BUSH ADMINISTRATION DIRECTS FBI TO OUTSOURCE HUMAN RIGHTS to Sandy Springs, Georgia

There has been much media coverage of the outsourcing of human rights violations by the Bush administration. Most of this is regarding alleged "secret CIA prisons" in Romania, Poland and several Middle-Eastern countries. In addition, coverage has included the abuses of private security contractors in Iraq, many of which are owned and operated by former Special Forces military veterans and others in the United States defense community. However, based on my personal experience, I assert that the outsourcing of human rights violations is happening in the United States, using publicly traded companies. One of these companies is Peachford Behavioral Healthcare System of Sandy Springs, Georgia. A psychiatric hospital, it is owned and operated by Universal Health Services of Pennsylvania, one of the third largest hospital management companies in the United States.

As many are aware, the Soviet Union used psychiatric hospitalization to detain political dissenters. A few years ago, there were rumors that Senator Bill Frist wanted the American Psychiatry Association to classify "political paranoia" of the Republican Party as a mental illness. At this point in time, this is conjecture. However, many independent journalists have deduced that the purpose of George Bush's New Freedom Initiative is to screen the entire population for mental illness (Bush Wants to Be Your Shrink, Retrieved February 26, 2006 from http://www.interventionmag.com). Based on my personal experience, I contend that another connection between the Bush Administration and the private mental healthcare industry is to illegally hospitalize, detain and thus discredit citizens who are either victims of FBI human rights violations or have witnessed illegal FBI activities.

read more of Deborahs Lloyds story via an IMCUK posting

Senate Approves Patriot Act Renewal

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Writer - WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday gave its blessing to the renewal of the USA Patriot Act after adding new privacy protections designed to strike a better balance between civil liberties and the government's power to root out terrorists.

The 89-10 vote marked a bright spot in President Bush's troubled second term as his approval ratings dipped over the war in Iraq and his administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. Renewing the act, Bush and congressional Republicans said, was key to preventing more terror attacks in the United States.

Bush applauded the Senate for overcoming "partisan attempts to block its passage." The House was expected to approve the two-bill package next week and send it to the president, who would sign it before 16 provisions expire March 10.

"This bill will allow our law enforcement officials to continue to use the same tools against terrorists that are already used against drug dealers and other criminals, while safeguarding the civil liberties of the American people," Bush said in a statement from India.

Critics held their ground. A December filibuster led by Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., and joined by several libertarian-leaning Republicans, forced the Bush administration to agree to modest new curbs on the government's power to probe library, bank and other records.

Feingold insisted those new protections are cosmetic.

"Americans want to defeat terrorism and they want the basic character of this country to survive and prosper," he said. "They want both security and liberty, and unless we give them both _ and we can if we try _ we have failed."

Some lawmakers who voted for the package acknowledged deep reservations about the power it would grant to any president.

"Our support for the Patriot Act does not mean a blank check for the president," said Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who voted to pass the bill package. "What we tried to do on a bipartisan basis is have a better bill. It has been improved."

Not enough even for the bill's chief sponsor in the Senate, Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa. After prolonged negotiations produced a House-Senate compromise, Specter urged his colleagues to pass it even as he promised to introduce a new measure and hold hearings on how to fix it.

For now, Bush and his Republican allies savored a significant victory. For months, their tough-on-terror image has been tarnished by the revelation that the president authorized a secret domestic wiretapping program. The report in December gave Democrats ammunition for their charge that the Bush administration had run amok in its zeal to root out terrorists.

With the help of some Republicans, they blocked a vote on whether to renew the law before 16 provisions expired on Dec. 31.

GOP leaders were unable to break the gridlock, so Congress opted instead to extend the deadline twice while negotiations continued. In the end, the White House and the Republicans broke the stalemate by crafting a second measure that would curb some powers of law enforcement officials seeking information. Both will be sent as a package to Bush.

This second bill in effect an amendment to the measure renewing the 16 provisions _ would add new protections to the 2001 antiterror law in three areas. It would:

Passed in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the original Patriot Act expanded the government's surveillance and prosecutorial powers against suspected terrorists, their associates and financiers.

The renewal package would make 14 of 16 temporary provisions permanent and set four-year expirations on the others.

