Govt. Officials Monitor Thousands of Letters Without Warrants

The US postal service approves more than 10,000 requests from US law enforcement each year to record names, addresses and other information from the outside of packages, according to information released through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The warrantless surveillance mail program -- as it is known -- requires only the approval of the US Postal Inspection Service Director, and not a judge.

Since 1998, the inspector has approved more than 97% of requests during criminal inquiries, new documents show. According to USA Today, which filed the request, "In 2004, 2005 and 2006, the most recent year provided, officials granted at least 99.5% of requests."

"The idea of the government tracking that amount of mail is quite alarming," Director of the American Civil Liberties Union's national security project Jameel Jaffer told the paper. "When you realize that (the figure) does not include national security matters, the numbers are even more alarming."

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Bank Bill Would Insulate Mortgage Lenders!!!

By Lisa Rein / Washington Post

Even as Maryland leaders move to mitigate the home foreclosure crisis, a bill to save state-chartered banks from paying hundreds of millions of dollars in refunds and damages to homeowners is moving quietly through the General Assembly.

The legislation, to be taken up by the state Senate today, has attracted little public notice. But it is the subject of one of the biggest lobbying battles in Annapolis in years, pitting the powerful state banking industry against Peter G. Angelos, Baltimore Orioles owner and lawyer. Both sides say they are championing the interests of thousands of consumers who take out home equity loans or lines of credit on their mortgages, often to fund renovations or consolidate debt.

At issue are the penalties banks charge borrowers who pay off the loans early, depriving lenders of interest payments, which generate their biggest revenue. The banks have for years agreed to waive upfront closing costs on second mortgages -- usually $500 to $1,500 -- as long as borrowers agree to keep their debt for two or three years.

The system was thrown into turmoil in December when the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a Baltimore man who sued Provident Bank over a $681 fee he was charged when he refinanced a $17,000 home equity loan at a lower interest rate.

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West Bank Barriers Keep Rising Despite Promises of Relief

Commute Becomes 'Daily Humiliation'

Karim Edwan's skepticism about the U.S.-backed Middle East peace process is rooted in his morning commute.

To travel from his home in this West Bank village to his job as an emergency room doctor, the 35-year-old must take at least two cabs, skirt a barbed-wire fence, climb a dirt mound, talk his way through multiple Israeli checkpoints and remove his shoes for a full-body security check.

Before the obstacles were imposed, the trip to his hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus took 30 minutes. Now it takes two hours.

"It's my daily humiliation," he said.

The hope of Abbas and other participants in the Annapolis peace talks last November was that the Israeli-occupied West Bank would become a model for what negotiations could bring.

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FBI Chief Confirms Misuse of Subpoenas

Security Letters Used to Get Personal Data

By Dan Eggen / Washington Post

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III told senators yesterday that agents improperly used a type of administrative subpoena to obtain personal data about Americans until internal reforms were enacted last year.

Mueller said a forthcoming report from the Justice Department's inspector general will find that abuses recurred in the agency's use of national security letters in 2006, echoing similar problems to those identified in earlier audits.

Inspector General Glenn A. Fine reported a year ago that the FBI used such letters -- which are not subject to a court's review -- to improperly obtain telephone logs, banking records and other personal records of thousands of Americans from 2003 to 2005. An internal FBI audit also found that the bureau potentially violated laws or agency rules more than 1,000 times in such cases.

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Fed Report Signals Weakness in Variety of Industries

The economic downturn, which started in the handful of states where the housing market was in the worst shape, is spreading to almost every corner of the country and to a wide variety of industries, according to a Federal Reserve report released yesterday.

The trouble is showing up in such disparate ways as weaker demand for staffing services in New England, lower trucking volume in Ohio and surrounding states, and a resistance to spending money on capital projects by financial institutions on the West Coast.

That assessment is based on the "beige book," a compilation of anecdotes from businesses around the country gathered by the Fed's 12 regional banks. The previous report, in the middle of January, found signs of weakness in certain states and industries but described a U.S. economy that was generally holding up.

This time, two-thirds of the Fed's districts described a softening or weakening in the pace of business activity, and the others all referred to subdued, slow, or modest growth.

