White House bypasses
Constitutional checks and balances
Friday, November 16, 2001
The New York Times
LOGIN: unknownnews
PASSWORD: unknown
----
The longer Americans remain fearful,
the more your leaders can 'accomplish'
Cheney, in hiding, warns of
massive attack on America
Friday, November 16, 2001
United Press International
via United States dotcom
----
It's time to ask the toughest question of all
Where was Spiderman on September 11?
Friday, November 16, 2001
Boston Phoenix
----
Per Bush's request,
EU passes internet spying bill
Friday, November 16, 2001
The Guardian (London, UK)
----
U.S. steps up seizings of unproven 'terror' assets
Friday, November 16, 2001
Middle East Times
Thanks, Noe
----"The new executive order [in September] gave us more authority to act against individuals, against organizations that are associated with these terrorist groups, and against banks that facilitate the flow of funds for them," U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher declared.
----The US has annointed itself the supreme force of justice, and is using terrorism as an excuse to freeze the assets of anyone, including legitimate political parties and resistance groups, who don't 'properly' fulfill our democratic vision.
Closer look at new plan for
trying suspected terrorists
Friday, November 16, 2001
The New York Times
LOGIN: unknownnews
PASSWORD: unknown
----
Remember to be afraid, always
Almost-ready-to-blow nuclear bomb kit found in Osama bin Laden's Kabul headquarters
Friday, November 16, 2001
London Times
Thanks, Zvo
By the new legal definition,
You might be a terrorist
Friday, November 16, 2001
Lew Rockwell dotcom
----
America's disgraceful history of military "trials"
Friday, November 16, 2001
LewRockwell dotcom
----
Another grand American military trial of note
Friday, November 16, 2001
Abraham Lincoln Research Site
----
With all compassion for the innocent victims of the attacks on New York, it has to be said that, of all countries, the US cannot be described as innocent. It has a long history of involvement in violent, illegal and often clandestine political actions in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with accompanying personal tragedies of death, disappearances, torture, imprisonment and exile.
Friday, November 16, 2001
Le Monde
Thanks, Gareth
----
Sheriff's Christmas card celebrates
true meaning of Xmas
Friday, November 16, 2001
Raleigh News and Observer
Thanks, Heather G.
Visit the sheriff's website!
Whiff of Florida in San Francisco
Friday, November 16, 2001
Online Journal
Thanks, Ed H.
----Word spread that the Department of Elections had moved 5,500 absentee ballots to an auditorium across the street from City Hall, where vote counting is normally conducted. Jim Stearns, a consultant on the public power campaign, reported seeing two men walking off with bankers' boxes full of ballots. Said Stearns, a witness to prior San Francisco election scandals, "We've seen close elections in this city turned around by ballots that were counted later after being taken to other locations."
----Members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and public power supporters sought out and confronted Tammy Haygood, the San Francisco elections chief, demanding an explanation.
----In a tap dancing routine worthy of Fred Astaire, Haygood at first stated that there was an anthrax scare. She later contradicted herself with a statement that anthrax was "not a specific concern." Later, she said it was "partially at issue." Her third conflicting explanation was that she had wanted the absentee ballots opened at a different location "all along" in expectation of an anthrax problem, but that the ballots were under tight security, and that the counting process was open to observers.
Threat kills site mocking county officials
County letter targets lampoon website
Friday, November 16, 2001
Las Vegas Review-Journal
----
William Safire wakes from a long intellectual nap
Bush seizing dictatorial power
Friday, November 16, 2001
The New York Times
LOGIN: unknownnews
PASSWORD: unknown
Thanks, J, John C. and/or Ed H.
----
Security panel seeks national I/D cards
Friday, November 16, 2001
Associated Press
via Yahoo News
----
Biblical beating kills girl
Friday, November 16, 2001
Chicago Sun-Times
Thanks, Tyler D.
----
Christopher Hitchins
Ha ha ha to the pacifists!
Friday, November 16, 2001
The Guardian (London, UK)
----
Herd mourns death of
seven elephants in train mishap
Friday, November 16, 2001
Indo-Asian News Service
via Yahoo News
Thanks, Zvo
----
The nation is engaged in a historic and vital debate these days: how much liberty must we sacrifice to attain security in the wake of the September 11 hijackings and subsequent anthrax attacks? In the name of security, Attorney General John Ashcroft's Department of Justice has implemented procedures, apparently without much criticism or resistance, for carrying out actions such as secret arrests, indeterminate detentions, and, more recently, eavesdropping on communications between arrestees and their lawyers without a court order. But he's failed to propose the one initiative that would substantially increase liberty and public safety, and would do so almost instantly: ending the war on drugs.
Friday, November 16, 2001
Boston Phoenix
----
Twenty questions
Islam 101
Friday, November 16, 2001
SOURCE
----
Not quite white enough
Neuroscientist forced off plane
Friday, November 16, 2001
The Oregonian (Portland)
----
Falwell: Christ could redeem Osama bin Laden,
but we'd need to kill the fucker anyway
Friday, November 16, 2001
Associated Press
via Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
Thanks, Jim K.
----
World Trade Organization
seeks to silence satirical site
Thursday, November 15, 2001
indy media
The real WTO site: http://www.wto.org/
The parody WTO site: http://www.gatt.org/
At the very least, dereliction of duty:
Why didn't America's defense defend America on Sept. 11? Why haven't the people responsible been either fired or indicted?
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Emperor's Clothes
Thanks, Tyler D.
----Air Force officials and others have tried to explain away the failures:
----"Air Force Lt. Col. Vic Warzinski, another Pentagon spokesman, [said]: 'The Pentagon was simply not aware that this aircraft was coming our way, and I doubt prior to Tuesday's event, anyone would have expected anything like that here.'"
----Using information from the mass media and official Websites, we will show that this is lie.
Suspected terrorists will not
see evidence against them
Thursday, November 15, 2001
London Times
Thanks, Ed H.
----
Feds questioning 5,000 male foreigners
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Associated Press
via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
----
How to whip up a frenzy
The media as a weapon of mass hysteria
Thursday, November 15, 2001
FACS/FACSNET
Thanks, Joel H.
----Military strategists have long recognized the value of keeping the enemy fearful, disrupted, and demoralized. In the modern era, organized terrorist groups have exploited news organizations to leverage the impact of their attacks.
----Terrorists use news organizations as their advertising agencies, recruiting them into providing intense coverage to increase the societal impact of an attack. Terrorists use sensational and innovative methods of attack, select high-profile targets, submit prepared messages directly to news organizations, and even attack the news organizations themselves to boost coverage.
----I can't read the above without vividly remembering Dick Cheney telling America to expect another terrorist attack at any time (which hasn't happened yet), the FBI and California's governor warning of an imminent threat to major bridges (all of which are still standing), George W. Bush warning that bin Laden has nuclear weapons (which isn't true), and on and on.
----What do you suppose the news will look like tonight? Rest assured, it won't let Americans rest assured.
Katherine Harris feels vindicated by news media's review of Florida ballots
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Associated Press
via Tampa Online
Thanks, Ed H.
----
The backroom boys (formally known as Bush and the U.S. Congress) made a big show of cutting off Bayer's free Cipro ride and calling for other drugs to be approved against anthrax (which they should have been to start, of course). However, hidden from scrutiny in veils of backroom smoke (and mirrors), the boys have quietly extended the Cipro patent, which will delay the availability of an affordable generic equivalent and line the patent-holders' pockets with a sweet and easy $29.6 billion. That ought to bail Bayer out of its Baycol debacle (which killed and damaged scores of consumers)
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Public Citizen
----
Ex-cop pleads guilty to child porn
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Hampton Roads (VA) Daily Press
----
The experts say
Taliban withdrawal was strategy, not a rout
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Strategic Forecasting LLC
Thanks, Zvo, Jerry, probably others
----
Prosecutor, police have no comment as DNA tests find no link between crime and those found guilty
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Associated Press
via San Diego Union-Tribune
Thanks, Noe
----
Sorry, we can't tell you what you're choking on.
It's a trade secret.
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Austin (TX) American-Statesman
Thanks, Ed H.
----
You'd think U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft could fill his day issuing vague terrorism alerts and not finding the source of anthrax. But no.
Thursday, November 15, 2001
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Thanks, Ed H.
----
EU approves Internet eavesdropping in bid to combat terrorism
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Associated Press
via The Nando Times
----
It won't come with jackboots and book burnings, mass rallies and fevered harangues. It won't come with "black helicopters" or tanks on the street. It won't come like a storm
----As in Rome, all the old forms will still be there: legislatures, elections, campaigns
----To be sure, there will be factional conflicts among this elite, and a degree of free debate will be permitted; but no one outside the privileged circle will be allowed to govern or influence state policy. Dissidents will be marginalized
----The rulers will often act in secret; for reasons of "national security," the people will not be permitted to know what goes on in their name. Actions once unthinkable will be accepted as routine: government by executive fiat, the murder of "enemies" selected by the leader, undeclared war, torture, mass detentions without charge, the looting of the national treasury, the creation of huge new "security structures" targeted at the populace. In time, this will seem "normal," as the chill of autumn feels normal when summer is gone.
----It will all seem normal.
Thursday, November 15, 2001
The Moscow Times
Thanks, J
----
"We're in a war with people who want to kill us and somehow we're still talking about 'arresting' them and bringing them to justice. I don't get it. We need to kill them until the rest surrender. No lawyers and no courts."
Thursday, November 15, 2001
The Capital Times (Madison, WI)
----
A war in the planning for four years?
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Guerrilla News Network
Thanks, Phil D.
----
Buy Nothing Day exhorts shoppers to give it a rest
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Baltimore City Paper
----
Israeli soldiers will not be prosecuted for killing Palestinian boy
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Associated Press
via The Jordan Times
Thanks, somebody (sorry)
----
Red Cross caught red-handed
Thursday, November 15, 2001
The Washington Times
Thanks, The Blue Raj
----
Red Cross, red-faced, says it won't help itself to 9/11 funds after all
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Associated Press
via Fox News
----
Israel defies UN Security Council
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Pravda
Thanks, John C., who adds
----When Milosevic was doing stuff like this we sent troops, bombed cities and did everything but declare war.