The renewal includes several measures not directly related to terrorism. One would make it harder for illicit labs to obtain ingredients for methamphetamine by requiring pharmacies to sell nonprescription cold medicines only from behind the counter.

Another focuses on port security, imposing new criminal sanctions and a death sentence in certain circumstances for placing a device or substance in U.S. waters that could damage vessels or cargo.

Feingold's chief ally, Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., said the package was not enough to check what he described as a presidential tendency through history of "always grabbing more power." "The erosion of freedom rarely comes as an all-out frontal assault," warned Byrd, the dean of the Senate. "Rather, it is a gradual, noxious creeping cloaked in secrecy and glossed over by reassurances of greater security."

The "no" votes came from Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., and Feingold, Byrd and seven other Senate Democrats: Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Carl Levin of Michigan, Patty Murray of Washington and Ron Wyden of Oregon.

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, did not vote.

The bill is HR3199.

chron.com

Animal welfare activists convicted under federal anti-terror law

(Trenton-AP, March 2, 2006) - A Philadelphia-based animal rights group and six members have been convicted on federal charges of inciting violence against a company that uses animals for drug and consumer product testing.

The conviction on a charge of animal enterprise terrorism is believed to be the first since the Animal Enterprise Protection Act was enacted in 1992.

Prosecutors say the group, called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, used its Web site to stir violent protests against New Jersey-based Huntingdon Life Sciences and its associates.

The group's president, Pamelyn Ferdin, argued that its activities were covered by free speech protections.

Ferdin, who was not charged, is a former child star who was the voice of Lucy in some "Peanuts" movies. - abclocal.go.com

Anti-terror bill requires curbs on pseudoephedrine

By Sylvia A. Smith WASHINGTON – Tucked in the anti-terrorism bill that will soon head to President Bush's desk is a provision that will require pharmacies, groceries, quick-stop shops and other stores that sell certain cold medicines to keep packages behind the counter and check the identification of anyone who wants to buy the pills.

The restrictions are part of Congress' attempt to limit access to pseudoephedrine, one of the ingredients of methamphetamine, an addictive stimulant drug that is taken orally, injected, snorted or smoked. Often called “speed” or “crystal,” meth can be made in large labs or home kitchens with commonly available ingredients.

Beginning Sept. 30, customers will be limited to 3.6 grams of pseudoephedrine products – about 120 pills – each day and 9 grams a month. They will have to sign a log book before buying a package or bottle of bills.

However, the legislation does not set up a federal database to keep a running tally of the amount of Sudafed or other cold remedies individuals buy.

The legislation, pushed by Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd, is somewhat more restrictive than a similar bill the Indiana General Assembly passed last year and that went into effect July 1, 2005.

Under state law, Hoosier stores with pharmacies that sell cold medicines with pseudoephedrine may leave the boxes on the shelf provided the products are within sight of the pharmacy staff and under 24-hour video surveillance. Indiana restricts consumers to 3 grams of cold pills per week and 9 grams per month.

“The legislation will basically bring the rest of the country in line with the law Indiana enacted last July, so that meth cooks simply don't go to neighboring states to obtain the pseudoephedrine that is contained in most cold medication,” Souder said.

The federal legislation also sets import and manufacturing quotas; increases federal penalties against meth traffickers and smugglers; and increases the amount of money Congress may allocate for drug courts, drug-endangered children programs and programs to assist pregnant women addicted to meth. - fortwayne.com

Bush at his lowest ebb after ports defeat

By Edward Alden and Holly Yeager in Washington - Published: March 10 2006

President George W. Bush's defeat over the Dubai ports deal has put him in the weakest political position of his presidency.

Some of his former supporters are now questioning whether the president can regain the initiative during his remaining three years in the White House.

“If this was a European parliamentary system, it would have been a vote of no-confidence,” said Ed Rollins, a top political adviser to President Ronald Reagan and now a Republican strategist.

An AP/Ipsos poll on Friday found that confidence in the president continued to fall, even among Republicans. Two-thirds of Americans said the country was now on the wrong track, up from 61 per cent a month ago, and 77 per cent believed a civil war would break out in Iraq.

On Thursday, Dubai Ports World, the state-owned company which had acquired five US port terminal facilities as part of its $6.8bn purchase of P&O, was ordered by the ruler of Dubai to divest the ports in the face of congressional opposition.

