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LA TRAGEDIA DEL 911 ANTICIPATA SEI MESI DA UNA SERIE TV!
LA TRAGEDIA DEL 911 ANTICIPATA SEI MESI DA UNA SERIE TV!
Il 4 Marzo 2001 (potete verificare la data ovunque) andò in onda sui network televisivi americani, il telefilm "The Lone Gunmen", i cui protagonisti principali sono i "consulenti" di Fox Mulder in "The X-Files", Langly, Byers e Frohike, i cosidetti "Pistoleri Solitari".
Ebbene in questo "spin-off" di X-Files, nella prima puntanta intitolata "Pilot" si trova la "profezia" di un atroce evento che sarebbe avvenuto qualche mese dopo. Nella puntata pilota si vede un Boeing 747 di una comune linea aerea, pieno di passeggeri, dirottato sul... Word Trade Center. Inoltre l’aereo è dirottato “da remoto” sfruttando il pilota automatico e la natura dei mandanti dell’attentato.
Nel telefilm l’attacco sarebbe organizzato da alcuni settori del Governo Federale allo scopo di “giustificare l’aumento delle spese militari e l’attacco ad un paese con un regime non affine agli Stati Uniti“.
E' solo una coincidenza oppure c'è davvero un sospetto (legittimo o meno che sia) che dietro le idee di Chris Carter (ideatore della serie "X Files" e di "The Lone Gunmen") ci sia la supervisione di qualche ente governativo e di "intelligence" USA?
Sopra alcuni spezzoni del telefilm RILEVANTI (in inglese con i sottotitoli in italiano) rispetto ai tragici eventi che sarebbero realmente accaduti 6 mesi dopo...
Commenti? LA TRAGEDIA DEL 911 ANTICIPATA SEI MESI DA UNA SERIE TV! ... more -
U.S. News & World Report: FCC Probes Pentagon Analysts
October 06, 2008 04:16 PM ET
The Federal Communications Commission has begun notifying several TV military analysts that it is probing congressional complaints that the pundits did not properly disclose their ties to the Pentagon when reviewing the war in Iraq on air. According to a copy of the October 2 FCC letter to one of the pundits, the probe was prompted by Reps. John Dingell and Rosa DeLauro, who filed a complaint with the agency after the New York Times reported that some of the pundits were working on or bidding on Pentagon contracts and had also taken free military trips to Iraq. "When seemingly objective television commentators are in fact highly motivated to promote the agenda of a government agency, a gross violation of the public trust occurs," the duo wrote to the FCC. Copies of their May 6 complaint, above, and the FCC letter were provided to Whispers. The Times story discussed the so-called military analysts program, where many former military officials were briefed about the war in Iraq by the Pentagon.
At issue is that some of them were also linked to Pentagon contracts, raising the issue of conflict of interest. In its letter signed by the chief of the investigations and hearings division enforcement bureau, the FCC suggests that TV stations and networks may have violated two sections of the Communications Act of 1934 by not identifying the ties to the Pentagon that their military analysts had. The FCC is so far reaching out to the analysts mentioned in the New York Times article and asking for each to respond to the allegations of wrongdoing within 30 days.
We wrote about this recently when we reported that the Defense Department's inspector general was looking into the program, also at the request of Congress. October 06, 2008 04:16 PM ET ... more -
Bush aides win delay for congressional testimony - Boston.com
A federal appeals court on Monday rejected House Democrats' demands to force two of President Bush's top aides to cooperate with an investigation about the firings of nine federal prosecutors in 2006.
Time will run out on this year's congressional session before the battle between two branches of government can be resolved, according to the ruling by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. A federal appeals court on Monday rejected House Democrats' demands to force two of President Bush's top aides to cooperate ... more -
Cheney's paper trail
Editorial
Cheney's paper trail
A judge's order to preserve all of the V.P.'s records pending a lawsuit's outcome helps guard transparency.
October 5, 2008
In three months, the Bush-Cheney administration will be history. Scholars who want to study that history won an important victory last month when a federal judge ordered Vice President Dick Cheney's office and the National Archives to preserve all of Cheney's official papers pending the outcome of a lawsuit brought by a citizens' group and individual historians and archivists.
The https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?20..., issued by District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, is just comeuppance for a vice president whose aversion to transparency is legendary. Cheney fought to keep secret the names of participants in his energy task force. His chief aide opposed involving Congress in establishing rules for the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. And Cheney and President Bush have floated the notion that, as president of the Senate, the vice president is not entirely an executive branch official -- this from the administration's foremost proponent of executive power.