During a slew of recent high-level meetings with the likes of homeland security czar Tom Ridge, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, and even the president himself, the pharmaceutical industry's chief executives have been eagerly exploiting the current crisis to make their lifelong legislative dreams come true: lower drug approval standards, less oversight, less regulation and immunity from lawsuits.
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Working for Change
Thanks, John C.
----
U.S. researcher sanctioned
for human experimentation
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Reuters
via Yahoo News
Thanks, John C., who adds
----John le Carre's novel, The Constant Gardener, is about stuff very much like this. It's pretty crappy what drug companies do in Third World countries to get FDA approval. (I heard the abridged version on Books on Tape from the local library, so I know.)
A gentle reminder about Bush and blow
"The reason President Bush pardoned that heroin dealer was because he was dealing for the CIA."
Thursday, November 15, 2001
High Times
via AlterNet
Thanks, John C.
----
How a free press censors itself
Thursday, November 15, 2001
New Statesman
----"Americans ought to know [why the attacks of 11 September occurred] . . . The fact is, if I wrote this story now, thousands of people would write in to the Washington Post and say, 'Fire the guy'. My editors are right: we're not ready for this." - T R Reid, Washington Post bureau chief, 22 September.
----In America, this is not "censorship".
----Nor is the way that Bill Maher nearly lost his national late-night talk show, Politically Incorrect, because he said: "We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly." (Although Maher held on to his post, two advertisers, Sears and Federal Express, immediately withdrew from sponsoring the show.)
----The charge against staff and students at City University of New York who held a teach-in on "Threats of war, challenges of peace" was that it was "a hard-core America-bashing festival". As a university trustee made clear: "I would consider that behavior seditious at this time."
----This, however, is not "censorship".
----Ralph Nader protested against the war at a "Democracy Rising Rally" in San Francisco on 11 October; the only mention of the event, even in the San Francisco Chronicle, was a snide comment about Nader's address to "a large group of his fellow malcontents".
----This, however, is not "censorship". And when Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on 12 October for a pause in the bombing, to allow more aid into Afghanistan, she received no mention in the US media. This is not censorship, either.
Attorney General John Ashcroft has imposed a rule that puts unchecked power into the hands of agencies that too easily may abuse it. By fiat and using terrorism as a justification, he has suspended due-process and legal-counsel protections. Instead, Mr. Ashcroft should focus on getting rid of the terrorists while leaving the Constitution firmly in place.
Thursday, November 15, 2001
The Miami Herald
----
Anti-terror bill damned for catch-all powers
Government accused of
smuggling in draconian laws
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Manchester Guardian
Thanks, Ed H.
----
Salvation Army offers queers a boot up the ass!
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Working for Change
Thanks, Jim K.
----
When comedy offends
Revisiting the Smothers Brothers
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Freedom Forum
----"This country always allows dissent if it's not too dissentful."
Those wacky civil libertarians warn,
Police have abused extraordinary authority before
Thursday, November 15, 2001
ABC News
Thanks, Joel H.
----
Victorious good guys ride into town!
Proud day for America!
Wave your flags with patriotic fervor!
War on Terror a smashing success!
The Guardian (London, UK): Hundreds of Pakistanis believed massacred
London Daily Telegraph: Massive looting in Kabul
The Village Voice: U.S. allies in Afghanistan left trail of atrocities
London Times: Up to 500 executed
London Independent: Alliance 'looted supplies and kidnapped civilians'
Associated Press: Massacre in Mazer-e-Sharif
Sydney Morning Herald: Soldiers celebrate with executions
Thanks, J, Zvo
Shitting on freedom will
lead us to Utopia, says Blair
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
London Daily Telegraph
Thanks, Zvo, others
----
U.S. bombings to have lasting effect in Afghanistan:
"There is widespread radiation in many areas that could adversely affect tens of thousands of people for generations to come."
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Dawn
----A leading military expert told Dawn that since Oct 7 the United States Air Force has been raining down depleted uranium shells at targets inside Afghanistan, especially against the Taliban front lines in the north.
----Exposure to radioactive contamination from depleted uranium, or DU, is known to cause lung cancer, leukemia, the blood cancer, and birth defects as has been the case in the two countries where the Americans and their allies have used this weapon in recent years
Cool heads prevail in times of crisis
Congress votes itself a $12K raise
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
The Arizona Republic
Thanks, Jerry, Cheryl, Ed H.
----
'Terrorist' charges to be decided by military courts
Trials will sidestep Constitutional rights
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Washington Post
Thanks, Zvo, J
----
Gore won
Our final word on Election 2000
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Unknown News
----Clearly, it was a coup, if you believe U.S. government should operate within the bounds of the Constitution. By the people's vote, Al Gore was elected president in 2000, not George W. Bush. By the Constitution, the whole shebang should've been decided by the House of Representatives
----But of course, it wasn't decided by the Constitution, it was decided by the Supreme Court. Their job is to interpret the Constitution; instead, they decided to shred it.
----And yet, it seems oddly apropos that the Constitution was disregarded, since there's so very little remaining in any branch of American government that operates under the Constitution. Hey, why should the presidency be any different?
----Day after day, watching George Bush's odd performance, my opinion is that he continually proves himself a shitty and corrupt president. I believe that Al Gore, on the other hand, would have been a shitty and corrupt president in completely different ways.
----The ongoing failures and embarrassments of American foreign and domestic policies, the quiet day-to-day atrocities which accompany America's slide away from every principle this nation ever stood for, and the shadowy figures in the background who actually control American secret government, all deserve far, far more attention than the question of which interchangeable white guy in a dark suit gets to pretend to be president.
Santa Claus gets security
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Ananova
Thanks, Jim K.
----
Conservatives denounce dissent
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Boston Globe
Thanks, Ethel the Blog, Zvo, Ed H.
----
People with bodyguards urge people without bodyguards not to give in to terror
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
San Francisco Chronicle
----
I think the very best comment about Bush's imposition of martial law in the courts is best expressed by the Declaration of Independence:
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
What Really Happened
Thanks, Zvo
----"He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power;
----"He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation;
----"For depriving us in many cases of the benefits of Trial by Jury:"
----Used to be that citizens had the courage to stand up to such abuses by the government.
Those of us who spend any amount of time searching for information on the internet have noticed that the number of conspiracy theories involving US government actions, in a wide variety of areas, have exploded off the charts. This is particularly true in matters evolving from September 11, 2001.
----While conspiracy theories surrounding watershed events are not unusual, I believe that the extreme number of theories which we are currently experiencing derive from the fact that we are being provided with so little information, that flows from within our national boarders, that we have a need to answer our own questions. The mainstream press, trying to imbue a fratboy Napoleon with God-like virtue by selling all the stories that Karl Rove wants sold, and giving the press' civic responsibility as government watch dogs a pass, are failing to provide even enough lies to sustain us against the few facts that are able to leak out.. The "Fourth Estate," still apparently hampered by a few remaining ethics, has failed to become the efficient propaganda machine necessary to provide the bastard child with royal legitimacy.
----I think that these conspiracy theories are a good thing, whether or not they are true.
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Bartcop
Thanks, J
----
Bully wants little guys' lunch money
U.S. pressure grows for allies
to pay more towards war effort
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
The Guardian (London, UK)
Thanks, Aaron A.
----
An illegitimate president declares an illegal war, based on nonexistent proof, against a people that has never attacked the United States. The Red Cross is bombed twice, the first time supposedly by accident and the second because the Taliban was using its provisions to feed the people. A village is destroyed and a family of seven lies dead beneath the shattered clay walls of its humble home. A hospital becomes the target of high-precision bombs, which with their murderous aim wipe out both patients and medical staff. Two children with their skulls split open lie on a dusty street. A home for the aged is struck by an errant bomb that in a few seconds polishes off whatever life was left for people already barely able to hang on.
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
indy media
Thanks, Januario A.
----
As you wave the flag,
wave goodbye to our freedoms
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
San Francisco Chronicle
Thanks, Zvo
----
The murder of death with dignity
White House's attack on Oregon's assisted-suicide law shouldn't have surprised anyone
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Willamette Week (Portland, OR)
----
War on Drugs
Duh: With financial aid on the line,
very few students admit drug convictions
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
The Providence Phoenix
----
Wary of bad publicity,
surgeon will sell strip clubs
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Los Angeles Times
via Salt Lake Tribune
----
Some media critics got attention from The New York Times last week. But only some.
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Working for Change
via AlterNet
Thanks, Jim K.
----
Bomb squad disarms vibrator
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
The Toronto Star
----
When it comes to genocide, Bin Laden is a minor contender. We've witnessed far worse from the good Germans, mostly well-educated, law-abiding Protestants and Catholics who killed 6 million Jews in the worst example of religious hatred ever. The U.S. caused the death of millions in Vietnam in a more recent war that never bore any reasonable connection to our security, as Lyndon Johnson's recently released tapes reveal. And what about Cheshire cat Vladimir V. Putin, a top KGB apparatchik when Soviet forces killed more that a million Afghan innocents, whose Russian troops now slaughter Chechen civilians?
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Los Angeles Times with free pop-up ad!
Thanks, Jim K.
----
Barakat pleads innocent to US 'terror' claim
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Financial Times
----"We have never had any relation with what these people are accusing us of," asserts Mr Kahie. "They never gave us a chance to prove ourselves not guilty," says Mr Abas.
If it looks like the war that was supposed to capture Osama bin Laden dead or alive has become a war on Afghans, well, that's just because the Taliban, backward, medieval, unworldly, are masters of deception. Through guile they've lured us all into believing innocents are being blasted away, displaced, and threatened with starvation.