That may not be enough to end the controversy, however. A person close to the deal said last night that DP World would not necessarily sell all of its interest in P&O's US assets and could retain as much as 49 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives said it would still go ahead with a vote next week to force the company to divest. A list of potential buyers is thought to have been drawn up, including New York's Maher Terminals, Eller & Co of Miami and private equity companies Blackstone and Carlyle Group. The company is talking to the Treasury department about ensuring that the deal is not done too quickly in order to allow a reasonable price to be raised.

Mr Bush on Friday warned that the action of Congress in blocking the Dubai deal could have damaging repercussions. “In order to win the war on terror, we have got to strengthen our relationships and friendships with moderate Arab countries in the Middle East,” he said.

Congressional Republican leaders insisted the defeat would not do lasting damage to relations with the White House. But Mr Rollins called the damage “serious” and said: “I don't think it gets easily fixed.” - ft.com

Pa. seizes paper's computer hard disks

The Attorney General's Office says they may show evidence of a felony: unauthorized use of a restricted Web site.

By John Shiffman - Inquirer Staff Writer

In an unusual and little-known case, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office has seized four computer hard drives from a Lancaster newspaper as part of a statewide grand-jury investigation into leaks to reporters. The dispute pits the government's desire to solve an alleged felony - computer hacking - against the news media's fear that taking the computers circumvents the First Amendment and the state Shield Law.

The state Supreme Court declined last week to take the case, allowing agents to begin analyzing the data.

"This is horrifying, an editor's worst nightmare," said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Washington. "For the government to actually physically have those hard drives from a newsroom is amazing. I'm just flabbergasted to hear of this."

The grand jury is investigating whether the Lancaster County coroner gave reporters for the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal his password to a restricted law enforcement Web site. The site contained nonpublic details of local crimes. The newspaper allegedly used some of those details in articles.

If the reporters used the Web site without authorization, officials say, they may have committed a crime.

In interviews yesterday, the reporters' lawyer, William DeStefano, and the coroner, Gary Kirchner, disagreed over whether Kirchner had given them permission to access the site.

DeStefano said that although he didn't know whether any of the reporters used the Web site, "evidence has been presented to the attorney general which makes it clear that the county coroner, an elected official, invited and authorized the paper or reporters access to the restricted portion of the Web site... . If somebody is authorized to give me a password and does, it's not hacking."

The coroner said yesterday that he had not "to my knowledge" provided the password or permission to the reporters. "Why would I do that?" Kirchner said yesterday. "I'm not sure how I got drawn into something as goofy as this."

State agents raided Kirchner's home outside Lancaster last month and took computers, he said. He said he had had no other contact with authorities since. The morning Intelligencer Journal is owned by Lancaster Newspapers Inc., which also publishes the afternoon Lancaster New Era and the Sunday News. The Intelligencer Journal's editor, Raymond Shaw, was compelled last month to testify before the grand jury, which is based in Harrisburg. Yesterday, he declined to comment on the case.

Grand-jury investigations are secret. But some details trickled out when a lower-court judge in Harrisburg, Barry Feudale, held hearings last month to consider the newspaper's motion to stop the state from enforcing its subpoena for the hard drives. Officials said the Internet histories and cached Web-page content retained on the newspaper's computer hard drives could contain evidence of a crime - unauthorized use of a computer. To properly search the computers, state lawyers argued, they needed to haul them to a government lab in Harrisburg.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Jonelle Eshbach argued that this was not a case of a journalist's right to protect a source but an attempt to use the First Amendment to shield a crime. "We know the source," she said. It is a password-protected Web site, she said, essentially "a bulletin board in a locked room, and it is getting into that locked room and seeing the bulletin board that makes this a crime."

At the hearing, another lawyer for the newspaper, Jayson Wolfgang, said the search was illegal, and troubling. "The government simply doesn't have the ability or the right, nor should it, in a free democracy, to seize the work-product materials, source information, computer hard drives, folders with paper, cabinet drawers of a newspaper," he argued.

Feudale ruled Feb. 23 that the state could seize the computers but view only Internet data relevant to the case. The judge also ordered the agent who withdraws the data to show them to him first - before passing them to prosecutors - to ensure that the journalists' other confidential files are not compromised. The ruling was stayed pending appeal to the State Supreme Court.