The judge issued her injunction after negotiations between the parties failed to produce agreement on the scope of vice presidential documents covered by the Presidential Records Act. Lawyers for Cheney had asserted that only documents related to his executive functions -- those "specially assigned to the vice president by the president in the discharge of executive duties and responsibilities" -- should be included. Scholars fear that narrow definition would exclude records dealing with his role on the National Security Council or in lobbying Congress for presidential initiatives.
The judge also rejected the administration's contention that no injunction was necessary because Cheney's office and the National Archives would preserve the records at issue pending a trial. She noted that the defendants' proposal lacked details about how the papers would be handled. Her caution is laudable.
The Presidential Records Act does not give the public, the media or scholars immediate and unfettered access to the papers of an administration. Records are sealed for five years, and former presidents -- and vice presidents -- can object to the release of particular documents for another seven years by asserting executive privilege. But limitations on access is a different question from whether the archives should receive all of the records from Cheney's service.
Given this vice president's penchant for secrecy, the judge was wise not to take at face value the assurance that Cheney and the National Archives would safeguard documents that might later be ruled to be the property of the American people. We hope that her injunction is only the first step in securing access for future historians to the records of perhaps the most powerful vice president in history. Editorial Cheney's paper trail ... more -
Will a new US President mean a new foreign policy?
Gareth Porter: McCain subscribes to extreme neo-con ideas, but Obama is not a break with the past. Part 5
In George W. Bush's final speech to the UN as head of state, he provided a series of reasons to view his administration's policies as having succeeded in conducting a global war on terrorism. Despite his regime's demonstrated aversion to multilateralism, Bush called on the UN and all international institutions to take a lead role in the War on Terror in the future. Investigative reporter and historian Gareth Porter tells Senior Editor Paul Jay why he believes that while Obama and McCain represent different visions of US foreign policy, neither truly represent a clean break from the legacy created by the Bush administration.
Gareth Porter is a historian and investigative journalist on US foreign and military policy analyst. He writes regularly for Inter Press Service on US policy towards Iraq and Iran. Author of four books, the latest of which is Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam.
See Part 1 at: http://current.com/items/89336287_bush_doctrine_at_the_...
See Part 2 at: http://current.com/items/89339379_the_state_of_the_empi...
See Part 3 at: http://current.com/items/89351820_provoking_russian_nat...
See Part 4 at: http://current.com/items/89361295_war_and_cash_for_tras... Gareth Porter: McCain subscribes to extreme neo-con ideas, but Obama is not a break with the past. Part 5 ... more -
Another Frightening Show About the Economy
After a dramatic two weeks on Capitol Hill and in the financial markets, President Bush on Friday signed into law a $700 billion bailout bill for Wall Street. Lawmakers acted to pass the legislation amid dire warnings that the U.S. economy was on the verge of collapse. But was the bailout plan a good idea? That's a question many Americans are asking.
After reporting on this crisis for several weeks, NPR's international economics correspondent Adam Davidson says that this is indeed a severe and scary crisis.
"And the more I report it, the more scared I have been," Davidson tells This American Life host Ira Glass as part of a one-hour special report on the last week of financial turmoil.
What is clear, Davidson says, is that spending $700 billion will help. "But it's also very clear that the plan we've been hearing all about, the Paulson plan, has a lot of problems. There are a lot of things that a lot of people do not like about it." After a dramatic two weeks on Capitol Hill and in the financial markets, President Bush on Friday signed into law a $700 billion bailo... more -
He Told Us to Go Shopping. Now the Bill Is Due.
It's widely thought that the biggest gamble President Bush ever took was deciding to invade Iraq in 2003. It wasn't. His riskiest move was actually one made right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when he chose not to mobilize the country or summon his fellow citizens to any wartime economic sacrifice. Bush tried to remake the world on the cheap, and as the bill grew larger, he still refused to ask Americans to pay up. During this past week, that gamble collapsed, leaving the rest of us to sort through the wreckage. It's widely thought that the biggest gamble President Bush ever took was deciding to invade Iraq in 2003. It wasn't. His ris... more
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Lawsuit seeks to preserve Palin e-mails
A critic of Gov. Sarah Palin is suing to try to force preservation of any government-related e-mails that Palin sent from private accounts.
Andree McLeod, a former state worker, filed the lawsuit against Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, in Anchorage on Thursday. Palin's gubernatorial spokeswoman, Sharon Leighow, said Saturday she could not comment on pending litigation.
Palin's e-mail account with Yahoo Inc. was compromised last month by a hacker who revealed as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate.