----But isn't it always that way? The other side, no matter how small, no matter how poor, no matter how devastated by war, crippled by sanctions, weakened by IMF reforms, is always cunningly able to manipulate perceptions, twist the truth, exaggerate, tell tall tales, while Washington, with its ready access to the media, to PR firms, to spin-doctors, to overnight polling, struggles to get its message
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Swans Commentary
----
People often tell me, "You start with the assumption that everything about the United States is bad." Of course I do not assume that. That would be as absurd a position as the assumption that everything about the United States is good. I can't imagine any reasonable person making either statement.
----That does raise the question, of course, of who is a reasonable person. We might ask that question about, for example, George Bush, the father. In 1988, after the U.S. Navy warship Vincennes shot down an Iranian commercial airliner in a commercial corridor, killing 290 civilians, Bush said, "I will never apologize for the United States of America. I don't care what the facts are."
----I want to put forward the radical proposition that we should care what the facts are.
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Z Magazine
Thanks, BookNotes
----
Lawyer math in Sept. 11 deaths shows varying values for a life
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
The New York Times
LOGIN: unknownnews
PASSWORD: unknown
Thanks, John C.
----
Gay and lesbian partners of 9/11 victims struggle to receive their benefits
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
The Village Voice
----
Extreme cooperation
University of Arizona handed students' confidential records to FBI on request, even before required to do so by an intrusive new law
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Tucson Weekly
----"The anti-terrorism bill has the attorney general, or an assistant attorney general, producing nothing but certification that specific ... facts support the request for expanded powers," the source says. "It literally allows hunches to be used for access to records that would ordinarily require a subpoena and probable cause.
----"I guess we can all support the notion of a hunch being the basis of actually capturing somebody who's doing something wrong," the expert says. "I only wish that people who are not doing anything wrong would not be compromised in the process. I guess the behavior of law enforcement will determine whether this becomes a major problem."
Canada blocks access to cheap medicine
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
rabble news
Thanks, J
----
Sky Marshals save jet from man who
"wanted to go to the bathroom"
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Washington Post
Thanks, Jim K.
----... About 15 minutes before the plane was to land at National, Ortiz got out of his seat and started walking briskly toward the front of the plane, where a restroom and cockpit are, said David Castelveter, a spokesman for Arlington-based US Airways.
----As Ortiz neared the cockpit, a sky marshal in plainclothes seated near the front yelled, 'Stop!' said passenger Mike Cannon, of Arlington.
----Two sky marshals
Home Secretary rejects 'airy fairy'
fears about silly civil rights
U.K. follows America's lead,
will 'detain' suspects without trial
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The Guardian (London, UK)
----
A gentle reminder, from June of this year:
India and Iran will "facilitate" planned
U.S./Russian hostilities against the Taliban
Tuesday, June 26, 2001
The Public Affairs Magazine (India)
Thanks, Judy G.
----
Bombed and gagged?
CNN refuses to broadcast the footage of its own Afghanistan correspondent, reporting from a bombed religious site
Tuesday, November 12, 2001
die tageszeitung (Berlin, Germany)
Thanks, Jan R.
----Translated from German by Jan R.:
----The veteran Pakistan journalist, Kamal Haider, who reports for CNN from the Taliban stronghold Kandahar, informed the TAZ yesterday that American bombers had destroyed a holy village site 30 miles west of the city. He himself counted 128 corpses. Most of the houses, a shrine, and a moschee had been destroyed. The attacks occurred on Thursday and lasted from 9 in the evening until Friday morning.
----The village, "Schah Aga" was a holy site for Sufis due to an ancient tomb there, that especially drew worshippers on Fridays. Haider documented the destruction on film, and saw no evidence of weapons or munitions which would indicate the site had any military significance. In addition, the survivors swore that the last Taleban had left the village long ago. In the same province, Haider discovered the remains of another totally destroyed village of Usmanzai. The inhabitants there had lived amidst great poverty in caves, which the US pilots possibly mistook for an Al-Qaida hide-out. Maybe that is why the employed the so-called "Bunker-Buster" bombs. Haider relayed the footage he shot on Saturday, but CNN did not broadcast the footage. His report was merely noted on the CNN homepage. CNN had told him that they wanted first to verify his claims, according to Haider.
The media is the message
U.S. bombs destroy Kabul offices of Al-Jazeera TV
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Times of India
Thanks, Steve M.
----
Half of world's freshwater lakes at risk
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The Scotsman
----
Made in China, by slave labor
Americans purchase organs
of executed Chinese prisoners
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The New York Times
LOGIN: unknownnews
PASSWORD: unknown
Thanks, Ed H., John C.
----
FBI agent killed at WTC warned last summer that greed for oil was blocking search for bin Laden
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The New York Times
LOGIN: unknownnews
PASSWORD: unknown
Thanks, Cheryl
----
Some pertinent questions about
democracy, terrorism, power, and
The Carlyle Group
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Spectrezine
----
Mexican I/D cards now valid in Orange County
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Los Angeles Times with free pop-up ad!
Thanks, Zvo
----
Thanks for the pig shit!
Neighbour's cheeky sign smells like trouble
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
National Post
Thanks, John C.
----
Ritalin may have 'long-term side effects'
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
London Daily Telegraph
Thanks, John C., Zvo
----
Devoted to alcohol awareness, colleagues recall
Anti-alcohol activist killed while driving drunk
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Santa Barbara News-Press
----
Pasadena Police don't believe in treating gang members like scum. And they say that explains why gang crime is down in their city.
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
New Times Los Angeles
----
Canadian lawyers unhappy with new law ordering them to become state informants
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
National Post
Thanks, ZemBlog
----
Congress debates military occupation of America
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Fox News
----"We've got to figure out a new Posse Comitatus that allows the Department of Defense to step forward and defend America," insists Georgia Democrat Max Cleland.
Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The Daily Brew
Thanks, Booknotes
----Let's recap the Bush Presidency so far.
----First, through a combination of fraud and the most dubious Supreme Court decision in history, Bush stole the White House. Then, Bush tells us, the son of his father's business partner hijacked four jets, crashing them into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon, murdering 5,000 people.
----In response to this, Bush suspended the Constitution. The federal government now has the power to tap your phone, read your mail, secretly search your house and arrest you, all with no probable cause that you have committed any crime. The federal government can hold you without bail without charging you, and if you are lucky enough to have one, the federal government can listen in on your conversations with your lawyer. Bush has declared a war so far ranging that in concept it encompasses roughly 1/3 the world's population. He has also sealed all of the records from not only his father's administrations as president and vice president, but also his own term as Governor of Texas. As a final thumb in your eye, if you live in Oregon and just can't take it any more and try to kill yourself, Bush's Attorney General will prosecute your doctor.
----Sorry folks, your democracy is gone. Your civil rights are history. You are living in a country with a secret government operating a secret police force with virtually unlimited power.
In sweeping campus canvasses, U.S. authorities check on Mideast students
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The New York Times
LOGIN: unknownnews
PASSWORD: unknown
----
Northern Alliance slaughter women, children in Mazar Sharif
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Pakistani News Service
via paknews dotcom
Thanks, Zvo
----
WTO conference welcomes spooks from all over
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
London Independent
via Common Dreams
----
The WTO's hidden agenda
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Greg Palast
Thanks, J
----Three confidential documents from inside the World Trade Organization Secretariat and a group of captains of London finance, who call themselves the "British Invisibles," reveal the extraordinary secret entanglement of industry with government in designing European and American proposals for radical pro-business changes in WTO rules.
The killing fields of Afghanistan
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
World Socialist Web Site
Thanks, J
----
A just cause, not a just war
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The Progressive
via Common Dreams
Thanks, Zvo
----
The Bush Administration is
An affront to democracy
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Washington Post
Thanks, Ed H.
----
The ABCs of unbiased news coverage
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
rabble news
Thanks, J
----
Terrorism 1, Democracy 0:
The Bush Administration's secrecy policies
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The American Prospect
Thanks, Ed H.
----
Tobacco firm to profit from cancer genes
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The Guardian (London, UK)
Thanks, Jim K.
----
Europe moving toward ban on internet hate speech
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The New York Times
LOGIN: unknownnews
PASSWORD: unknown
Thanks, Zvo, others
----
"Unwrapped," Part 1:
A strange way to die
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Online Journal
Thanks, Ed H.
----I'm glad it's finally resolved,' said Fort Walton Beach Police Chief Steve Hogue
As a new McCarthyism arises in America, Hollywood is getting more jingoistic
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Sunday Herald (Glasgow, Scotland)
----Secret detentions are sky-rocketing, there are increasing curbs on privacy and dissent, and media outlets are self-censoring their coverage of Afghanistan. Since the attacks, more than 1100 people have been held without criminal charges and often on the basis of scant evidence.
----Under new law-enforcement measures, investigators can now monitor talks between detainees -- whose names and alleged crimes are classified -- and their lawyers. Wire- tapping, e-mail surveillance and searches are far easier under the Patriot Act, signed into law a fortnight ago.
----FBI agents told The Washington Post that they have considered using a so-called truth serum to crack the silence of recalcitrant suspects. They have also considered deporting detained foreigners to countries that use torture.
We all knew it was coming. Last Friday, US President George W Bush signed an anti- terrorism bill that proposes sweeping new powers for the FBI, extending the agency's ability to search citizens, wire-tap telephone lines and eavesdrop on the Internet. The period of detention allowed for a foreign citizen suspected of terrorist activities has also be increased. The bill -- which has raised concerns over the meaning of civil liberties in the post 11 September age
----The US-led alliance's "war on terrorism," now in the fourth week of its offensive against Afghanistan, bypassed internationally-recognised channels of legitimacy such as the United Nations and its Security Council. The result: hundreds or perhaps thousands of Afghan civilians may have been killed (no accurate numbers have been released because the Pentagon says it still doesn't know). But the "war on terror" has meant more than the loss of innocent lives: it has included a myriad of other measures. The blocking of information and images from the war in Afghanistan from reaching the American public, for example. There has also been widespread discrimination against Arabs (and other people of Middle Eastern appearance) both by officials (at Western airports and airlines) and by the Western public. Approximately 900 "suspects"
----The media debate on the choice between "freedom" and "security"
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Al-Ahram (Cairo)
----
Cloak-and-dagger gang gets blank check for spying on Americans
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The Bergen (NJ) Record
----
It's time to play
Name that politician!
