 year history, this program was designed to exert such control, according to declassified documents, that an individual would do another's bidding, "against his will and even against such fundamental laws of nature such as self-preservation." 25 years later, the Rockefeller Commission uncovered CIA plans for "programmed assassins" and said that MK-ULTRA led to American citizens being drugged, kidnapped and tortured on American soil. In 1975, as this information was exposed, the government paid $750,000 restitution to Army biochemist Dr. Frank Olson's family, after admitting the CIA slipped Dr. Olson LSD days before his 1953 fall from a New York City building. When the Ford administration finally came clean, they promised they'd revealed everything. Yet key officials, including White House aides Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, pushed to continue to conceal information. "The family has learned that the Ford administration was keeping information from the family," the Baltimore Sun reported in 2002. "Among those who advocated keeping quiet were Dick Cheney and Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the vice president and defense secretary, the Olsons learned from memos and other papers received last year from the Gerald R. Ford Library."
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Genital Torture For Dummies / Hey, it's a war -- what did you expect, flowers and bunnies and hopscotch in the Baghdad streets? (Mark Morford / San Francisco Gate)
"And, really, what Bush-votin' flag-wavin' God-numbed patriot wants to hear that the U.S. is a world-class hypocrite, committing many of the same crimes and tortures, rapes and humiliations that Saddam himself did, in the very same prison? Who wants to hear that, in many ways, we've done no better by the Iraqi (or Afghan) people than their former leadership, and in some ways have made things far worse?"
"And, really, what Bush-votin' flag-wavin' God-numbed patriot wants to hear that the U.S. is a world-class hypocrite, committing many of the same crimes and tortures, rapes and humiliations that Saddam himself did, in the very same prison? Who wants to hear that, in many ways, we've done no better by the Iraqi (or Afghan) people than their former leadership, and in some ways have made things far worse?"
