Bridging the Gap

Prominent US conservatives among the defenders of Assange
According to the Washington Post, Jack Goldsmith, "widely considered one of the brightest stars in the conservative legal firmament," believes the US is giving Julian Assange a hard time. “I certainly do not support or like his disclosure of secrets that harm U.S. National Security or Foreign Policy interests,” Goldsmith wrote on the Lawfare blog. “But as all the hand-wringing over the 1917 Espionage Act shows, it is not obvious what law he has violated. It is also important to

UC Berkeley crackdown has bicyclists fuming
UC Berkeley freshman Devin Shoop got a $220 ticket in September. His crime: locking his bicycle to a railing instead of a bike rack. He got another ticket two weeks later: $220 for rolling his bike through a stop sign instead of fully stopping. Now he has to go to traffic school to keep a moving violation off his driver's license. Jorel Allegro, a junior, earned his $220 ticket in October for coasting through the campus dismount zone instead of walking his bike as required. California's law ...

UC Berkeley crackdown has bicyclists fuming
UC Berkeley freshman Devin Shoop got a $220 ticket in September. His crime: locking his bicycle to a railing instead of a bike rack. He got another ticket two weeks later: $220 for rolling his bike through a stop sign instead of fully stopping. Now he has to go to traffic school to keep a moving violation off his driver's license. Jorel Allegro, a junior, earned his $220 ticket in October for coasting through the campus dismount zone instead of walking his bike as required. California's law ...

Washington responds to Iranian-Venezuelan missile link
Editor's Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for Credit Card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports. A published report that Iran recently agreed to send to Venezuela medium-range Ballistic Missiles that could reach the United States has been questioned by U.S. government sources who say they are monitor...

Sweden says Stockholm blasts were terror crimes
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish Police investigating two blasts that rocked central Stockholm on Saturday, killing the suspected bomber and wounding two, said on Sunday they had good leads into what they said were "terror crimes." Before the Explosions, the Swedish news agency TT received a threatening letter about Sweden's Military presence in Afghanistan and caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad drawn several years ago by a Swedish Cartoonist. Anders Thornberg, director of operations at the Securi...

Prosecutors recommend 57 months for ex-lobbyist
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Federal Prosecutors recommended a Prison term of nearly five years Monday for a former Lobbyist who specialized in getting congressional appropriators to funnel money to his Defense Contractor clients. In papers filed in U.S. District Court here, prosecutors said Paul Magliocchetti should serve 57 months behind bars because his criminal activities driven by greed caused significant injury to the image and integrity of the nation's electoral process. Magliocchetti, 64, plea...

Berkeley's Ed Roberts Campus has access for all
As much as anything else, Berkeley's new Ed Roberts Campus is defined by its concrete floors. Throughout the overscaled lobby there's a smooth finish with a burnt sienna sheen, but a broad path through the middle is dark and rough to provide visual and tactile cues for sight-impaired visitors seeking the offices that lie down corridors on either end. Touches like this are emblematic of what's known as "universal design," an approach that seeks to make buildings comfortably functional for as ma...

In U.S., Afghan women find freedom to study
Shamila Kohestani lost five years of Formal Education, from ages 8 to 13, while living in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Instead, she secretly defied the fundamentalist regime as her older sisters tutored her at home in math, biology and chemistry. Noorjahan Akbar was an Afghan Refugee in Pakistan for six years during the same period. Her mother sold her Wedding band and dress so her four daughters could continue to attend school. Today, Kohestani, Akbar and five other young Afghan Women who su...

Next federal budget will have no guidance from Parliament
Last updated Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010 3:06AM EST Next year’s pivotal federal Budget that could trigger an election will be put together without the legally required input from Parliament. The Commons finance committee has decided to shelve its prebudget report after a draft was leaked to Lobbyists by a low-level Parliament Hill Staffer. “It’s unfortunate,” said Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who will be making key decisions on the contents of the 2011 Budget without the rep...

House To Consider An Estate Tax Amendment
With this evening's 83-15 Cloture vote, the Senate signaled it will pass President Obama's Bush Tax Cut Compromise tomorrow afternoon or evening depending upon how much of the 30 hours for debate is used. A top House Staffer told me that one amendment on the Estate Tax will be considered when the House takes it up Wednesday afternoon or evening. No details were offered, but I would guess we're talking about replacing the Lincoln-Kyl $5 million exemption and 35% top rate with the 2009 $3.5 millio...

C.I.A. Protected Ukrainian Nazi Collaborator
An alleged Ukrainian war criminal was recruited, protected, and remained until his death in 1998 “one of the [C.I.A.’s] oldest contacts,” reveals a report on newly declassified C.I.A. files released Thursday. Mykola Lebed led an Ukranian nationalist group that took part in the killing of Jews and Poles in Western Ukraine during World War II. After the war, according to the report, Lebed was recruited by U.S. intelligence to run guerrilla operations against the Soviet Union. Me...

The Plan for Global Governance, Not Global Government (Yet)
Jim Emerson, CoachIsRight.com The National Intelligence Council (NIC) recently released “Global Governance 2025: At a Critical Juncture.” This report is an, “informal contribution to an important international debate on the way forward for global, regional, and bilateral institutions and frameworks to meet emerging challenges such as Climate Change, resource management, international migration flows, and new technologies.” The NIC The NIC website carries this statement, “The

WikiLeaks Harms Global Security
Reckless transparency comes at a high price - Security. Wikileaks’ assertion that absolute transparency will make citizens safer and governments more accountable is incorrect; its interventions will increase official secrecy and threaten security. Damaging as WikiLeaks is to Obama’s diplomatic strategy and US bilateral relations, its most negative impact will be on global anti-terror efforts and Diplomacy aimed at reducing friction between major powers (such as Washington and B...