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Riverfront Times (St. Louis)
----"Americans must be free to communicate privately, without the government listening in," the senator said in announcing a hearing on anti-terrorism proposals that would have given federal law-enforcement agencies access to codes that protect e-mail and other transmissions. "For government agencies to have the keys to computer communication is like mandating that house keys be left on deposit with Uncle Sam.
----"The protections of the Fourth Amendment are clear. The right to protection from unlawful searches is an indivisible American value."
----At the hearing itself, the senator -- chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's constitution, federalism and property-rights subcommittee -- used even stronger language to express his indignation at the federal government's insistence that it needed new powers to combat terrorism.
----"We in the Senate have heard a great deal about the needs of law enforcement in the digital age and the risk that robust encryption poses to the traditional methods employed by law enforcement," he said. "We've been told that law enforcement needs mandatory access to every individual's electronic messages and material. We've even heard that we need a new Fourth Amendment for the digital age.
----"At the same time, we've heard almost nothing about privacy interests of law-abiding citizens ... Apparently, innocent citizens are expected to trust the bureaucracy not to abuse them ... The FBI has argued that a system of mandatory access would make it easier for law enforcement to do its job. Of course it would, but it would also make things easier on law enforcement if we simply repealed the Fourth Amendment."
----Strong words of distrust, don't you think?
----Thank you, Sen. John Ashcroft.
----Words spoken, of course, before absolute power absolutely corrupted, as it absolutely always does.
Does the FBI have a job for him?
Alleged torturer now a U.S. citizen
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Los Angeles Times with free pop-up ad!
----
Petty private censorship
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Las Vegas Citylife
----
While Bush wants to build more
Some residents fear nuclear plants might be terrorist targets
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Washington Post
Thanks, Ed H.
----
Sally Slate's Reprehensible Sources
Mr. Bush has yet to offer any proof of who the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks is. More than a month into raining down bombs on Afghanistan, he is still in his "trust me, the evildoer is Osama" mode. Perhaps and perhaps not.
----The man who insisted throughout his campaign, "I trust the people," trusts anything but the people. And, once again, gentle readers, Americans have been put in the position of being "the last to know," thanks to the administration and its public relations arm that parades under the label "U.S. media."
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Online Journal
Thanks, Ed H.
----
I know it's politically incorrect and even considered unpatriotic to challenge the looniness that has come out of Sept. 11. But here goes anyway.
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The Hawk Eye (Burlington, IA)
Thanks, Ed H.
----The president's plan to put more National Guardsmen at airports will not as, he claims, make the public feel safer.
----They need to feel safe in the air, not just in the terminal. So long as every flight lacks armed air marshals and flight attendants are not trained in the martial arts, the first and last line of defense aboard airliners lies with the passengers.
----They are still forced to pay good money to sit in tiny seats with their knees tucked into their chins. They don't even get plastic forks with which to eat their plastic airline food.
----The FBI also has not enjoyed its greatest moments lately.
----Apparently distracted and worn down by eight years of investigating the sexual habits of the Clinton administration, the agency was unable to pick up on signs that a Sept. 11 catastrophe was imminent.
----Since then it hasn't a clue who sent anthrax to the capital. Nor has it publicly remarked on the oddity that only the top Democrat in Congress and non-right wing news agencies were targeted with spore-filled letters.
----Then there is Iowa State University's response to word that the anthrax strain was the same one ISU scientists have been working on for 76 years.
----ISU's reaction upon conferring with the FBI was to destroy every last spore in its supply. The FBI, failing to recognize a potential source of evidence, said it didn't care one way or the other.
Pennsylvania town picks two representatives from the same house
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Philadelphia Inquirer
Thanks, John C.
----
Teacher, dismissed for inviting Woody Harrelson to address class about hemp, sues
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Associated Press
via WLKY-TV, Channel 32, Louisville
Thanks, John C.
----
Jack Straw browbeats the British press for daring to ask questions like just exactly what is the U.K. doing in Afghanistan?
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
The Guardian (London, UK)
Thanks, Cheryl
----
Wishful thinking?
Spiritual revival in America may threaten Religious Right
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Las Vegas Weekly
----
Suspect cop gets promoted
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
Daily Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg, South Africa)
----
U.S. intelligence seeks out psychics
for help in War on Terror
Monday, November 12, 2001
London Times
Thanks, Ed H.
----
Why would a country that speaks of the importance of truth and justice fear an International Criminal Court? It would seem to be an excellent vehicle for dealing with international terrorism.
Monday, November 12, 2001
Washington Post
Thanks, Jerry
----
Not quite enough terror for ya?
Cheney fans flames of panic and frenzy
Monday, November 12, 2001
Washington Post
----
At a time when the United States needs friends abroad more than ever, President Bush has nominated a discredited California party hack to head the Peace Corps.
Monday, November 12, 2001
Washington Post
Thanks, Ed H.
----
For what it's worth
ABA protests Ashcroft's rule
ending attorney/client confidentiality
Monday, November 12, 2001
Washington Post
Thanks, Ed H.
----
U.S. commentators call for latter-day racks and thumbscrews to jumpstart stalled investigation into 11 September
Monday, November 12, 2001
London Observer
via The Guardian (London, UK)
Thanks, Ed H.
----
Murder probe 'blocked
to protect police informer'
Monday, November 12, 2001
London Observer
via The Guardian (London, UK)
----
Life on the home front in War Against Terror
Monday, November 12, 2001
Online Journal
Thanks, Jerry
----
What it really means to be for this war
Monday, November 12, 2001
Canadian Content
----Weeks after the US and Britain began bombing Afghanistan, leveling Red Cross warehouses, destroying Red Crescent buildings, flattening hospitals, taking out mud huts, the true nature of the war has begun to sink in.
----As many as 1.5 million Afghans are on the move, according to the UN, fleeing the bombing. Up to 7.5 million face starvation, as bombing disrupts the humanitarian food relief efforts needed to alleviate the effects of decades of civil war and one of the worse droughts in the country's history.
----And there's carnage. If you don't turn away, it's there for you to see. The Afghan child, maybe two or three, with the red pulpy divot taken out of the right side of her skull, lying beside the still, lifeless body of her brother. Had a madman driven a golf tee into the child's head, and then swung at the ball resting atop the tee sunk into brain tissue? Did he swing too low, driving his three iron through the child's skull, with an explosion of blood and bits of pulpy tissue that splattered all over her mother's face and clothes? Or was it a young American pilot, a guy who plays golf when he's at home, who had dropped a bomb marked Made in the USA that accomplished what a three iron could accomplish just as readily? Did the pilot scrawl across the bomb, "To Osama bin Laden," the way World War Two flyers used to write To Adolph Hitler on their bombs? Or did he write, "To Mamoud, aged 2"?
----For that's what war is, isn't it?
The blinding self-righteousness of the Attorney General's old-time religion is incomprehensible
Monday, November 12, 2001
Los Angeles Times with free pop-up ad!
Thanks, several dear readers
----I thought every G-man in America was working double time to try and make America safe and deliver justice. After all, the president said civilization itself was at stake, not to mention its prosperity. And didn't Congress sweep away concerns about privacy to give Ashcroft a wide-open field to pursue this menace?
----What could be more compelling? What could divert Ashcroft's attentions and make him redeploy agents and investigators from these horrifying threats to our children and ourselves?
----It's the rebellion we started here in the West. When we in California decided that a marijuana brownie wasn't too much to offer chemotherapy patients so they could hold down their medicines without vomiting, just as long as a licensed physician approved. When voters in Oregon decided that, for truly horrible terminal illnesses, people ought to have the right to ask their doctors for the drugs to escape their final suffering.
The wide world of torture
Monday, November 12, 2001
CounterPunch
----
Somalis protest U.S. raid, store's closure
Monday, November 12, 2001
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Thanks, John C.
----"I will continue to send money to my father and children in Somalia. This is not an act of terrorism."
Media bias -- Once a sin, now a virtue
Monday, November 12, 2001
Los Angeles Times with free pop-up ad!
----
Scoutmaster guilty of sex assault
Monday, November 12, 2001
Lancashire (UK) Evening Post
----
Prince Charles's flower girl is freed
Monday, November 12, 2001
Reuters
Thanks, Thomas D.
----
To put it mildly
Attorney General John Ashcroft has been careless with the Constitution
Monday, November 12, 2001
The New York Times
LOGIN: unknownnews
PASSWORD: unknown
----A new rule just imposed by Mr. Ashcroft allows the government to listen in on conversations and intercept mail between prison inmates and their lawyers
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Visit our archives.
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in English translation of interview
November 11, 2001
BBC News
Thanks, Zvo, Jerry
----Dawn's English version quotes Bin Laden as saying: "If America used chemical and nuclear weapons against us, then we may retort with chemical and nuclear weapons. We have the weapons as a deterrent."
---- But in the Urdu version of the article, Bin Laden does not threaten to use nuclear or chemical weapons. "The U.S. is using chemical weapons against us and it has also decided to use nuclear weapons. But our war will continue," he says, according to the BBC's own translation of the Ausaf article.
Bush took FBI agents off bin Laden family trail
As reported by:
BBC News, 11/6/01
Agence France Presse via Hindustan Times, 11/7/01
Sydney Morning Herald, 11/7/01
Ananova, 11/7/01
The Guardian (London, UK), 11/7/01
The Times of India, 11/8/01
Press Association via Sydney Morning Herald, 11/8/01
When, oh when will this news 'break' in the American media?
Legal niceties aside
Federal agents without subpoenas asking firms for records
November 10, 2001
Washington Post
Thanks, John C.
----The company's lawyer said the agents wanted to review the records right then and there. But they didn't have a subpoena, a summons, a warrant or anything else that resembled a court order.
----"They don't seem to be bothering with all that these days," said Bill Lawler, the firm's outside counsel and a partner at Vinson & Elkins in the District. "They just show up and say 'Here we are' and 'Give us your stuff.'"
