Necessary News

All you need to know to sound brilliant

Deadly Germs In America: It’s Worse Than You Thought

• Earlier this week, we shocked you with news that “American laboratories handling the world’s deadliest germs and toxins have experienced more than 100 accidents and missing shipments since 2003, and the number is increasing steadily.” The accidents, however, display a glaring need for more oversight and infrastructure at the nation’s most advanced labs which are often handling poisons and diseases for which there are no cures. [Mic Check] [AP]
• Turns out, things are worse than anyone had originally anticipated. Yesterday, the Associated press shook are nerves even more when it reported that “[f]ederal terror-fighting agencies can’t identify all the American research laboratories that could become targets of attackers.” [AP]
• What kind of diseases are these labs handling? Just the ones that keep you up at night: whooping cough, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, meningitis, typhoid fever, hepatitis, herpes, several strains of flu, rabies, HIV and SARS.
• The Government Accountability Office asked a dozen agencies whether they kept track of all the labs handling dangerous germs and toxins, or knew the number. All responded negatively. Those findings were prepared for a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing yesterday.
• The GAO said U.S. intelligence agencies, including the FBI, told its investigators they need to track all labs that could be vulnerable to terrorism.
• U.S. intelligence agencies said they already are handicapped by the failure of some foreign countries to regulate the shipment or possession of biological agents. This, by the way, all makes us feel very safe.

“We need improvements in our inspection process,” said the CDC’s Dr Richard Besser. Uh...you think?

Gonzo Was For Torture After He Was Against It: The Torure Timeline

The Story

• The New York Times reported yesterday that in 2005, then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales issued a legal opinion that authorized the CIA’s harshest interrogation techniques ever, and despite Congressional and Supreme Court efforts, they’re still in effect. [NY Times]
  
• The opinion gave “explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.”
  
• It also ruled that these acts were not to be considered “cruel or unusual.” The significance? This means they are exempt from the 2006 Congressional ban on “cruel and unusual” treatment of detainees.
  
• Congress immediately demanded to see copies of these memos, and this revelation should affect the line of questioning in the confirmation hearings of Michael Mukasey, Bush’s pick for Attorney General who has “signaled to conservatives that he supports Bush’s torture policy.” [Progress Report]
  
• This is the latest in a long string of memos and opinions that have surfaced revealing the Bush administration’s drive for the legal latitude to use brutal interrogation techniques...what many would consider torture.
  

A brief reminder of the road to torture:

• Jan ‘02—Gonzales snubs Geneva Conventions: In a memo, Alberto Gonzales, then Bush’s attorney, suggests that “Mr. Bush should declare the Taliban and Al Qaeda outside the coverage of the Geneva Conventions.” [NY Times]
• Aug ‘02—Justice Department issues “torture memo": A memo drafted by for the CIA and Alberto Gonzales says that extreme interrogation techniques on terror suspects abroad “may be necessary,” and dramatically narrows the definition of “torture” to actions “equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death.” [Washington Post]
• Nov ‘02—Rumsfeld approves harsh methods: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld approves interrogation techniques for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay. These include “‘removal of clothing’ and ‘inducing stress by use of detainee’s fears (e.g. dogs)’” and “stress positions.” [USA Today]
• Aug ‘03—Major General Miller heads to Iraq to “Gitmo-ize” Abu Ghraib: Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller sent from Guantanamo Bay to the prison at Abu Ghraib to help “get more information out of Iraqi prisoners.” Once there, he encourages harsh interrogation methods, including the “use of dogs.” Later, once reports of gross abuse at the prison surface, Major General Antonio Mario Taguba, in his classified report, “blames Miller’s policies.” Miller is not held responsible, and retires in 2006 after receiving the “distinguished Service Medal.” [Washington Post] [MSNBC] [Army News]
• Dec ‘04—Justice Department declares torture “abhorrent": One week before Alberto Gonzales’ confirmation hearing as Attorney General, the Justice department issues a statement reversing the “torture memo” and calling torture “abhorrent.” [NY Times]
• Feb ‘05—Gonzales secretly endorses “harsh techniques": Nonetheless, as we now know, once approved as Attorney General, Gonzales, acting from pressure form Vice President Cheney’s office, approves the harshest CIA interrogation techniques in history. [NY Times]
• Jul ‘07—Bush approves “enhanced interrogation techniques": After a Supreme Court case ruling that the Geneva Conventions must be followed and Congressional sanction, Bush again approves “broad legal boundaries for the CIA’s harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects.” [Washington Post]