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Govt. Needs to Investigate Predatory Lending Practices

Mortgage Foreclosures Rise

By Kathleen M. Howley / Bloomberg

U.S. mortgage foreclosures rose to an all-time high at the end of 2007 as borrowers with adjustable-rate loans walked away from properties before their payments increased, the Mortgage Bankers Association said today.

New foreclosures jumped to 0.83 percent of all home loans in the fourth quarter from 0.54 percent a year earlier. Late payments rose to a 23-year high, the organization said in a report today.

``We're seeing people give up even before they get to the reset because they couldn't afford the home in the first place,'' said Jay Brinkmann, vice president of research and economics for the Washington-based trade group.

The Bush administration is urging lenders to avert foreclosures by modifying mortgage terms amid the worst housing slump in a quarter century. The Federal Reserve has slashed its benchmark interest rate twice this year to try to avert the first recession since 2001. The central bank yesterday said the net worth of U.S. households decreased by $532.9 billion during the fourth quarter as home values fell.

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Congress Threatens To Pull Funding for Air Force Tankers

Congressional leaders threatened yesterday to withhold funding for one of the U.S. military's biggest aircraft programs because the $40 billion contract went to a group that includes a European manufacturer.

Since Friday, when the Air Force awarded the initial part of a contract to replace 179 Air Force refueling tankers to the team of Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautic Defence and Space, congressional leaders have questioned why that bid was chosen over one by Boeing, the largest U.S. aircraft manufacturer. Critics have said that the Air Force is outsourcing its purchasing in a way that could threaten national security and have accused the service of not taking the creation of American jobs into account.

At a two-hour hearing of the House panel that controls defense spending, committee chairman John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), said: "There is the industrial base you have to consider. The political implications are important. . . . This committee funds this program. All this committee has to do is stop the money, and this program is not going forward."

After the hearing Murtha said, "This is not a done deal."

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Hizballah 'Ready' to Fight Israel and America

Hizballah will not start the next war, but if it comes, it is ready to fight both Israel and the United States, the group's deputy chief Naim Kassem said in an interview with the Hizballah-affiliated newpaper Al-Akhbar. "The Israelis know they have to pay a high price in any war," Kassem said in the interview published on Wednesday.

Hizballah "is well prepared to face an Israeli, American and international war."

His comments follow a spike in tensions stemming from the assassination of a top Hizballah terrorist in a Damascus car bombing. Hizballah blamed Israel for killing Imad Mughniyeh, but Israel denied involvement. Israeli sources were quoted this week as saying that Hizballah now has 20,000 short-range and 10,000 long range rockets, including those that can reach deep into Israel.

The U.S. recently deployed U.S. warships off the coast of Lebanon, presumably as a show of support for Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's pro-democracy, anti-Syrian government.

Pelosi's Bill Could Benefit Husband's Stock Holding

On Aug. 2, Pelosi (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Early Treatment for HIV Act, a bill that could boost Medicaid coverage of HIV-related drugs, including Procrit, which is manufactured by Amgen and marketed by a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, a firm in which Pelosi's husband owns at least $250,000 Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) campaign.

Specifically, the legislation would give states the option to allow patients who are HIV-positive, but do not have AIDS, to qualify for Medicaid coverage earlier in the course of the virus. Currently, Medicaid coverage doesn't kick in until a patient develops AIDS.

The legislation could also extend to HIV drugs Prezista and Intellence, manufactured by a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary. But these two drugs would not always be for early treatment of HIV.

The legislation has more than 50 co-sponsors, including some Republicans. However, considering Pelosi's potential interest in the legislation, her sponsorship of the bill is questionable, said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative government watchdog group.

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Parents of 166,000 Students Could Face Criminal Charges

By Bob Unruh / World Net Daily

A breathtaking ruling from a California appeals court that could subject the parents of 166,000 students in the state to criminal sanctions will be taken to the Supreme Court.

The announcement comes today from the Pacific Justice Institute, whose president, Brad Dacus, described the impact of the decision as "stunning."

"The scope of this decision by the appellate court is breathtaking," he said. "It not only attacks traditional homeschooling, but also calls into question homeschooling through charter schools and teaching children at home via independent study through public and private school."

"If not reversed, the parents of the more than 166,000 students currently receiving an education at home will be subject to criminal sanctions," he said.

