We are being taxed out of our homes
WQXT Editorial by Frederick St. John
We are being taxed out of our homes; this is the number one complaint we receive from viewers. It would seem we are being taxed out of our homes. First this must be stopped.
That will take telling the St. Johns County Commission we are mad as hell and not going to take this any more. We must call, write letters, email, petition, speak at county board meetings, and tell friends, neighbors, and family members about this problem. We can do something to stop this nightmare. We must become organized and united to stop being taxed out of our homes. Second, we must look at what caused this nightmare....
How a feisty Florida town fends off malls
A fisherman turned drug smuggler turned retired old salt, Floyd Brown claims he can find his way back here – one of the last Florida frontiers – without a compass from anywhere in the Gulf of Mexico. It's a skill, he says, he put to use more than once when he ferried bales of marijuana from Latin America to the Shark River in the 1970s. A direct descendant of the 19th century pirates who first settled here in these 10,000 islands, Brown is like many residents in Everglades City. Together they've managed to engineer a modern day coup in Florida: keeping out the crush of condos and chain stores.
Orlando Wachovia Bank Gave Counterfeit Bills, Couple Says
A couple has contacted the Secret Service claiming a Central Florida bank gave them 10 counterfeit bills during a transaction. Ulises Garcia said he was withdrawing cash from a Wachovia Bank and depositing it into a Bank of America so he could pay his bills online.
However, the Bank of America teller noticed something funny about 10 of the 36 $100 bills Garcia said he received from Wachovia Bank -- they were counterfeit, Local 6's Tony Pipitone reported. However, the bank has not given Garcia or his fiancé, Joann Rodriguez, any money....
Russia mulls sending bombers to Cuba
Russia may start regular flights by long-range bombers to Cuba in response to US plans to build missile defence sites in Eastern Europe, the newspaper Izvestia reported Monday, quoting an official.
"Such discussions exist," the unidentified senior Russian air force official was quoted as saying, adding that the measure would be a response to the United States "deploying missile defence systems in Poland and the Czech Republic.
US general warns Russia on nuclear bombers in Cuba
Russia would cross "a redline for the United States of America" if it were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba, a top US air force officer warned on Tuesday.
"If they did I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America," said General Norton Schwartz, nominated to be the air force's chief of staff. He was referring to a Russian news report that said the military is thinking of flying long-range bombers to Cuba on a regular basis.
Conservative Lawyers Urge Bush To Issue 'Pre-Emptive Pardons' To Officials Involved In Illegal Programs
The New York Times reported this weekend that “[f]elons are asking President Bush for pardons and commutations at historic levels as he nears his final months in office, a time when many other presidents have granted a flurry of clemency requests.” However the Times noted that despite commuting Scooter Libby’s prison sentence, applicants “should expect to be disappointed” because Bush “has made little use of his clemency power” compared to past presidents.
Except perhaps if you participated in any illegal activity involving the Bush administration’s controversial counterterrorism programs. According to the Times, “several members of the conservative legal community” in Washington D.C. are urging Bush to issue “pre-emptive pardons” to those involved so as to “not be exposed even to the risk of an investigation and expensive legal bills”....
Grateful Dead - KGO TV News (San Fransisco) June 1985 (Video)
To mark the 20th anniversary of Grateful Dead, KGO TV ran a three-part series on it's local newscast. Lots of very familiar footage, some New Year's Eve '84, Chinese New Year '85, Frost Ampitheater '85 and on the final report some footage from earlier in the evening at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. Interview clips with Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Graham, David Gans and others. Early in this series they mention Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, while the shot is actually Phil Lesh from the famous film by Robert Nelson. June 1985
Canada's spreading cannabis crop
In the first of two pieces on organised crime accompanying his Radio 4 series How crime took on the world, Misha Glenny visits British Columbia in Canada where homegrown marijuana has become big business. As we walk into John's basement, the smell is so overwhelming it almost knocks me off my feet.
In front of me stand 120 marijuana plants whose thick bushy leaves cover the strong stems.
John explains quite nonchalantly that this is just a small growing operation, or grow-ops as they are known throughout Canada.
Will Ferrell Campaigns For Vice President On Letterman (VIDEO)
Will Ferrell took a moment away from talk about family and his new film "Step Brothers" on "The Late Show" Monday night to campaign to be Barack Obama's vice president. And then to campaign to be John McCain's pick.