The Audio

• White House Spokeswoman Dana Perino says the White House doesn’t break the laws (that they interpret the way they want to).
  Please log in to download this clip.
• Tom Malinowski, of Human Rights Watch, “There is no controversy outside of a couple of offices in the Justice Department and the Vice President’s office that these techniques are torture.”
  Please log in to download this clip.

Bottom lime: we still torture.

Is The Military Forcing Soldiers To Be Born Again?

• Meet the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF): It’s a military watchdog group founded in 2005 by Michael Weinstein, a former Air Force judge advocate and assistant counsel in the Reagan White House. And it’s aim? “To show there is a pattern and practice of constitutionally impermissible promotions of religious beliefs within the Department of Defense.” [Christian Science Monitor]
• According to Weinstein, his foundation has received over 5,000 complaints from active-duty and retired military personnel that point to “a growing willingness inside the military to support a particular brand of Christianity and to permit improper evangelizing in the ranks.” The part that’ll really shock you? More than 95 percent of those complaints come from other Christians.
• Perhaps the most visible controversy came to light in 2004, when Congressional hearings were held over the improper evangelizing of cadets on the part of some faculty and staff at the Air Force Academy (AFA) in Colorado Springs, Colo. As a result of the hearings, the DOD conducted an investigation, and the head of the academy acknowledged significant problems.
• The military, though, says that it protects the rights of its soldiers to practice their respective religions.
• In the 1990s, for instance, the Air Force’s Little Blue Book of core values highlighted religious tolerance, emphasizing that military professionals “must not take it upon themselves to change or coercively influence the religious views of subordinates.”
• Weinstein, though, is singing a different tune. He insists that there are improper actions at high levels that “not only infringe on soldiers’ rights but, at a very dangerous time, also send the wrong message to people in the Middle East that those in the US military see themselves engaged in Christian warfare.”

WWJD?

Judge Takes Strong Stance In Larry Craig Case: No Do-Overs

• Minnesota Judge Charles Porter told Sen. Larry Craig yesterday nice try, but you don’t get to take back your guilty plea.
• Craig plead guilty on August 8 to misdemeanor charges for soliciting sex in the men’s room of the MinneapolisAirport on June 11, 2007. [LA Times]
• Although eight weeks passed between the incident and his plea, when the story broke in the papers in August 27, Craig announced he hadn’t understood what he was doing and wanted to withdraw his plea.
• Porter: “Because the defendant’s plea was accurate, voluntary and intelligent and because the conviction is supported by the evidence, the Defendan’ts motino to withdraw his guilty plea is dismissed.” [NY Times]
• More Porter: “He knew what he was saying, reading, and signing.”
• Craig’s response? He’s not going anywhere.
• In a statement yesterday, Craig defiantly stated, “I will continue to serve Idaho in the United States Senate.” [CBS News]
• Remember, he initially said he “intended” to resign on September 30, but he then changed his mind and said he’d wait for Judge Porter’s ruling.

And Sen. Craig’s toe-tapping, hand-swiping legacy marches on.