Palin used "gov.sarah" in one of the Yahoo e-mail addresses she sometimes used to conduct state business. The hacker targeted her separate "gov.palin" account. Both have been shut down.
The hacking of Palin's private account is significant because Palin has sometimes used private e-mail accounts to conduct state business. Previously disclosed e-mails indicate her administration embraced Yahoo accounts as an alternative to government e-mail, which could possibly be released to the public under Alaska's Open Records Act.
"Palin's decision to conduct state business in such an unprofessional and secretive manner suggests that her promise to have an ethical, open, honest and transparent administration is pure bogus," McLeod said in a statement Saturday.
"Equally troubling is the fact that most of Palin's private e-mail accounts have recently been shut down," she said. "I'm seeking the court's help by requesting them to tell the governor to obey Alaska's public record laws."
McLeod also has submitted an open records request with the state of Alaska seeking copies from Palin's private e-mail accounts as well as one belonging to her husband, Todd. The Associated Press has submitted similar requests.
In August, McLeod filed an ethics complaint with the attorney general's office against Palin and members of her staff, accusing them of giving a state job to a man who held a fundraiser for Palin.
McLeod has said she worked for the state at various times over decades, the last time after an appointment by then-Gov. Frank Murkowski, whom Palin defeated in the GOP primary in 2006. A critic of Gov. Sarah Palin is suing to try to force preservation of any government-related e-mails that Palin sent from private acco... more -
House approves historic bailout bill
Tell us why this is interestingIn four long days, as credit markets froze, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama worked the phones with President Bush. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger leaned on the California congressional delegation. The chairmen of General Motors and Chrysler allied with the small-town car dealer and banker in a full-court press on Congress. And in the end, they helped House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, engineer the biggest bailout of the banking system in U.S. history.
The overwhelming 263-171 House vote for the $700 billion rescue erased a stunning defeat Monday that shocked Pelosi and her GOP counterpart, Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio. That defeat, and fear that inaction would lead to a once-in-a-century style economic collapse, set in motion the most extraordinary political alliance witnessed in modern times.
The nation's top leaders quickly rallied their combined forces behind an unprecedented and deeply unpopular government intervention in the U.S. economy, one that offended much of the public and the ideological wings of both parties just one month before a presidential election.
Three Bay Area Democrats switched their votes to yes: St. Helena's Mike Thompson, Petaluma's Lynn Woolsey and Oakland's Barbara Lee.
Riding the powerful political tailwind of a 74-25 bipartisan Senate vote Wednesday night, 24 Republicans and 32 Democrats changed to yes votes. They had spent two days at home hearing horror stories from small and large businesses shut off from bank credit lines and unable to float short-term loans to buy inventories or meet payroll. They heard from retirees who had seen their savings evaporate in the $1.2 trillion stock market plunge that followed the House rejection. And on Friday, they heard the news that 159,000 more Americans had lost their jobs in September.
Calls from Obama
Thompson and Lee got a call from Obama. Lee, the only member of Congress to vote against the use of force after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks - and perhaps the one least likely to hand $700 billion to Bush's Treasury secretary - said she was convinced that she could "not afford to risk the potential consequences of inaction. ... I am confident that this is the right vote, even if it's not a popular vote."
Republican nominee John McCain, who announced with fanfare after the crisis broke that he was suspending his campaign to return to Washington to broker a resolution, made calls as well. But GOP members and aides said he did not show the urgency of either Bush or Obama in pushing for the bill.
Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich., who switched his vote to yes, said he had not heard from McCain but that he had "never talked to so many bank presidents." He heard from General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner, Chrysler Chairman Robert Nardelli and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce revved up an intense lobbying effort, along with state and local governments who warned that it had become impossible to float bonds or get bridge loans to cover normal spending while awaiting receipt of property and sales tax revenue. Some members were lured by the $150 billion in popular tax breaks added by the Senate. These extended shelter for 26 million upper-middle-income taxpayers from the dreaded alternative minimum tax, as well as popular business tax credits for renewable energy and research and development.
It was Paulson, joined by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who stunned first Bush and then congressional leaders on Sept. 18 with dire alarms that the nation's financial system was on the brink of collapse and would require a huge government intervention. The warning from Bernanke, who in academic life was a leading authority on the Great Depression, was especially persuasive to Pelosi. Tell us why this is interestingIn four long days, as credit markets froze, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama worked the pho... more -
Guidelines expand FBI's surveillance powers
Justice Department officials released new guidelines yesterday that empower FBI agents to use intrusive techniques to gather intelligence within the United States, alarming civil liberties groups and Democratic lawmakers who worry that they invite privacy violations and other abuses.