Apple hints at something new
While warning that its profit margin will fall in the coming quarter, alarming investors, Apple is indicating that it has something really juicy to introduce before the end of September. The tease came Monday as Peter Oppenheimer, the Apple chief financial officer, explained why the company expected its gross profit margin to drop from 34.8 percent in the three months that ended in June to 30 percent in the current quarter. That caused a sharp drop in Apple's stock price in after-hours trading on Monday.
One reason for the narrower margins is a promotion that gives free iPods to students who buy new Macintosh computers. But another is what Oppenheimer called "a future product transition, which I can't discuss today."
Pickens sees $300 oil unless U.S. cuts import need
Oil prices will hit $300 a barrel in 10 years if the United States fails to reduce its dependence on foreign imports, billionaire oil investor T. Boone Pickens said on Tuesday.
The United States imports nearly 70 percent of its oil now and Pickens said the world's top petroleum-consuming nation would import 80 percent in a decade if it does not aggressively tap its own natural gas and renewable resources. "If we continue to drift, oil will hit $300 a barrel in 10 years," Pickens said during testimony at a Senate hearing.
U.S. highway trust fund veers toward crisis
Soaring gasoline prices are hurting Uncle Sam in the wallet too.
As motorists cut back on their driving and buy more fuel-efficient cars, the government is taking in less money from the federal gasoline tax. The result: The principal source of funding for highway projects will soon hit a big financial pothole. The federal highway trust fund could be in the red by $3.2 billion or more next year.
The fund, set to finance about $40 billion in transportation projects next year, is increasingly strained. And the problem has taken on greater urgency as lawmakers face a backlog of projects to maintain the nation's aging interstate highway system and ease traffic congestion.
Government index shows record 4.8 percent decline in US home prices in May from a year ago
A government report says U.S. home prices fell a record 4.8 percent in May from the same month last year.
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight also says prices, on a seasonally adjusted basis, fell 0.3 percent from April to May. The index is down almost 5 percent from its peak in April of last year. OFHEO oversees the government-sponsored mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Epilepsy Study Incriminates Aspartame in Medications
The Pacific Epilepsy Society in affiliation with the Epileptic Foundation of Maui has completed a seven year study on Epilepsy and Seizures, finding that epilepsy is at an all time high in Hawaii and the western states and Pacific Ocean Territories. There has been a 100% increase over the two previous years. See EFM Survey, Freedom of Info Act 2000-2008 & EFM Survey 1999-0....
Singapore: Says it Will Study Kidney Trading
Singapore is considering legalizing kidney trading to help meet demand for kidney transplants, the city-state's health minister said Monday.
The Health Ministry will examine the feasibility of providing payments to unrelated donors to augment the supply of kidneys, Khaw Boon Wan said in Parliament, acknowledging that the suggestion has stirred controversy.
Dementia patient makes 'amazing' progress after using
infra-red helmet
Two months ago Clem Fennell was fading fast.
The victim of an aggressive type of dementia, the 57-year-old businessmen was unable to answer the phone, order a meal or string more than a couple of words together. In desperation, his family agreed to try a revolutionary new treatment - a bizarre-looking, experimental helmet devised by a British GP that bathes the brain in infra-red light twice a day.
To their astonishment, Mr Fennel began to make an astonishing recovery in just three weeks.
Alaska tops birth defects national average
Babies born in Alaska are twice as likely to be born with major birth defects as babies in the 49 other states, a state health department study indicates. State officials say they're at a loss to explain why all races of Alaskans top national rates for "major congenital anomalies," based on a review of data from 1996 through 2002 drawn from the Alaska Birth Defect Registry, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Rates were especially high among Alaska Natives, for whom birth defects were reported in 10.5 percent of all live births, compared to 6 percent for all Alaskans, the statistics indicated. Among white Alaskans the rate was 4 percent. Among all Americans the rate was 3 percent.
Even Batman Feels the Pain at the Pump....
Are the Florida department of Children and Families run by Nazis?
Part 1
Are the department of Children and Families run by Nazis? Norma Ask Attorneys Tom Cusman and Anne Marie Gennusa What they think.
Are the Florida department of Children and Families run by Nazis?
Part 2
Are the department of Children and Families run by Nazis? In part 2 Norma Ask Attorneys Tom Cushman and Anne Marie Gennusa What they think.