White House Objects To Congressional Blackwater Accountability Bill

• Sounds simple enough: defense contractors like Blackwater, when operating in Iraq, should follow U.S. laws. You know, not shoot wildly at Iraqi civilians or get drunk and shoot one of the Iraqi Vice President’s body guard. [LA Times]
• Brush up on your Blackwater knowledge here: [MicCheck] [MicCheck] [MicCheck]
• In response to the accumulating alegations of excessive violence and an accountability vacuum, Congress is stepping in to increase oversight of private security contractors operating in Iraq.
• A bill, sponsored by Congressman Price (D-NC), passed the House yesterday 389-30. It would “make it clear that U.S. laws apply to all armed private contractors hired for overseas missions.” Frankly, they’re not so sure now.[AP]
• Here’s the source of the confusion: The current law covering contractors extends only to contractors with Department of Defense (Blackwater and similar companies work for the State Department). Furthermore, contractors can not be tried under Iraqi law.
• ‘’There is simply no excuse for the de facto legal immunity for tens of thousands of individuals working in countries'’ on behalf of the United States, said Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX). [AP]
• The bill would also “create an FBI unit to investigate accusations of wrongdoing by contractors in war zones.”
• But the Bush administration has come out against these clarifications, saying thay would have “‘unintended and intolerable consequences’ for national security.” [CNN]
• Says Price, “If we do not hold contract personnel accountable for misconduct, as we do for our military, we are undermining our nation’s credibility as a country that upholds the rule of law.”

Then again, Bush has quite a history of thinking that following the law would have terrible consequences for national security.

Good News, Bad News

The good news: Your chili’s got some super kick to it. The bad news: So does your heartburn. But what happens when your three-year-old son starts complaining about indigestion? Turns out, you’re not alone. The number of young children on prescription drugs for heartburn and other digestive problems jumped about 56 percent in recent years. Reports show that more than 2 million U.S. children 18 and under used drugs for digestive or gastrointestinal complaints last year. Let’s check out the pros and cons. [AP]

GOOD NEWS

Nothing says “yummy” like gummy Prilosec shaped like Flintstones characters.

BAD NEWS

Researchers say obesity and overuse might be contributing to the surprising increase.

Quote Of The Day

“If we took away women’s right to vote, we’d never have to worry about another Democrat president. It’s kind of a pipe dream, it’s a personal fantasy of mine, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

— Ann Coulter wants you to take away her right to vote. [Perez Hilton]

Speed Round

AUDIO: SENATOR ROBERT BYRD SPEAKS THE TRUTH

Warns against U.S. “saber rattling” against Iran, and attacks the Senate for “sleepwalking to war.”

AUDIO: THE ANTI-LIMBAUGH AD CLEAR CHANNEL WON’T RUN

Listen to the ad Clear Channel refuses to run during the Limbaugh broadcast. [Think Progress]

BLACKWATER: GUILTY

A U.S. military investigation agrees with the Iraqi government’s probe: on September 16th, Blackwater guards “opened fire without provocation and used excessive force against Iraqi civilians.” [Washington Post]

PRESSURE TO KILL

U.S. Army snipers on trial for murder in Iraq say that they “felt under pressure to produce a high body count, a Vietnam-era measure that the Pentagon officially has disavowed in this war.” [LA Times]

SOCIAL SCIENCE

The Pentagon, as part of an experimental program, is embedding social scientists and anthropologists among combat units in Afghanistan. [NY Times]

WAR

The number one injury suffered by our troops in Iraq: Eye injuries, from impairment to total blindness. [USA Today]

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

According to a new report by the Government Accountability Office, the FCC is in bed with industry lobbyists, tipping them off about upcoming votes before they tell the public. [Wireless Week]

CRIME

A black student at Galludet University, a college for the deaf in DC, was held down while seven other students scrawled “KKK” and swastikas on his body with black marker. [CBS News]

CONGRATULATIONS!

America Ferrera, the 23-year-old Emmy winning star of “Ugly Betty” is the Hispanic Woman of the Year. [Salon]

700 CLUB WAR ON HALLOWEEN

“Did you ever wonder why Halloween seems to primarily feed off of a market of 3-13 year olds? This is a Satanic ploy for our children.” [The 700 Club]

JUMPING SHIP

J. Scott Jennings, Karl Rove’s deputy, resigns from his post at the House of Falling Cards. [Think Progress]

31 PERCENT

President Bush’s current approval rating, according to a new AP poll. It’s his lowest to date. [AP]

MINING DISASTER

3,000 workers are rescued after a mine in South Africa collapses. [USA Today]

WE DEMAND A RECOUNT

The National Broadcasters Association has named right-winger Sean Hannity as the “radio personality of the year.” [Media Bistro]

THE DIRTY JERZ

In New Jersey, authorities arrest 41 (41!) child porn suspects. [AP]