WND broke the story of the ruling against Phillip and Mary Long of Los Angeles.

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Baxter Heparin Contaminant Found!

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced yesterday, 5th March, they had found evidence that the heparin blood thinning product made by Baxter that has been linked to several deaths and serious reactions in hundreds of patients contains a contaminant that is hard to detect using standard tests.

Speaking at a news conference, FDA Deputy Commissioner Dr Janet Woodcock is reported by the New York Times as saying:

"At this point, we do not know whether the introduction was accidental or whether it was deliberate."

Woodcock said the FDA had not yet established how the compound got into the active ingredient.

According to the FDA, 19 people have died in the last 14 months and 785 are reported to be gravely ill of severe allergic reactions after receiving injections of Baxter's heparin, but investigators have not yet established a direct link between these events and the contaminated heparin.

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Bush: Congress Irrelevant on Iraq

The Bush administration says the 2002 congressional authorization to go to war in Iraq gives it the authority to conduct combat operations in Iraq and negotiate far-reaching agreements with the current Iraqi government without consulting Congress.

The assertion, jointly made Tuesday by U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Mary Beth Long, drew an incredulous reaction from Democrats on a Joint House committee during a hearing on future U.S. commitments to Iraq.

“It's the view of the administration that as long as there’s trouble in Iraq that you have authorization of this Congress to continue there in perpetuity and define trouble as you desire?” asked Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y.

“We have authorization to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq,” Satterfield replied. “The situation in Iraq continues to present a threat to the United States.”

The Bush administration also feels it does not need to seek the authorization of Congress to ratify two pending agreements with Iraq: a “Strategic Framework” that would govern “normalized” relations with the U.S., and a Status of Forces Agreement that would govern the “authorities and protections” of U.S. troops in Iraq past Dec. 31, the expiration of a U.N. resolution that the administration says authorizes their presence.

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Russian Mafia in Bed with Wall Street, CEO says

Every day, thousands of Americans look to invest their money in stocks, and many of them go through brokers and traders to simplify the process.

Unfortunately, according to Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, a majority of those purchasers will be victims of Wall Street's criminal tactics and will help line the pockets of corrupt brokers and lawyers. Byrne, a Utahn who founded Overstock.com, talked to a crowd in the Union on Monday about how New York financial media and law firms have teamed up with big-wig business elites to create massive amounts of profit at the cost of American consumers.

Byrne said when someone purchases a stock, there is a three-day stock settlement period during which a broker or a trader must provide a purchaser with that stock. However, through loopholes in the system, brokers and traders can legally not provide you with that stock almost indefinitely, giving the purchaser an IOU instead, Byrne said.

"It's my thesis that certain people have figured out how they can abuse that loophole, and flood the market...often in connivance with a broker dealer," he said.

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Crimes by Homeland Security Agents Stir Alert!

By Jay Weaver & Alfonso Chardy / Miami Herald

Bribery! Drug trafficking! Migrant smuggling!

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is supposed to stop these types of crimes. Instead, so many of its officers have been charged with committing those crimes themselves that their boss in Washington recently issued an alert about the ''disturbing events'' and the ``increase in the number of employee arrests.''

Thomas S. Winkowski, assistant commissioner of field operations, wrote a memo to more than 20,000 officers nationwide noting that employees must behave professionally at all times -- even when not on the job.

''It is our responsibility to uphold the laws, not break the law,'' Winkowski wrote in the Nov. 16 memo obtained by The Miami Herald.

Winkowski's memo cites employee arrests involving domestic violence, DUI and drug possession. But court records show Customs officers and other Department of Homeland Security employees from South Florida to the Mexican border states have been charged with dozens of far more serious offenses.

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Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili has urged the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on the U.S. for developing nuclear weapons.
“The Security Council must issue sanctions resolution against the U.S. which has a long record in proliferation and use of nuclear weapons,” Jalili told Japan's NHK television aired on Friday.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator accused the United States of violating international law by using nuclear weapons against Japan, building nuclear arsenals, and proliferating atomic arms.

“According to the Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty which calls for nuclear disarmament, the United States must report to the International Atomic Energy Agency on how it has obeyed international law on nuclear arms,” Jalili stated.