Surprise! New rule took effect on Halloween
Ashcroft edict lets prosecutors eavesdrop on attorney/client conversations
November 9, 2001
Associated Press
via San Francisco Chronicle
Thanks, Ed H., Gundy
Related article:
Washington Post 11/9/2001
Social Security Admin wants to share citizens' earnings data, employment records with police
November 9, 2001
Associated Press
via Yahoo News
----
U.S. policy:
cheap Cipro, expensive AIDS drugs
November 9, 2001
San Francisco Chronicle
----Just two weeks after the administration muscled steep price concessions from Bayer AG for its anthrax antibiotic Cipro, U.S. trade negotiators in Doha, Qatar, will be fighting a bid by developing nations to ease patent protection against knock-off versions of costly drugs that treat AIDS.
----Were you aware that the attorney general of the United States now has the power to arrest someone without probable cause, hold that person without presenting evidence, and ultimately give that person a life sentence without ever having a trial?
----That's the power Congress has given to the attorney general, which is stunning because I've always believed that the United States was a nation where due process could not be voided.
----With this legislation, we've put a rule on the books that puts us on the level of evil, repressive dictators who rule by arbitrary and capricious whim and who lock people up on the authority of a king with no opportunity to challenge the order.
---- Is the attorney general the new king of the United States?
November 9, 2001
Denver Post
Thanks, Ed H.
----
Litmus test:
Have you officially, publicly denounced terrorist groups?
November 8, 2001
indymedia DC
As the War On Terrorism fails to yield anyone responsible for the 9-11 attacks, the witchhunt turns on American citizens. Congress has sent a letter to various environmental organizations (Greenpeace, Sierra Club, NRDC, WWF, etc.) 'requesting' that they publically denounce groups such as ELF and ALF, calling them terrorist cells.
Bush nominees may spell beginning of the end for the Environmental Protection Agency
November 7, 2001
Cheryl Seal
This past week, Bush quietly nominated two people to EPA posts -- so quietly in fact that the only place you'll probably see it is here. And with good reason. These two nominees make it painfully obvious that Bush wants to convert the agency into a big hollow barrel he can fill with corporate pork.
President Johnson's tapes confirm
what everyone should already know
'Gulf of Tonkin' attack was a lie,
pretext for Vietnam War was a canard
November 7, 2001
The London Times
Thanks, Ed H.
Vast quarantine role advocated for states
Plan would let agencies shut roads, cities during a biological terror attack
November 7, 2001
Detroit Free Press
Secret government
Authorities who won't say how many have been "detained" now say many have been released (but they won't say how many)
November 7, 2001
Associated Press
via Yahoo News
Pentagon lied about success of raid
November 7, 2001
Sydney Morning Herald
Thanks, Zvo
Secret government
'Homeland' office doesn't answer to Congress
November 6, 2001
Roll Call
Thanks, Ed H.
"We asked [Homeland Director Tom Ridge] to come and testify [before Congress], but we received word that he is not going to be made available for testimony."
Illustration courtesy The New York Times
LOGIN: unknownnews
PASSWORD: unknown
Noted ACLU attorney Alan Dershowitz comes out against civil liberties; calls for national I/D card, torture warrants
November 6, 2001
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Dershowitz suggested that judges could issue torture warrants in certain cases. Americans must plan their approach to these disquieting issues carefully and not allow the basic values of the country to erode, he said.
Is a promotion the proper punishment for lying to Congress? It is if you're Walter "Dan" Cadman, the INS's new Director of National Security
November 4, 2001
New Times
Broward/Palm Beach
Pentagon says Afghan village a 'legitimate target'
November 3, 2001
Cable News Network
Thanks, Random Walks
"We hit what we wanted to hit," a Pentagon official speaking on the condition of anonymity told CNN. "The people there are dead because we wanted them dead."
That's a relief...
Even if Congressional buildings are uninhabitable, Congress will go on making new laws
November 3, 2001
Roll Call
Critics blast Bush's move to keep
secret government's secrets secret forever
November 3, 2001
Associated Press
via Yahoo News
Thanks, J, Ghost Rocket
Some historians have suspected the Bush White House is worried about what the Reagan papers might reveal about officials now working for President Bush who also worked for Reagan. Among them are Secretary of State Colin Powell, Budget Director Mitch Daniels Jr. and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.
Pentagon lied about Red Cross bombings
November 2, 2001
Emperor's Clothes
Thanks, Zvo
Q: Also, there was an interesting case on Friday where the US--American warplanes hit a Red Cross food warehouse twice. Now initially, it was said that that was hit by mistake. However today, senior military officials tell us that that Red Cross warehouse was hit on purpose because it was seized by the Taliban, who was stealing all that food. Is that a true statement or false?
A: This we can confirm is not correct
Federal gov't lied about
shipping radioactive waste
November 2, 2001
Associated Press
via The Kansas City Star
Thanks, Kiwigrrrl
"They did everything they promised they wouldn't do," Holden spokesman Jerry Nachtigal said. "The errors are just that much more alarming given the potential for something to go wrong" since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Do they even want to know who's responsible?
Federal investigators never talked to top Anthrax experts
November 1, 2001
New York Post
Thanks, Kiwigrrrl
The news, coming as it did just days after the terrorist attacks on the United States, outraged the nation: Three Miami-Dade County firefighters
October 31, 2001
Miami New Times
U.S. secret government hands more secret powers to secret court
October 31, 2001
Baltimore Sun
Thanks, Ed H.
New laws will have lasting effects on American life
October 27, 2001
Wired News
The Dec. 2005 expiration date embedded in the USA Act
----After the president signs the measure on Friday, police will have the permanent ability to conduct Internet surveillance without a court order in some circumstances, secretly search homes and offices without notifying the owner, and share confidential grand jury information with the CIA.
Na๏ve reporter
gets a clue
October 27, 2001
Sacramento News and Review
"You understand sir, this is a national security measure, and we're going to have to check with the FAA to clear it," he said. "You know they might not let you back on the airplane. You make people nervous."
----"How do I make people nervous?" I asked.
----"By doing whatever you're doing."
----"What am I doing?"
----"I don't know, but whatever it is, you're going to stop doing it!"
----"OK," I said. "But what am I doing?" I wasn't getting it. He began poking his index finger at me to emphasize the point.
----"I don't know what you're doing, but you're going to stop doing it!"
Nothing in so-called "Anti-Terrorism Bill" will change the landscape that made the attacks
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
so simple for the hijackers to accomplish
October 27, 2001
Hartford Advocate
Thanks, MementoMori
Hitler would go kosher with envy
Israel seeks to construct anti-Arab ethnic bomb
October 25, 2001
London Times
Checks and balances?
Let's look at the bribes, kickbacks, and quid pro quo
behindAmerica's alliances in War on Terrorism
October 23, 2001
The Guardian (London, UK)
Terrorists' training camp located, but U.S. refuses to attack
October 23, 2001
The News Insider
FBI considers torture as suspects stay silent
October 22, 2001
London Times
Thanks, Erick
The most important American interest in Afghanistan:
Oil
October 20, 2001
The Russian Issues
Thanks, Zvo
Bush sees 'War on Terror' lasting at least through presidential election of 2004
October 18, 2001
Reuters
via Yahoo News
Secret government
It's becoming clear how extraordinary the authority that this new agency, the Office of Homeland Security, along with its little brother, the Office of Cyberspace Security, really has.
----Since this agency is operating under essentially National Security law, as amended 1949-1950, and not regular Title Code 18 law, it can classify all of its operations and documents. It would be immune from any public request for information. Virtually all its budget is classified. It does not have to submit any public accounting for the money it spends
----Furthermore (they are preparing the public for this), Bush knows there will be many Supreme Court challenges when we are past this "first blush of patriotism." When the American people have taken off their rose-colored glasses and only have their normal blinders on, there will be many proceedings in the Supreme Court over the authority being given this agency. That's why Bush is saying that this ruling council, this Supreme National Security Council, has decided that its only judicial accountability will be with the National Security Court in Washington DC, a court which the administration controls.
----What does this do? It not only suspends habeas corpus, but it does so on a virtually unlimited basis. Even during the Civil War, when Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, there were still some rules. For example, you could not hold somebody for more than 90 days without charge. With this new agency, not only do they act ex post facto vis-a-vis habeas corpus, but there aren't any limits being imposed. They could literally detain people for years
October 17, 2001
Al Martin Raw
Pentagon
admits lie
Terrorists trained at U.S. bases
October 17, 2001
Daniel Hopsicker
Thanks, Gareth
Estimated 6-million lives lost in global pursuit of U.S. "national security"
October 17, 2001
rabble news
Thanks, Jerry
The numbers in this article add up to about six-and-a-half-million souls
----It's not exactly a mystery, why so many of the world's poor, dispossessed and downtrodden feel such anger and hatred toward the United States. Which, as I've said before, doesn't in any way excuse terrorism against the U.S. and its people ... but does help explain it.
Pentagon spends millions to ensure nobody outside of Pentagon sees what's going on in Afghanistan
October 17, 2001
The Guardian (London, UK)
Thanks, CactusPat
A question that won't go away:
White House smoke on September 11?
October 16, 2001
Kenmeer Livermaile
U.S. government tries to silence ex-hostages
October 16, 2001
Associated Press
via ABC News
With Iran participating in the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism, the government tried unsuccessfully Monday to block anti-Iran testimony from former American hostages held for 444 days after the U.S. embassy in Tehran was seized two decades ago.
----The move by the State Department prompted one of the ex-hostages, Barry Rosen, to accuse the government of playing "a surrogate role for Iran" in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
----"The U.S. government ought to be ashamed of itself," Rosen, the former embassy press attach้ in Tehran, said in an interview.
----"Notwithstanding how it may appear ... we're not intervening to defend the interests of Iran," said Justice Department lawyer James Gilligan.
Do you feel safer today than you did before Bush started bombing?
