The Bush administration plans to leave oversight of its expanded foreign eavesdropping program to the same government officials who supervise the surveillance activities and to the intelligence personnel who carry them out, senior government officials said yesterday. The law, which permits intercepting Americans' calls and e-mails without a warrant if the communications involve overseas transmission, gives Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Attorney General Alberto R.

“For legal practitioners to delay court proceedings to the benefit of alleged pedophiles and child abusers is abhorrent and I commend Judge Helen O’Sullivan on behalf of child victims for her recent stand against these avoidable delays.

“The Department of Child Safety and the Police do as much as they can to bring offenders before the courts, and it is important for the justice system to recognise the emotional impacts delays can have on child victims.

17 August 2007 - Greens lead Senate candidate Larissa Waters and Greens candidate for Herbert Jenny Stirling have launched The Greens vision for Townsville on The Strand this morning.

"In Parliament today the Minister used the excuse of there being a shortage of foster carers which is already well documented," she said.

"It is common knowledge there is a shortage of foster carers and experienced staff. Whilst the majority do a wonderful job there are some who do not, which raises the question of whether the children would be better off with their own parents if they were given intensive, regular support."

Sourced:
http://www.qldcoalition.org.au/news/article.aspx?ID=1434

NSA Surveillance Comes Under Fire Today in Appeals Court Battle

San Francisco - In a packed San Francisco courtroom today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow AT&T customers to continue to fight against illegal spying on their telephone and Internet communications.

Pine Gap Trial DPP Appeal – Sat August 4th 2007

GOVT. CONTINUES HEAVY-HANDED APPROACH

Despite the embarrassment of the Haneef debacle the Howard government continues its "vindictive and bloody-minded" approach to national security, lodging an appeal to increase the sentences of four Christian pacifists convicted of entering Pine Gap in December 2005.

Very Scary Things, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: In September 1998, the collapse of Long Term Capital Management, a giant hedge fund, led to a meltdown in the financial markets similar, in some ways, to what’s happening now. … The Fed coordinated a rescue…, while Robert Rubin, the Treasury secretary…, and Alan Greenspan,… the [...]

The following is a revised version of a May 10, 2007 talk that Ronald Bleier gave at a conference on U.S. Middle East Policy at LaGuardia Community College. The Israel Lobby, the Grassroots and the Radical Bush-Cheney Regimeby Ronald BleierJuly 2007Good morning. My name is Ronald Bleier and I’m delighted to be invited to LaGuardia Community [...]

ROME, Aug. 9 — The Vatican worked Thursday to minimize the significance of a brief meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and a Polish priest accused of making anti-Semitic statements, in the latest of several tense episodes recently between Jews and Roman Catholics.In a one-sentence statement, the Vatican suggested that the meeting consisted only of a [...]

by Mike AdamsDespite its stated mission, “To promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health,” the American Medical Association (AMA) has taken many missteps in protecting the health of the American people. One of the most striking examples is the AMA’s long-term relationship with the tobacco industry.Both the AMA and [...]