“Today the U.S. does not have a good image in the world. The United States is the only country which has used this inhumane weapon against innocent people… the Japanese people will surely never forget the U.S. crimes.

More F.B.I. Privacy Breaches Reported

The FBI improperly used national security letters in 2006 to obtain personal data on Americans during terror and spy investigations, Director Robert Mueller said Wednesday.

Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the privacy breach by FBI agents and lawyers occurred a year before the bureau enacted sweeping new reforms to prevent future lapses.

Details on the abuses will be outlined in the coming days in a report by the Justice Department's inspector general.

The report is a follow-up to an audit by the inspector general a year ago that found the FBI demanded personal data on people from banks, telephone and Internet providers and credit bureaus without official authorization and in non-emergency circumstances between 2003 and 2005.

Mueller, noting senators' concerns about Americans' civil and privacy rights, said the new report ''will identify issues similar to those in the report issued last March.''

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Army Struggles with Rising Suicide

 All Spec. Travis Virgadamo ever wanted was to be a soldier.

But two years after his father signed papers for him to enlist at age 17, things went terribly wrong. Last August, three months after arriving in Iraq, he walked outside his barracks and killed himself with his rifle.

When the news crackled over the Bonecrusher Troop's radio, 1st Lt. Kyle Graham knew immediately that it was Virgadamo, the troubled soldier who had been on suicide watch since June, when he threatened to kill himself while on patrol.

"I feel like we all had some responsibility to make sure this didn't happen," Graham said shortly after the incident. "It's our responsibility to make sure we take care of our fellow soldiers."

Virgadamo, whose case has been cited on the Senate floor and in congressional hearings, is a symbol of a growing problem facing the military as soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars face repeated and extended deployments.

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Machinations of the Matrix

Written by Andrew Winkler / The Rebel Media Group

The corporate scribblings from Washington to Jerusalem are in overdrive. Vanity Fair has done it again, we are being told. In its April 2008 edition, we read Condi Rice and George W. Bush have secretly plotted to destroy Hamas. [1]

After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever. 

"Duhh!," replies the dissident media scene. "We knew that all along. But nice of Vanity Fair to finally tell the truth. This goes to prove that not all is lost in corporate media." Well… that’s what the Matrix wants us to believe.

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Colombia Is Flashpoint in Chávez’s Feud With U.S.

 In the four days since Colombian forces crossed into Ecuador and killed a guerrilla leader taking refuge there, tensions between Colombia — Washington’s top regional ally — and its leftist neighbors have erupted, highlighting the fact that Colombia and its policies are increasingly viewed here as American proxies.

President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela called Colombia the “Israel of Latin America” saying both countries bombed and invaded neighbors by invoking “a supposed right to defense” that he said was ordered by the United States. He has sent troops to the border and expelled Colombia’s ambassador. His agriculture minister said Tuesday that the frontier with Colombia would be closed to stop commerce.

In turn, Colombia said it would file charges against Mr. Chávez with the International Criminal Court, accusing him of assisting Colombia’s largest rebel group.

Meanwhile, President Bush fiercely defended Colombia, which receives $600 million a year in American aid to fight the leftist rebels and drug trafficking. He used the diplomatic crisis to push Congress to approve a Colombia trade deal that has languished for more than a year because of concerns among senior Democrats over human rights abuses there.

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The Federal Reserve Has Become Irrelevant

By John Hoefle / Executive Intelligence Review

Could they really be that stupid? That is the question which comes to mind watching the recent spate of statements by government officials discussing what they see as the problems facing the economy, and what needs to be done to solve them. Rather than admitting the global financial system has failed, and must be put through bankruptcy, they blather on about whether or not we have entered into a recession, and about the need to protect asset values from the effects of what they prefer to call the "housing crisis."

Take the case of poor Ben Bernanke, who had the misfortune of taking over as chairman of the Federal Reserve just in time for the worst financial crash in six centuries. Bernanke has a reputation for being an expert on the Crash of 1929 and the banking problems which surrounded it, but judging from his public statements, he still believes we are in the midst of a housing crisis.

"Many of the challenges now facing our economy stem from the continuing contraction of the U.S. housing market," Bernanke told the House Committee on Financial Services in his Feb. 27, Semiannual Monetary Report to Congress.

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