Is America too big to fail?
In the narrative that has governed American commercial life for the last quarter-century, saving companies from their own mistakes was not supposed to be part of the government's job description. Economic policymakers in the United States took swaggering pride in the cutthroat but lucrative form of capitalism that was supposedly indigenous to their frontier nation.
Through this uniquely American lens, saving businesses from collapse was the sort of thing that happened on other shores, where sentimental commitments to social welfare trumped sharp-edged competition.
Wachovia Posts $8.9 Billion Loss
Wachovia Corp. lost $8.86 billion in the second quarter, and said Tuesday it was slashing its dividend and cutting 6,350 jobs after losses tied to mortgages soared. Even excluding one-time items, the results substantially missed Wall Street estimates, and shares sank to mid-1991 levels in premarket trading.
''These bottom-line results are disappointing and unacceptable,'' Chairman Lanty Smith said in a statement. ''While to some degree they reflect industry headwinds and weaker macroeconomic conditions, they also reflect performance for which we at Wachovia accept responsibility.'
Daily Show: Obama Quest, The Legend Begins (Video)
..."In Manchester last night, there was just one reporter and one photographer waiting for McCain as his plane -- a white, blue and gold Boeing 737-400 emblazoned with his campaign slogan, 'Reform, Prosperity, Peace' -- touched down on the Wiggins Airways tarmac," wrote The Union Leader.
On Monday night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart cut right to the chase, mocking the extensive coverage of Barack Obama's trip to Iraq. Daily Show reporters Rob Riggle, Larry Wilmore, John Oliver, Wyatt Cenac and Ed Henry all joke that they have 'a boner' for Obama and follow the campaign to the Middle East, leaving just a tape recorder tethered to a crude stand to cover McCain.
Referencing press coverage of Obama playing basketball with the troops, Wyatt Cenac asked, "Did you see when the President hit that three-pointer....
Death of Free Internet is Imminent: Canada Will Become Test Case
In the last 15 years or so, as a society we have had access to more information than ever before in modern history because of the Internet. There are approximately 1 billion Internet users in the world B and any one of these users can theoretically communicate in real time with any other on the planet. The Internet has been the greatest technological achievement of the 20th century by far, and has been recognized as such by the global community.....
....However, the issue of text messaging is just a tiny blip on the radar screens of Telus and another company, Bell Canada, the two largest Internet Service Providers (ISP'S) in Canada. Our country is being used as a test case to drastically change the delivery of Internet service forever. The change will be so radical that it has the potential to send us back to the horse and buggy days of information sharing and access.......In the upcoming weeks watch for a report in Time Magazine that will attempt to smooth over the rough edges of a diabolical plot by Bell Canada and Telus, to begin charging per site fees on most Internet sites. The plan is to convert the Internet into a cable-like system, where customers sign up for specific web sites, and then pay to visit sites beyond a cutoff point.
Amazing images of Dubai UAE
The Fastest growing city in the world is Dubai. These images document Dubai's growth over the last 20 years. It also includes images of future projects of Dubai. Eventually Dubai will become the finacial capital of the world. Hallibuton has already moved it's headquarters to Dubai.
The mystery of Rio
Hundreds of baby penguins swept from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia are washing up dead on Rio de Janeiro's tropical beaches. More than 400 of the birds have been found dead on the area's beaches in the past two months, and more are being found in a distressed or sickly condition.
While it is common to find a few dozen penguins swept here from the Straits of Magellan by strong currents, there have been more this year than at any time in recent memory. Experts are divided over the possible causes.
Leopard Attacks Crocodile (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
While on a recent trip to Kruger National Park in South Africa, wildlife photographer Hal Brindley managed to capture film of a leopard attacking a crocodile. Click here to see the series of photos, or watch the slide show and video below...
Traffic deaths a public health crisis like aids
On April 25, the United Nations General Assembly, driven by the worsening global road safety situation—despite action taken by various UN agencies through the decades—passed “Resolution 62/244 Improving global road safety.”
The resolution:
1.Invites Member States to actively participate in the development of the global road safety status report being prepared by the World Health Organization;....
Selling Sickness (Video)
Selling Sickness explores the unhealthy relationships between society, medical science and the pharmaceutical industry as they promote their new miracle cures. Selling not just drugs but also the latest diseases that go with them....
Have scientists discovered a cure for Alzheimer's?