The new road map allows investigators to recruit informants, employ physical surveillance and conduct interviews in which agents disguise their identities in an effort to assess national security threats. FBI agents could pursue each of those steps without any single fact indicating a person has ties to a terrorist organization.
Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said the guidelines are necessary to fulfill the FBI's core mission to predict threats and respond even before an attack takes place. The ground rules will help the bureau become "a more flexible and adept collector of intelligence," as independent commissions urged after the strikes of Sept. 11, 2001, Mukasey said in a statement yesterday.
The guidelines, which harmonize five different road maps dating back more than a generation, take effect Dec. 1. That is two months later than initially planned, and authorities said the delay was a concession to privacy advocates and Arab American groups who expressed concern that their members could be subject to racial or ethnic profiling.
Justice Department leaders rewrote a key section of the guidelines concerning agents' infiltration of groups and attendance at demonstrations. Under the new language, agents would be able to investigate the likelihood of violence stemming from a planned demonstration for as many as 30 days, with renewals subject to supervisory approval.
Congressional staff members said the revisions were superficial, and the American Civil Liberties Union immediately condemned the road map. Critics had asked Justice Department leaders to wait until a new president takes office, an approach that administration officials rejected.
Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU's Washington legislative office, said: "Since, under these guidelines, a generalized 'threat' is enough to begin an investigation, the FBI will be given carte blanche to begin surveillance without factual evidence. . . . These guidelines will lead to political witch hunts and more unwarranted investigations of political enemies and peace groups."
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said the grant of new authority to FBI agents flies in the face of recent history, including overreaching and sloppy record-keeping by agents who demanded too much secret information from telephone companies and Internet service providers as part of national security investigations.
Bush administration officials assert that the overhaul is merely a common-sense change that would give FBI agents who pursue national security leads the same power as agents who investigate criminal offenses.
Civil liberties activists yesterday raised anew questions about the expanded role of the FBI in collecting an array of foreign intelligence within U.S. borders, absent evidence of a crime. For instance, the guidelines allow FBI agents to conduct interviews and monitor the movement of people who may possess useful information on subjects of general interest to American policymakers, such as a foreign government's oil exports. Justice Department officials released new guidelines yesterday that empower FBI agents to use intrusive techniques to gather intellige... more -
Justice: Special prosecutor to have free rein
Democrats demanded to know whether the prosecutor would be allowed to empanel a grand jury and subpoena former White House officials Karl Rove and Harriett Miers, who refused to be interviewed by the inspector general.
"Ms. Dannehy has the authority to conduct this investigation however she sees fit, including the independence and ability to seek documents, information and testimony as she sees fit," said Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr. Democrats demanded to know whether the prosecutor would be allowed to empanel a grand jury and subpoena former White House officials K... more -
EPA won't limit toxic chemical in drinking water
Federal regulators said Friday they don't plan to try to rid drinking water supplies of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that's been found in 35 states.
The Environmental Protection Agency will take public comment for 30 days before finalizing its decision not to regulate the contaminant, perchlorate, in drinking water. The Associated Press and other news outlets reported the agency's plans last month based on internal EPA documents. Federal regulators said Friday they don't plan to try to rid drinking water supplies of a toxic rocket fuel ingredient that'... more -
Justice IG calls attorney firings 'fundamentally flawed'
House Judiciary Committee Democrats renewed their calls for sworn testimony from Karl Rove and other former top White House officials on the 2006 firings of nine U.S. attorneys as Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine presented his report concluding the removals were "fundamentally flawed" and recommending a criminal investigation. House Judiciary Committee Democrats renewed their calls for sworn testimony from Karl Rove and other former top White House officials ... more
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Biden touts experience, Palin pushes 'maverick' record
Highlights:
Joe Biden, Sarah Palin debate change, "maverick" status
Both candidates get good reviews for their debate performances
VP candidates discuss economy, foreign policy, climate change
Biden tries to link McCain to Bush; Palin pushes record of reform Highlights: Joe Biden, Sarah Palin debate change, "maverick" status ... more -
Senate bailout vote puts pressure on House Republicans, aides say
Story Highlights:
Rep. Charles Rangel thinks "sweeteners" will smooth passage in House
Bailout package passed Senate 74-25 on Wednesday with bipartisan support
The bailout failed 228-205 on Monday in the House
President Bush urges the House to pass an "improved" bill Story Highlights: Rep. Charles Rangel thinks "sweeteners" will smooth passage in House ... more -
Spoonful of pork may help bitter economic pill go down
Story Highlights:
Senate's financial rescue plan includes incentives that may attract votes
Proposal would exempt a specific kind of arrow from excise tax
Rum from Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands would get tax break
Filmmakers would get a $478 million in incentives to produce movies in U.S.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate's financial rescue plan may have a better chance of passage because it's padded with pork that may be tasty enough to get reluctant House members to bite.