October 15, 2001
The Guardian (London, UK)
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IN REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER;
NEWER EMAILS FIRST, OLDER EMAILS AFTER
Write to UnknownNews at bigfoot.com
To my heroes at Unknown News,
----Words seem insufficient to express my gratitude for your site. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but I sincerely mean it. It is too easy, faced with so much oppressive State Propaganda, to feel like I am insane for questioning the corruption, opposing the murder, and arguing that there is a better way. But then I visit your site, and I rejoice on an island of sanity amidst the crazy sea of confusion. The first step in saving our world is educating its people about how that world operates. You provide one source for such education, and that is more deserving of recognition and praise than anything tyrants like (most of) our elected officials will ever receive.
Ryan C., 11/15/2001
P.S. You also published an essay by Bobby Quackenbush, who is a friend of mine. So I guess I'm biased. But I still contend that you are heroes, nonetheless.
Heroes, schmeroes. We appreciate the kind comments, but let's not go overboard. We're just sitting here typing, and we're sure not the only ones.
----The real heroes, darn it, are the police and firefighters in New York City. And not just the heroic police and firefighters in New York City, but police and firefighters all across America. And not just in America, but in Canada too. And possibly in Honduras.
----And our fightin' military men and women in uniform, double darn it, let's not forget, they're the real heroes. They're willing to give their lives for America ... or for whatever country their commanding officers order them to give their lives for.
----And let's not forget the other heroes, heroes who wouldn't give their lives but do give their time. Yes, I'm speaking of gallant good guys like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, men who are essentially volunteering their time to the service of America, never seeking nor expecting any reward for themselves. These, I tell you, these are the real heroes. All of America salutes them, since they're always standing in front of a flag.
Hi,
----Thanks for the reply.
----As you say, the original article has nothing in it related to the proposal to adopt emergency powers which will limit freedom here. The Blair speech and the one he made at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton are idealistic, maybe utopian, but for heaven's sake the world urgently needs to have a discussion about where we are going, and the part the west can play in that.
----Just at the moment it is absolutely essential that the USA, and the moderates of the world make sure they are protecting themselves against the extremists. On the World Service last night the leader of the Taliban was still boasting that there is a plan in place still to destroy the US. It is not included in the article on the interview which appears in the BBCi website.
----Please do not listen to whoever suggested that headline. People in the States, and elsewhere should be encouraged to listen to Tony Blair, not put off.
----... One fears that the US is not interested in dialogue, not interested in hearing other opinions. (I am glad your website is trying though.)
----Just to let you know, I am not a Labour Party supporter but [Blair] has overwhelming support and admiration here.
----Regards,
John H., 11/15/2001
With all due respect and affection, you seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding about who we are and what we're doing. Unknown News is not a professional-corporate-objective news site. We're flesh and blood, with opinions and everything.
----You're right that the original article "has nothing in it related to the proposal to adopt emergency powers which will limit freedom" in the U.K., but that omission (in my humble opinion) is one of the problems with professional-corporate-objective journalism: Here's Tony Blair, calling for utopian cooperation between governments. End of story. Meanwhile, over here, far away, on another channel or on another page, is an unrelated [?] story about dear Tony slaughtering people, or detaining suspects without a trial, etc.
----In the British press, Mr. Blair may get away with shitting on freedom, while publicly pretending to point his people toward Utopia
----"Just at the moment," as you say, we believe "it is absolutely essential" to protect ourselves against the extremists
I would suggest that your headline for the last Tony Blair speech was completely out of order. Please read through the actual article and correct it.
John H., 11/14/2001
I read very nearly every word of every article we link to, and certainly I've read this one
Hi,
----I enjoy your site enormously and it is one of the handful I have bookmarked to keep me informed about what is really going on.
----However: could I point out that The Guardian newspaper has not called itself The Manchester Guardian since, if I recall correctly, the 1960s, and the presses made the move to London even earlier
----A tiny point, perhaps, but it is my favourite newspaper...:-)
Deryk B., 11/14/2001
Thanks for clarifying that! From a few thousand miles away, I've been confused, having long heard of the wonderful Manchester Guardian, and then discovering what was obviously it on the internet. Little did I know they had packed their bags for London ... the year I was born.
----Oy, I am old.
Hi,
----Just a line to let you know I think your site kicks butt. You'd be amazed (well, you probably wouldn't) how many people are trying to hook up with some real news (not the BS we're being force fed with a steam shovel by the mainstreamers). I thought I'd better write and give you some strokes, though, because it's my experience that most folks (Americans, anyway) tend to be a lot slower to show appreciation of something they like than they are to fire off a complaint. That's why we have a criminal in the White House
----You and your contributors are the real heroes now
----I salute you,
Philadelphia Freedom, 11/14/2001
Well, thank ye kindly. Your compliments are as welcome as they are undeserved. I don't daydream that anything we the people say or do will make a damn bit of difference. I'm just sitting here, chronicling the last days of America, for anyone who gives a damn.
----As for givin' up, shit
More whining from Fred? Why does this guy pop up every few weeks to give you shit? The thing about Unknown News that I respect most is that you take a stand and have an opinion
----Fred has no opinion, as the mightiest nation in the world slaughters the weakest. Fred has no opinion, as Congress discusses stationing troops in major American cities to "keep order." Fred has no opinion, as Rumsfeld lies in every press conference and Unknown News and a few other terrific sites are able to debunk a tiny fraction of the lies. Fred has no opinion, as the prosecutors listen in on attorney/client meetings, as the White House makes telling the truth illegal, as the brownshirts round up the rabble. Fred has no opinion about any of this, and that's the scariest thing about him.
John Fitz, 11/14/2001
I'm sure Fred has some opinions; he just doesn't use his website to express them. I don't understand what his complaint with me is, but I don't lose sleep wondering. He'll tell me, I reckon, when he's good and ready. Meanwhile, I can take his potshots. Hell, I take a lot ruder potshots than Fred's.
Shopping list? I don't know. I see blogs of guys I have done lots with
fred Lapides [sic], 11/14/2001
I read your email, and now I've published it. I just don't understand it.
Dateline: "DOHA, Qatar (Reuters)
----Yet another accident, I'm sure. Still, it might not be a bad idea for you guys to get to work on that Unknown News bomb shelter.
Steve M., 11/13/2001
Even if it was [Osama bin Laden's] confession, what about all those false confessions that come forward in high profile criminal cases, eg serial killings? There is no substitute for justice and due process of law... which have been denied here. Don't forget that right up until the bombs started falling, the Taliban said they would arrest O'Sama (our favorite Irishman) and put him on trial. All they needed was enough evidence for an arrest. Not too much to ask for is it?
Party of Citizens, 11/13/2001
Agreed.
----When people are so angry, so enthusiastic about avenging a wrong that they won't sit still for evidence or a trial, when they'll literally kill anyone who gets in their way, that's called a lynch mob.
----And that's what America's doing in Afghanistan.
When the coup was underway in November and December of last year, I contacted both the U.N. (Human Rights deprtment, I think it was) and the International Court of Justice to see if a person in the U.S. could seek legal aid beyond the complicit U.S. Supreme Court. And the answer was no from both parties. Since the U.S. chooses not to be a signatory, people in the U.S. can't seek help from outside the country for unfair elections, and, I'm assuming, violations of civil rights granted by the Constitution.
----In other words, the U.S. don't need no stinkin' international laws, and is el supremo in terms of what's right and what's not.
----It also means the U.S. can seek to bring leaders of other countries to trial for war crimes but doesn't have to submit its own war criminals to such unpleasant litigation. Cool!
Ramona, 11/13/2001
I am shocked
Fredyour Phrend [sic], 11/13/2001
I hope you're able to recover from the shock.
----What list do you think your weblog belongs on?
Jesus Christ, man, that jet crashed in Queens like eleven hours ago. Some of us count on you for news, but you don't have anything on this
Brett, 11/12/2001
If you want up-to-the-minute coverage of breaking news, I recommend Channels, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 29, 41, 50, and 62, along with CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS (where, indeed, you'll see a lot of BS).
----Unknown News is not the place to look for the news that's being covered everywhere else.
Here's a story you curiously, tellingly didn't link to. Osama bin Laden has admitted that he planned and carried out the attack on the World Trade Center. Perhaps this, this point blank confession leaving nothing to doubt, will finally open your eyes to the indisputable fact that America is doing the right thing trying to track him down and making him pay for his crimes. Open your eyes, Helen, and notice that there's something going on here you can actually be proud of. America is doing the right thing.
Walter D., 11/12/2001
I read the article you mentioned, yesterday morning while collecting articles for the site. Perhaps you'd like to read it too, as there's more (or less) to it than just a headline. I didn't think it linkworthy for the news section because it's basically empty; there's nothing there we didn't already know, nothing but wish-fulfillment or, perhaps, propaganda.
----The headline says: Bin Laden: Yes, I did it, but the article does not include bin Laden making such a statement, includes no link to a transcript, and no quotation which reasonably reads as a confession that he was behind the attacks of September 11.
----"[H]istory should be a witness that we are terrorists. Yes, we kill their innocents," bin Laden is quoted as saying. Unless he's making a specific reference to the attack of September 11 (which isn't indicated in the article), this is a "confession" only to being a terrorist who kills American innocents
----In the article, bin Laden says the killings were justified, and he goes on to say that the World Trade Center's twin towers were a "legitimate target" and the pilots who hijacked the planes were "blessed by Allah." Again, this is not something startling or new. Bin Laden has previously complimented the work behind the attacks.
----The author of the article writes that bin Laden "freely admits to being behind the attacks," and gives the following as the ultimate confessional quote: "If avenging the killing of our people is terrorism then history should be a witness that we are terrorists. Yes, we kill their innocents and this is legal religiously and logically." Absent further clarifying context, this could be construed as encouragement to his followers, as easily and perhaps more accurately than as a confession to the crimes of September 11.
----I especially liked the part of the article where the author mentions that this videotape "will form the centerpiece of Britain and America's new evidence against bin Laden, to be released this Wednesday." In other words, it'll be a propaganda piece by midweek, and we can all judge it for ourselves at that time.