Scientists were amazed when a 20-year-old hay fever drug was found to be highly effective in treating dementia. A hundred years after Alzheimer's disease was discovered, a cure for the degenerative condition that strips sufferers of their memory and personality remains a dream. The main advances have been in drugs to control symptoms such as agitation and restlessness. Restoring memory and cognitive ability has proved much harder.
That is why the publication last week of research showing that an old Russian drug once prescribed for hay fever may be the most effective treatment yet for the devastating condition has captured the attention of scientists and patients' groups.
A single 20mg pill of the drug, called Dimebon, taken three times a day, appears to be twice as effective in improving cognitive performance and preventing deterioration in memory as existing drugs.
Bluetooth is watching: secret study gives Bath a flavour of
Big Brother
Tens of thousands of Britons are being covertly tracked without their consent in a technology experiment which has installed scanners at secret locations in offices, campuses, streets and pubs to pinpoint people's whereabouts.
The scanners, the first 10 of which were installed in Bath three years ago, are capturing Bluetooth radio signals transmitted from devices such as mobile phones, laptops and digital cameras, and using the data to follow unwitting targets without their permission.
Logs Show Activist Surveillance Continued Despite Lack of
Criminal Findings
The March 16, 2005, meeting of the Maryland Campaign to End the Death Penalty convened as usual at the Electrik Maid community center in Takoma Park, with an agenda similar to that of any grass-roots group with a passionate cause but no hired help. Donations were solicited for signs, fliers and other administrative expenses. A table was planned for an upcoming Sunday farmers market. A sign-up sheet was prepared for distribution at the local town hall meeting the next month. After organizers had coordinated nine events from College Park to Baltimore to protest the scheduled execution of death-row inmate Vernon L. Evans Jr., they concluded the meeting.
To the activists, it was as noteworthy as a PTA gathering. To "Analyst Sparwasser," an agent for the Maryland State Police's Homeland Security and Intelligence Division, it was a target for undercover infiltration.
COINTELPRO Returns: My First-Hand Experience With
Government Spies
Finally, at long last, I have something in common with Muhammad Ali. My Constitutionally protected dissent was monitored by the Feds.
No, I'm not the heavyweight champion of the world, and haven't been named spokesperson for Raid bug spray. Like "the Greatest" - not to mention far too many others -- I have been a target of state police surveillance for activities -- in my case against the death penalty -- that were legal, non-violent, and, so we assumed, constitutionally protected. In classified reports compiled by the Maryland State Police and the Department of Homeland Security, I am "Dave Z." This nickname was given by an undercover agent known to us as "Lucy."...
U.S. Expansion May Be First Without Income Recovery
For six years, Tom Stechmiller's 2 percent annual pay raises didn't keep up with increases in the cost of living. Now, with prices rising faster and the economy slowing, his wages have been frozen. ``I'm terrified,'' said the 47-year-old father of two, an embalmer for Service Corp. International from the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois. ``This isn't the American dream.''
The current U.S. economic expansion is the first in 60 years that may end before many Americans have recovered from the last slowdown. Annual family incomes adjusted for inflation have grown just 0.8 percent since the end of 2001 even as the economy expanded an average 2.7 percent a year, leaving households little cushion to absorb higher food and fuel prices.
UBS closes Swiss accounts of US clients
UBS caved in to mounting pressure from the US Government yesterday and announced plans to close the Swiss bank accounts of all its American customers and prepared to lift the veil of secrecy that has protected its clients for centuries.
Mark Branson, the chief financial officer of UBS's global wealth-management unit, told a Senate hearing into tax evasion in Washington: “We have decided entirely to exit the business. UBS will no longer provide offshore banking or securities services to US residents through our bank branches.”
Governor Proposes Martial Law Choppers For Chicago
The gun control capital of America - Chicago - where only the criminals are allowed to own firearms - has been hit by a fresh wave of crime and violence, prompting Governor Rod Blagojevich to call for National Guard helicopters to be used in law enforcement operations.
Blagojevich plans to form an “elite tactical team” to help the city fight crime, according to a speech he gave last week.
“Violent crime in the city of Chicago is out of control,” Blagojevich said at the bill signing ceremony. “I’m offering resources of the state to the city to work in a constructive way with Mayor Daley to do everything we can possibly do to help stop this violence,” said the governor.