Lawmakers added billions in tax incentives to the bailout bill to help it pass the House.
Most of the $110 billion in additions, such as a tax credit for research and development and an increase in insurance for bank accounts, would have broad economic impact.
The benefits of others, though, may not be so evident to most taxpayers.
For example, the proposal includes an excise tax exemption for a very specific type of arrow used by child archers. View details of the incentives »
According to Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group, current law places an excise tax of 39 cents on the first sale by the manufacturer, producer or importer of any shaft of a type used to produce certain types of arrows. Watch where's the pork? »
"This proposal would exempt from the excise tax any shaft consisting of all natural wood with no laminations or artificial means to enhance the spine of the shaft used in the manufacture of an arrow that measures 5/16 of an inch or less and is unsuited for use with a bow with a peak draw weight of 30 pounds or more," Ellis wrote.
Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden, a Democrat, and Gordon Smith, a Republican, were the initial sponsors of the arrow provision. According to Bloomberg News, the earmark provision would be worth $200,000 a year to Rose City Archery in Myrtle Point, Oregon.
A Wyden aide said the Oregon senator did not ask that the provision be added to bailout package, but that doesn't fly with Ellis.
"The bottom line is, this is benefiting a very few manufacturers, and I think most Americans who are either concerned about the bailout package or concerned about the economy are going to be wondering why a provision benefiting wooden arrow manufacturers is catching a ride on the package," Ellis said.
The Taxpayers for Common Sense also reports that the proposal includes such mouthwatering morsels as these:
Creation of a seven-year cost recovery period for construction of a motorsports racetrack: $100 million.
A refund of excise taxes to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for rum: A $13.50 per gallon excise tax is placed on rum imported into the United States. The measure extends to December 31, 2009, a refund of $13.25 per gallon tax back to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which are both U.S. territories. The refund has been in place since the early '90s. The measure would cost taxpayers $192 million.
Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation: $49 million.
Secure rural schools and community self-determination program:$3.3 billion.
Deduction of state and local sales taxes: $3.3 billion.
Provisions related to film and television productions: $478 million over 10 years.
Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products, wool research fund and wool duty refunds: $148 million.
Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa: $33 million
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Help maintaining and buying a bike for those who use it as transportation some odd milliionsss or trillionss... see the article for more detail into the porks details. Story Highlights: Senate's financial rescue plan includes incentives that may attract votes ... more -
Senate Backs Far-Reaching Nuclear Trade Deal With India
Measure Goes to Bush, Giving The President a Rare Victory
The Senate last night approved a historic agreement that opens up nuclear trade with India for the first time since New Delhi conducted a nuclear test three decades ago, giving the Bush administration a significant foreign policy achievement in its final months. Measure Goes to Bush, Giving The President a Rare Victory ... more -
Vote Underscores Bush's Loss of Influence
The vote marked the biggest legislative defeat of Bush's tenure and underscored the vanishing influence of a president who could once bend a pliant Congress to his will on wars, taxes, surveillance and a host of other high-profile initiatives.
The defeat also brought into focus some of the key characteristics of Bush's troubled second term, including his weakened hold on his party, his tendency to delegate major responsibilities to aides and his continued reliance on alarmist rhetoric in an effort to get his way. Bush left much of the sales job for the rescue plan to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., and his last-minute warnings that "our entire economy is in danger" appeared to have little impact on the debate. The vote marked the biggest legislative defeat of Bush's tenure and underscored the vanishing influence of a president who could ... more -
Judge orders more searches for Abramoff visits
A federal judge has rejected the Bush administration's attempt to shield records that may shed light on the White House visits of now imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
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In several orders this week, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth sided with watchdog groups Judicial Watch and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, which are suing the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security for access to the logs. A federal judge has rejected the Bush administration's attempt to shield records that may shed light on the White House visits of... more -
Report implicates White House
In 18 months of searching, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine and Office of Professional Responsibility chief H. Marshall Jarrett have uncovered new e-mail messages hinting at heightened involvement of White House lawyers and political aides in the firings of nine federal prosecutors two years ago. In 18 months of searching, Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine and Office of Professional Responsibility chief H. Marsh... more
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