----I would like to reiterate, as I've reiterated and re-reiterated already, nobody seriously argues that Osama bin Laden isn't a bad guy, isn't a terrorist, hasn't killed American innocents, and shouldn't be tracked down and brought to justice. My point is that we don't know whether Osama bin Laden was responsible for what happened September 11, and that the United States has publicly presented no evidence
----I would also reiterate that even if we knew with certainty that Osama bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on America, even if the evidence were publicly released for all to see and agree, that still wouldn't justify killing innocent people
----American forces are emphatically not, as you claim, "trying to track [bin Laden] down and [make] him pay for his crimes." I don't know what papers you read, but that is not the American mission in Afghanistan, and nobody seriously claims that it is. The American mission is to drop bombs and fire missiles at anyone who happens to be in Afghanistan.
----You're welcome to think of all this as America doing the right thing, but I seriously and strenuously disagree. To me it seems a dull-witted, primitive, and downright stupid response, unless the intent is to start a war without end. I am not proud of the American response; I am ashamed. It has so far accomplished only the following:
----Many innocent people are dead.
----Many, many more
----Many American military contractors stand to make a fortune, replenishing the expensive weapons the American military has used to turn a desolate wasteland into a desolate wasteland.
----Many more Arabs and Moslems hate Americans than did before.
----And presumably, more than a few of them have sworn vengeance. Perhaps they're taking flying lessons right now, or perhaps they're pursuing new and not-yet-imagined horrors.
----Time will tell.
Your little 'news' site makes me angry. It's not news if it's slanted, and it's not news if you smother it with your crazed opinions. Every day, you take the news and twist it to put America in the worst light. You are a traitor to everything this country stands for.
Mallet, 11/11/2001
I say what I believe, exercising the freedom this country stands for. If you have a problem with people being free to say what they believe, then you, dear sir or madame, are the traitor.
If you're still working on the layout of your page you might think about correcting the type that almost always runs into other type on your page. At the top of your page.
Michael W., 11/10/2001
I have checked out the page on versions of Internet Explorer copyright 1998 and newer, and Netscape Navigator copyright 1997 and newer, and it looks the way I want it to.
----Tell me more, please. What does this type at the top of the page say? I'll try to fix it, if I can.
----I'm no expert at designing a page. Taught myself the HTML it takes to put words on the screen, and since that's all I care about, that's about as much as I bothered to learn. I only know if there's a problem on my PC at home, the spouse's Mac at work, and a couple of friends' PCs. If the page presentation appears wrong for anyone else, you're all invited to let me know.
The Fourth Reich essay was very good. I think people should just start using that whenever discussing the U.S.. Maybe we should refer to the U.S. as Smirkistan and governed by the Fourth Reich.
Jerry, 11/10/2001
Hi there, First of all, thanks for your wonderful site. Everything could be perfect if discontinued links could still be available, by some mirroring or so. Would you mind just saving the text of articles in an alternate place to avoid unavailability?
Zvo, 11/10/2001
Sounds like a worthwhile project, but
----Anyone who finds the idea intriguing, however, and has the time should give it a go.
As I said, I like your site. For the news it is my first choice. My problem is that with five columns on a page you always have to scroll up or down, and this is a big distraction. I found that your earlier format was very good for me. I realise that there is a lot of work for a site as the one here; I thank you for it. Take care,
Lucille, 11/9/2001
Hmmm. Too many columns, they're too narrow, leads to too much scrolling. That's a valid complaint.
----How's ... this? Any better?
I just wanted to say that i appreciate what you do, and that you are heroes for the herculean effort you put into the battle for truth in these absurd times. Keep it up, please!
A.J., 11/9/2001
Thanks, Mom!
Hello, I really like your site, but I really do not like your new format. Good day,
Lucille, 11/8/2001
I hope you'll please tell me more about *why* the new format isn't to your liking. Is it too slow-loading? Too cluttered? Is some of the print too small? If you let me know specifically what you don't like, it might be something I can fix ...
I don't know why the American people are so afraid of Osama bin Laden
----I'm scared, real scared.
Heather G., 11/7/2001
Weaponry like this sucks! All war is about terror. The fine distinctions about who is and isn't a terrorist are lost on me, especially, when weapons like this are used against people unable to defend themselves. I suspect a dweeb like Smirk experiences a certain frisson at their use.
----I like the changes you're making in the site.
Glynnis O'Connor, 11/7/2001
In the past few days, I've come upon a couple of ideas that would likely be considered unAmerican by some of your readers and very American to others. Instead of pledging allegiance to the flag, Americans should pledge allegiance to the Constitution and Bill of Rights. And in lieu of flag decals in car windows, there should be Constitution and Bill of Rights decals to proudly display.
----The reason these make sense to me is that people would be commiting to clearly defined principles vs. cloth or symbols.
Wilford B., 11/6/2001
When I saw this headline, I was able to guess which building was a CIA front. Building 7 was the only one with security guards who looked at every passerby the same way a street thug looks at you while asessing wether he can mug you.
Joel H., 11/5/2001
From Harper's: Secretary of State Colin Powell appointed Charlotte Beers, an advertising executive best known for the Head and Shoulders campaign, to be undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. Beers said her job would be the rebranding of America: "It's the battle for the 11-year-old mind," [she said].
----She's the new face in the Bush Ministry of Propaganda. This may be the most telling comment of a Bush operative since the Coup of 2000.
----Why? Because it tells the people how they are viewed by Bush, inc.,
----The saddest part is that this is an accurate asessment. An educated, adult populace would have revolted against the Supreme Court appointment of a non-elected president. But 6-graders like to watch TV, play grab ass, and hang out at the mall. While they were doing that, the rest is history: unprecedented tax gifts for the wealthy and corporations, and a shredded Constitution and Bill of Rights. But 6th-graders don't care, because they are ... well, 6th-graders. Everything's in the tank? No problem for a 6th-grader.
Jerry, 11/4/2001
Yet another "swarthy foreigner" thrown in jail without a key on "tip" from informant. Bush is breeding an atmosphere here in the U.S. as noxious in its own way as an anthrax culture growing in a petri dish. "Report anyone suspicious": Now people are "informing on" anyone who doesn't look like them - that's suspicious enough, in our new police state. "We need more police power to fight terrorism." Now hundreds are being arrested and held without recourse and without being charged in jails across the U.S. as an "anti-terrorism" measure, most of them "swarthy" foreigners. You know, the exact same thing started happening in Germany around 1932...only the targets (excuses, more like) were Jews, not Arabs.
Cheryl, 11/3/2001
Since your site is aligned to post news that doesn't get much "big" media play. I would like to know if you would post this news story? If not, will you please explain why you would not post such a story?
----While I do enjoy reading some of the stories on this site, I believe that you are running around with blinders on. It seems that you are skewed by the same egos that drive the "big" media giants. Realizing that, you are allowed to speak and write what you wish.
----However, if you are striving to change the way people view and digest information, then I would suggest that you look into showing all the sides of a story. It's easy to destroy and blame, to hate and disagree. The real strength of a free society is to view things from all angles and perspectives.
----I hope you do not view this as an attack on your site or you personally, it's just frustrating to me to see so many people trying to knock down our Government, as they are trying to do some good. They are human beings and will make mistakes, but I believe their heart is near the right place.
----None of us desire to see others suffer, but in the same regards we do not wish to watch people suffer when there is any hope that we can do something to stop or change it. I feel bad for the innocents on both sides, but I am deeply devastated when I see how women are treated in Afghanistan. This issue seems to always be placed on a back burner. If no other reason for our being in their country appeals to you, then I ask that you think about the suffering of the women there before 9/11. This alone is enough reason for us to be there. We should have done something before, but we cannot change the past we can only work with the present and attempt to mold the future. Their struggle, I believe, is worth this fight. Changes are not easy, and some have a great price. You and I both live and breathe that great price everyday, and everyday I thank God that there were selfless human-beings that died for me and my family so that we could live in a world that allowed us to be happy, free and full of opportunities. Let's keep that hope and dream alive I say, else what is left? Thank You,
A Proud yet saddened American, 11/2/2001
You want us to link to a story headlined Northern Alliance: Bombs away on Ramadan, about the Afghan rebels inviting more bombs throughout their holy times. Why not? We're always interested in stories about the hypocrisies of people in power, and of people who want power. Thanks; it's on this morning's news page.
----Unknown News is not about "showing all sides of a story." That kind of objective journalism is, in my opinion, horseshit. We believe that one side of most stories
----Meanwhile, regarding the rest of your note
----"This alone is enough reason for us to be there," you write. "We" are not there; if we were, we'd probably be dead by now. But if that's "reason enough" for America to attack, do you want your government to expand this policy, and drop bombs on any and every nation that mistreats women? Goodness, you're going to need a lot of bombs.
----I think it's better for the women of the world, as well as the men and children, to be alive.
Under the new and exciting Patriot Act, shouldn't this CIA operative and his/her supervisors be arrested, detained incommunicado, and tortured until the truth be told. I guess that would also hold true for the hospital staff as well. After all, this would be a clear indication of supporting terrorism.
----But no, people talking about the story are likely more at risk than the alleged terrorists.
Jerry, 11/2/2001
Looking for earlier letters to the editor?
Return to top of page.
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS,
PRESS RELEASES, ETC.
Please let us know if a link is broken.
Definition of martial law
LINK ADDED
Nov. 15, 2001
"1. Temporary rule by military authorities, imposed on a civilian population especially in time of war or when civil authority has broken down. 2. The law imposed on an occupied territory by occupying military forces."
The American Heritageฎ Dictionary of the English Language; Fourth Edition, 2000.
The New McCarthyism:
Silencing dissent
LINK ADDED
Nov. 15, 2001
Thanks, CactusPat
Front and back of FBI anti-terrorist flyer, intended for distribution to police officers
LINK ADDED
Nov. 15, 2001
White House authorizes military trials
LINK ADDED
Nov. 14, 2001
Thanks, Cheryl, who adds
If you left all of the names of places and persons blank in this document, you would have a great working template for any fascist regime that ever besmudged the face of the planet, from the Romans to the Conquistadors right down through the Nazis and Stalinist Russia. Guess G. W. has penned the document for which he will be most remembered
Most of the bombing of Afghanistan features cluster bombs, which Human Rights Watch has asked be banned for humanitarian reasons
LINK ADDED
Nov. 14, 2001
Thanks, Ed H.