Italy to fingerprint all to avoid discrimination
Italy may demand all its citizens be fingerprinted, a move aimed at defusing widespread criticism of government plans to force Roma people and their children to provide fingerprints as a way of tackling criminality.
That policy has been condemned by the European Parliament, by Romania, where many Roma come from, and by religious groups who have compared it to the tagging of Jews by Nazis and fascists in the 1930s.
Travellers to Britain must carry photo ID under new legislation
PEOPLE TRAVELLING to Britain from Ireland will be obliged to carry photographic proof of identity under planned new British legislation. The change will see Britain adopting existing Irish practice to travel within the Common Travel Area (CTA), comprising the UK and Ireland, along with Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. The new legislation will take the form of an amendment to the draft Immigration and Citizenship Bill produced by the home office in London earlier this week.
Free classified ads for St. Johns County, never pay a rinky-dink mullet wrapper paper for classified ads again!
Inside The Brotherhood (Video)
Inside the Brotherhood is a six part documentary that examines the rites, rituals and power of influence that Freemasonry have within Law, Banking, Police, Religion and Politics.
The documentary is based on Martin Short's book "Inside the Brotherhood: Explosive Secrets of the Freemasons" and Stephen Knights "The Brotherhood: The Explosive Expose of the Secret World of the Freemasons".
New McCain Ad: Barack Obama To Blame For Gas Crisis (Video)
This is interesting. The McCain campaign, which has long thought it holds an advantage on foreign policy issues, is shifting the focus to domestic concerns with a new ad blaming the gas crisis on Barack Obama...
"There are two people to blame for todays high gas prices, one is named George W Bush, and the other is named Dick Cheney. They decided to invade Iraq, which so far has cost over one trillion dollars, all of which had to be borrowed, resulting in a decrease of well over 50% in the value of the US dollar. Weak dollar = high oil prices end of story. Until the US dollar gets stronger oil will continue to rise, as will other commodities. The US gets over 50% of it's imported oil from Canada. Since the Iraq war started the Canadian dollar has gone up over 60% vrs the US Dollar." Willy Bova
VP search by McCain, Obama take diverse path
For all the lengths Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have gone to in keeping their hunt for a vice president under wraps, their deliberations are in some ways being conducted in plain sight. As the process unfolds, strategic imperatives for the two candidates have become clearer.
Members of both parties said Obama, 46, should not be looking to make any risky moves that would divert attention from his role as the would-be head of what he says will be a new generation of leadership seeking to make a clean break from the politics of the past.
By contrast, McCain, 71, has good reason to look for a choice that would change the landscape, a point that some of his own advisers are making to him....
The Case for Charlie Crist for VP
Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist has been all over the national news lately.On the policy front, he backed up Sen. John McCain's (R) call for lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling, a reversal of his opposition to drilling spurred, Crist said, by the high price of gas.
On the personal front, Crist announced his engagement to Carole Rome; the couple had been dating for nine months. So, given all the attention paid to Crist of late, does he merit being McCain's vice presidential pick later this summer?
The Case Against Charlie Crist for VP
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is one of the few potential vice presidential candidates of either party who doesn't seek to downplay his interest in and excitement about the post. "It is very flattering to be considered and even the mere mention of the question is a humbling kind of thing for someone like me," Crist told Sky News during an interview earlier this week on a trip to Europe.
Yesterday we made the case for why Crist would be the perfect pick as John McCain's running mate. Today we argue the opposite....
Floridians help fill McCain's coffers
Unlike vice presidential rival Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Gov. Charlie Crist doesn't show up on the latest list of John McCain's campaign "bundlers" -- the politicos dubbed "Trailblazers" and "Innovators" who flex their Rolodexes and collect the checks. Pawlenty has raised more than $500,000 for McCain, according to his campaign, which could be one reason many observers see him as the Arizona senator's most likely veep choice.
But while Crist doesn't appear, plenty of his Florida campaign team does. The names in McCain's $50,000-$100,000 list include former GOP state chairman Al Cardenas, current GOP chief Jim Greer, Crist adviser Chris Kise, lobbyist and former Jeb Bush aide David Rancourt, state House Speaker Marco Rubio and part-time Floridian Donald Trump.