US may pass new law to prosecute Assange
Anger at Julian Assange continues to consume much of Washington this weekend, and a first formal hearing on Capitol Hill over options for prosecuting him could come as early as next week. Yet a claim made by one of the Wikileaks founder's lawyers, that the US was preparing to file charges against him "imminently", was dismissed by an official at the Justice Department. That Washington would like to take legal action against him and as quickly as possible can hardly be in doubt. But building a...

Mossad, CIA, MI6 behind Tehran attacks'
© unk Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohhamad Najjar Iran's interior minister has accused the intelligence agencies of Israel, the United States, and Britain of involvement in the recent Terrorist Attacks on two Iranian Nuclear Scientists. The arrested agents confessed that they received equipment and training from the Mossad, the CIA, and MI6, Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said in Tehran on Saturday. He also promised that the country's security forces would track...

US may pass new law to prosecute Assange
© AFP / Getty Images Swedish Arrest Warrant puts Assange on Interpol's most-wanted list Anger at Julian Assange continues to consume much of Washington this weekend, and a first formal hearing on Capitol Hill over options for prosecuting him could come as early as next week. Yet a claim made by one of the Wikileaks founder's lawyers, that the US was preparing to file charges against him "imminently", was dismissed by an official at the Justice Department. That Washington would like to ta...

Senators Menendez, Lugar Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Create Independent Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission
WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Dick Lugar (R-IN), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act of 2010. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) also co-sponsored the Legislation. The Bipartisan bill would mandate the creation of an independent commission to evaluate U.S. policies and programs aimed at reducing illicit drug supply and demand and recommend a multiyear counternarcotics strategy to address the...

Perils of buying used
It's commonly touted as a greener gift alternative: Buy something from a second-hand shop. It's something that already exists and doesn't have to be manufactured. Instead of just letting STUFF pile up, we redistribute it. But, alas, there's always a downside to any idea. In this case, a study published in the December issue of The Journal of Environmental Health highlighted a significant one. Older goods bear the potential for significant lead contamination. Researchers found that many items ava...

Battle of the Branches: Tough Times for Separation of Powers
Last week generated an unusual confluence of legal stories that together highlight the fragility of the constitutional (and practical) walls designed to separate the functions of the different branches of government. In each instance, functionaries of one branch poached on territory set aside for another; in each case, there was a swift reaction from tribunes defending their turf. Part One: Legislative encroachment upon traditional executive power. On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder...

Tax Deal Clears Cloture
From Sen. Kirk's office: Statement from U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill) on Today’s Vote to Prevent Massive Tax Increase:"I voted for the bill to prevent a massive tax hike from hitting Illinois families and hurting our economy during this Great Recession. President Obama and Senate leaders agree that this Legislation will help end the recession, adding jobs and restoring tax-rate certainty to this fragile economy. You can see a three-page summary...

Petition of the day
Today’s petition implicates a party’s standing to challenge the President’s removal powers and Rules 9 and 25 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Issue(s): 1) Whether a high-ranking Executive Branch official must be a party, for redressability, when another party challenges the President's power to remove him from office; 2) whether, when parties answering an ambiguous complaint disagree as to which party is being sued, a federal judge has jurisdiction to decide which part...

Center for American Progress Afghanistan Policy Paper Part II: Governance
One of the hallmarks of a good policy paper is a full and accurate understanding of the problem the recommended policy aims to solve.  The Center for American Progress (CAP)’s paper focuses on arguably the most problematic aspect of the current strategy, the problems of governance: [The Insurgents] primary strengths lie in their ability to capitalize on public discontent—especially in Pashtun areas in the south and east—and mobilize finances and arms through both cooption ...

Bredesen: Not exactly ruling out a presidential run
The Guvnuh says he probably won’t run for Senate, as he prefers the mighty hammer of the Executive Branch. He also notes Republicans don’t get anything done and Democrats aren’t very interesting: “I don’t think so,” he said when asked, and then specifically addressed speculation he might be a future Candidate for the U.S. Senate. “I don’t think I’d be any good at that. I don’t think I’d be happy. I don’t they’d be happy with me. I

Virginia Judge's Ruling Could Derail ObamaCare
A Federal Judge in Virginia struck down a key component of President Obama’s Health Care reform law on Monday, finding Congress exceeded its powers under the Constitution when it required all adult citizens to purchase Health Insurance  or pay a penalty. U.S. District Henry Hudson, in a 42-page opinion, granted the state of Virginia summary judgment in its suit seeking to declare the Insurance mandate Unconstitutional, thus threatening the entire package of Insurance reforms in the 2,...

CertiPath partners with government on IDs
Published: Dec. 13, 2010 at 10:42 AM HERNDON, Va., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- CertiPath and the U.S. government's Public Key Infrastructure Policy Authority are testing special identity access credentials for sensitive sites. The Personal Identification Verification-Interoperability cards allow non-executive branch federal employees; customers and partners; First Responders; and state and local officials to access facilities and systems, to which they have explicitly been granted access, using their own, ...