Field guidance on new authorities enacted in the 2001 anti-terrorism legislation
LINK ADDED
Nov. 10, 2001
Memo from management orders newspaper to skew the news
LINK ADDED
Nov. 9, 2001
----"DO NOT USE photos on Page 1A showing civilian casualties from the U.S. war on Afghanistan. Our sister paper in Fort Walton Beach has done so and received hundreds and hundreds of threatening e-mails and the like.
----"Also per Hal's order, DO NOT USE wire stories which lead with civilian casualties from the U.S. war on Afghanistan. They should be mentioned further down in the story. If the story needs rewriting to play down the civilian casualties, DO IT. The only exception is if the U.S. hits an orphanage, school or similar facility and kills scores or hundreds of children. See me if there are any special situations. "
Concerned Women for America says homosexual conference is "perverse" event advocating sadomasochism and pedophilia
LINK ADDED
Nov. 9, 2001
Thanks, Cheryl
Boulder Weekly is so proud of itself for censoring ads it deems undesirable ... just like the major media does
LINK ADDED
Nov. 4, 2001
Prayers for the persecuting church
LINK ADDED
Nov. 3, 2001
Thanks, Cheryl
"It seems that Satan has launched a hail of fiery darts at dad recently," writes Jonathan Falwell ...
LINK ADDED
Nov. 3, 2001
Thanks, Ed H.
Smoke a joint, and you're tokin' with Osama bin Laden
LINK ADDED
Nov. 3, 2001
Full page ad in The New York Times, 11/2/2001
LINK ADDED
Nov. 2, 2001
Summary of Lone Gunman episode, aired 3/4/2001
LINK ADDED
Oct. 31, 2001
... They realize that the airplane will be remote controlled, just like Bert's car was. Talking by phone to the Gunmen's office, Byers asks Langly and Frohike to hack into the aircraft controls. They do and discover that the plane is programmed to crash into the World Trade Center. ...
Military Police Internment/ Resettlement Operations
LINK ADDED
Oct. 31, 2001
Thanks, Jerry
'Freedom of Information Request' regarding individuals "arrested or detained" since 9/11/2001
LINK ADDED
Oct. 30, 2001
Drugging or torture of 9/11 suspects breaks Constitution, law, and treaties
LINK ADDED
Oct. 30, 2001
How the Anti-Terrorism Bill converts dissent into broadly-defined "terrorism"
LINK ADDED
Oct. 28, 2001
Looking for documents from our files?
Return to top of page.
WORLD LEADERS, IN THEIR OWN WORDS
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
"I want to assure the American people that in taking this action, we're acting based on clear evidence
"We're likely to experience more restrictions on our personal freedom than has ever been the case in our country."
"When you carefully consider FOIA requests and decide to withhold records, in whole or in part, you can be assured that the Department of Justice will defend your decisions unless they lack a sound legal basis or present an unwarranted risk of adverse impact on the ability of other agencies to protect other important records."
"For the first time in our history, we will probably suffer more casualties here at home in America than will our troops overseas."
"The fact that it could last several years, or many years, or maybe our lifetimes would not surprise me."
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
"Our objectives are clear. Because the Taliban have chosen to side with al-Qa'ida, [we have decided] to remove them."
"The objectives are clear, and the one about the removal of the Taliban is not something we have as a clear objective."
"They [the American people] still do not understand why exactly we were attacked and what precisely it is that we are supposed to do."
and noted war criminal
"The president said this is going to be a long war. He said this may be one year, it may be several years, it may be more than one administration. He's been very clear about that from the beginning, and that is what we are seeing."
Writing a term paper?
An article? A novel?
Whatever you need to write,
isn't it worth writing it right?
If you'd like your writing to be as effortlessly informative and compellingly readable as this website, please drop me a line: the-editor at bigfoot.com.
We'll both be glad you did.
CONTRIBUTORS' GUIDELINES
----If you'd like to be an Unknown Newshound, just start barkin'. We offer no pay, no fringe benefits, and no prestige, but also no meetings, no bosses, and only one litmus test: Are you interested in the kind of news you find on this page? Then go fetch!
----We probably don't read your local paper
----Just make sure the link you're sending is apropos: "Pet ferret saves owner's life" and "Sophomore dies in kiln explosion" are wacky, but wackiness is never enough for us
----We're not interested in
the same stories all the daily papers and TV newscast are covering; we want news that's unknown
pundits analyzing polls, primaries, and political consequences
the latest revelations on who shot JFK (we just assume everyone shot him)
fake news (unless it's really, really funny)
links to stories we've already linked to (we like to imagine you're actually reading this page, so please don't burst our bubble)
Zionist, Anti-Zionist, or other racist screeds (we believe intelligence and stupidity vary between individuals, not between ethnic or religious groups).
----We're highly skeptical and probably not interested in
self-serving columns written by politicians or celebrities
anything about the latest trends in pop culture
things you've heard second- or third-hand
conspiracy theories
anonymous or undocumented expos้s of cover-ups
unconfirmed rumors and/or wild guesses
emails from your in-box
things your co-workers and drunken friends told you
et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseam.
----We're picky. Some days the page may feature only half a dozen stories; other days we may have fifty. But every day, each and every story is selected because we believe it contains the highest quality news and opinion. Don't expect every story you send us to be prominently featured at Unknown News, especially if you send us lots of links.
----You may if you wish (and we encourage you to) suggest an altered headline for any news story you send in. If your new improved headline helps reveal what's really going on, chances are we'll go with it.
----You may also include a few paragraphs of commentary, but chances are we won't include it, at least not on the main news page. We usually prefer cryptic and curt news (even if it leaves some readers scratching their heads), instead of over-explaining exactly what people should think. If you have strongly-held opinions about a partiular item in the news, we'd welcome it in the form of a column or letter to the editor for the Op/Ed page.
----Still confused? Are you scratchin' your head bald, trying to understand the difference between Jay Leno's weird news headlines and Unknown News? We recommend you read our mission statement, which should clear everything up. And if it doesn't, hey, send your material in anyway. If we're not interested in it, we'll let you know. Sometimes, we'll even let you know courteously.
----We like links to stories that are credible, which means reputable sources are citing verifiable facts, not rumors or wide-eyes speculation. If you're sending a story from a mainstream journalistic source, we'll assume they've checked their facts, since their reputation is on the line with every story they run. If you're sending a story from a site with an obvious axe to grind, or an article you've written yourself, or news you heard from someone in the subway, then it's our reputation at Unknown News that's on the line, so we're going to request and require specific and credible documentation. Yes, it may be vaguely possible that Osama bin Laden is Ronald Reagan's love child, but if you want to interest us in the story, you'll have to prove it to our satisfaction.
----We welcome "think pieces," provided there's some thought behind them. We're especially pleased when the author says something you wouldn't hear on The McGlothlin Group, or read in any corporate-controlled newspaper. In other words, something interesting.
----We're eager for original submissions from amateur writers
----A loving memo to all writers: Do you know when editing is needed? When the editor says it's needed. Period. Please keep your ego out of the way.
----We welcome your ideas for features and changes that might make Unknown News more informative or enjoyable. All suggestions will be seriously considered, but no suggesters should be angry or surprised if the considered answer is a cordial no.
----We don't publish fiction, poetry, pictures, pretentious crap, but we love publishing literate, thoughtful writing related to the news (or to what should be news). Again, since we're looking for "unknown" material, the more famous the author, the less likely we'll link to his or her opinions.
----When we add a link, we prefer to link to the original source, with proper etiquette. Please include the original URL when suggesting we add a link of any kind.
----We'd also love to know about it when you find a reliable source we're unfamiliar with for under-reported news. See "Daily" and "Weekly," for the sites we already visit regularly to piece this page together.
----And lastly, please don't expect long, chatty communications. We assemble this page every morning, often starting as early as 4:00 AM and rarely finishing before 8:00 AM. Often we're scanning the news during the late morning, afternoon, and evening as well, between running errands and working for a living at some shitty job that actually pays. Due to such time constraints, our replies will almost always be brief, not much more than "Thanks," but when we say "thanks" we mean it. We sincerely appreciate the hell out of our newshounds.
----To contact Unknown News, please email unknownnews at bigfoot.com.
----Missions were established by Jesuits in California beginning in 1769, and were a key component in the genocide of indigenous peoples. Many thousands of natives were "converted" to Christianity, herded onto mission grounds, forced into backbreaking labor, underfed, malnourished, and eventually killed.
----At Unknown News, we believe missions are not a good idea.
----Times are tight. How's that for a 'financial statement'?
----Unknown News is not a corporation, not a foundation, not tax-deductible, and not a subsidiary of anything that is. We get no grants and certainly we make no profit. We're just her and him, husband and wife, living happily ever after and raking the muck while we're at it.
---- The time and work involved in this project have increased a lot since September 11, and our hit-counter is exploding. We're up by 4:00 in the morning (often earlier) seven days a week, working our shiney hineys off to find what's newsworthy, update this page, and get it all on-line before we're off to our Monday-thru-Friday work at full-time, low-paying jobs (and often taking short-term temp gigs on the weekend to help make ends meet). And we're way past our monthly maximum hits, setting new records every week, so every visitor every day adds a little more to our monthly bill.
---- In short, yes, we'd welcome any help you'd care to offer.
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PO Box 32185
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----Inquiries are invited at unknownnews at bigfoot.com; checks should be made payable to:
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PO Box 32185
Kansas City MO 64111
U.S.A.
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First and foremost,
ultimate thanks to
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love of my life
For the kind contributions which help keep us within shouting distance of meeting our on-line expenses, we give enthusiastic, heartfelt thanks to our subscribers
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For their unpaid work, scouring the major and minor media, we offer rib-crackin' cyberhugs to our Unknown Newshounds,
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