Unlike McCain, many seniors depend on the Web
If Sen. John McCain is really serious about becoming a Web-savvy citizen, perhaps Kathryn Robinson can help. Robinson is now 106 - that's 35 years older than McCain - and she began using the Internet at 98, at the Barclay Friends home in West Chester, Pa., where she lives. "I started to learn because I wanted to e-mail my family," she says - in an e-mail message, naturally.
Blogs have been buzzing recently over McCain's admission that when it comes to the Internet, "I'm an illiterate who has to rely on his wife for any assistance he can get." And the 71-year-old presumptive Republican nominee, asked about his Web use last week by the New York Times, said that aides "go on for me. I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself." How unusual is it for a 71-year-old American to be unplugged?
Panic Selling in the Fannie & Freddie Debacle?
Did the markets see panic selling last Friday? There was a big sell-off, but there was an equally big recovery -- with stocks closing about mid-range. There was a lot of fear coming into Friday's session.
The Euro markets were down and the European financial indexes were all getting hit. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went down. US financials had backed off right down to their Thursday's lows. Lehman Brothers went down to $16 per share.
Economic Collaspe?
Capitalism has struck the deadly reef of corruption and is now sinking fast. But passengers of the American ship of state--already drowning in the murderous waters of loss of homes and jobs--are still believing politicians' reassurances that nothing's really happening......
How does your bank rate? Find out here
Bankrate.com's Safe & Sound® service is a proprietary system designed to provide information on the relative financial strength and stability of U.S. commercial banks, savings institutions and credit unions. The system employs a series of twenty-two tests to measure the capital adequacy, asset quality, profitability, and liquidity (CAEL) of each rated financial institution. Individual performance levels are determined from publicly available regulatory filings and are compared to asset-size peer norms, industry standards and key absolute benchmarks. Combined results form the basis for our Composite CAEL and Star Ratings, which are described below. When possible, the system also produces a report that provides a detailed explanation of our findings, for each rated financial institution.
Wachovia Securities Raided in Auction Rate Probe
Securities regulators from several U.S. states raided the St. Louis headquarters of Wachovia Securities on Thursday as part of a broad investigation into questionable practices involving auction rate securities, Missouri officials said.
Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s office said the “special inspection” at the Wachovia Corp (WB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) affiliate, the former A.G. Edwards, concerned the $330 billion auction rate securities meltdown.
Late Night Jokes Of The Week: Jackson's Nuts, Gramm's Whiners, McCain's Dentures, And Obama's Judaism
This week in Late Night Jokes, the hosts take on Jesse Jackson's "nuts" comment, Phil Gramm's "whiners" remark, John McCain's age, and Barack Obama's religion, with speeches by Larry Craig and President Bush thrown in for good measure.
Maryland troopers spied on activist groups Protesters added to database of terrorist suspects
Undercover Maryland state troopers infiltrated three groups advocating peace and protesting the death penalty — attending meetings and sending reports on their activities to U.S. intelligence and military agencies, according to documents released Thursday.
The documents show the activities occurred from at least March 2005 to May 2006 and that officers used false names, which the documents referred to as "covert identities" - to open e-mail accounts to receive messages from the groups......The activist was identified as Max Obuszewski. His "primary crime" was entered into the database as "terrorism - anti govern(ment)." His "secondary crime" was listed as "terrorism - anti-war protestors." The database is known as the Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA.
Making Americans Unsafe
The Bush Regime’s "terrorist" protection schemes have reached the height of total incompetence and utter absurdity. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, a private organization that defends the US Constitution that inattentive Americans neglect, there are now one million names on the "terrorist" watch list.
One of them is that of former Assistant US Attorney General Jim Robinson, whose top security clearances are current. Every time Mr. Robinson flies away on business, he is delayed by a totally incompetent "terrorist" protection racket that cannot tell a person named Jim Robinson, who served in the highest echelons of the US government, from a Muslim terrorist.
What confidence can we have in a regime that is incapable of differentiating an Assistant US Attorney General from a terrorist?
Fitzgerald says Rove was trying to fire him during CIA leak probe
In a supplement to his responses to the House Judiciary Committee, Patrick Fitzgerald confirms what we've always suspected: Karl Rove was trying to have Patrick Fitzgerald fired while Fitzgerald was still investigating Rove for his role in leaking Valerie Wilson's identity--and the timing lines up perfectly with the Administration's efforts to fire a bunch of US Attorneys.
Remember back in June, when Fitzgerald publicly suggested he had more details to share with Congress about Rove's efforts to get him fired? .....