In the newspaper's appeal, DeStefano argued that the ramifications of allowing government officials to have control over a newspaper's computers, no matter the restrictions imposed, are frightening.

"Permitting the attorney general to seize and search unfettered the workstations will result in the very chilling of information," DeStefano wrote. "Confidential tips, leads, and other forms of information will undoubtedly dry up once sources and potential sources learn that Lancaster Newspapers' workstations were taken out of its possession and turned over to investigations."

In response, the state argued that "the newspaper has not produced one shred of evidence that the computer hard drives contain information protected from disclosure."

In a one-page order dated Wednesday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case on procedural grounds, freeing the state to examine the hard drives. - Philly inquirer

US backs first-strike attack plan

The US will not shy away from attacking regimes it considers hostile, or groups it believes have nuclear or chemical weapons, the White House has confirmed. In the first restatement of national security strategy since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the US singles out Iran as the greatest single current danger. The new policy backs the policy of pre-emptive war first issued in 2002, and criticised since the Iraq war. But it stresses that the US aims to spread democracy through diplomacy.

The new strategy also highlights a string of other global issues of concern to the US, such as the spread of Aids, the threat of pandemic flu and the prospect of natural and environmental disasters. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley is due to make a speech launching the new strategy on Thursday.

Other key points include:

Stressing US preference for "transformational diplomacy" and coalition building, but not necessarily within United Nations or Nato frameworks

Criticising the lack of democratic freedoms in Russia and China

Branding Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a "demagogue" aiming to destabilise the region

Urging Palestinian radical group Hamas to recognise Israel, renounce violence and disarm.

Seven despots

The substance of the revised strategy focuses on the challenges facing the US in the wake of the Iraq war.

In a nod to previous high-level foreign policy statements, which singled out individual countries as potential enemies of the US, the new document highlights seven "despotic" states.

They are: North Korea, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Belarus, Burma and Zimbabwe.

The policy of the US, according to the opening words of the 49-page document, is "to seek and support democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world".

These motives underpin US policy towards the continuing stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme, the document says.

But it stresses that continuing diplomatic efforts must succeed if confrontation is to be avoided, vowing to take "all necessary measures" to protect US interests against Iran.

Self-defence

The new document, overseen and approved by Mr Bush, leaves the so-called "Bush doctrine" of pre-emptive war largely unchanged. Before 2002 the US largely focused on the deterrence and containment of unfriendly states. However, likening the current international situation to the early years of the Cold War, the new document insists on the right of the US to protect its interests using force.

"If necessary, however, under long-standing principles of self-defence, we do not rule out use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack," it says. "When the consequences of an attack with WMD [weapons of mass destruction] are potentially so devastating, we cannot afford to stand idly by as grave dangers materialise." - BBC

AUDIO - US Senate candidate says Elton John worthy of death...speaks of Mary Cheney

by PageOneQ

Last week, the press reported that Merrill Keiser, a Democratic candidate United States Senate from Ohio, believes that homosexuality should be punishable by death. Kaiser's opposition for the Democratic nomination is US Rep. Sherrod Brown.

The Edge Radio Show is an upbeat, lighthearted look at the issues and news facing the gay community. Through our LIVE, call-in format, listeners have the opportunity to make their voices heard.

Visit The Edge Show here.

PageOneQ has obtained a portion of an audio interview in which Keiser says that singer/performer Elton John should be put to death and insinuates that the same should happen to Mary Cheney, the daughter of Vice President Richard B. Cheney.

The Edge Show, a growing podcast with over 4,000 weekly listeners, conducted the interview. (to hear the complete show, click here)

Here is the transcript of the portion of the show in which Kaiser speaks of superstar and out gay man Elton John. The original recording of the transcribed text is here in MP3 format.

The transcript follows below:

Host Chad Larson: Elton John, he comes to the state of Ohio, he's gay and proud, 
you want him dead? Should he be killed? 

Candidate Merrill Keiser: I would prefer that he repent 

Larson: Obviously, he's not repenting, should he be killed? 

Keiser:Well he's worthy of death 

The interview then turned to the subject of Mary Chemey, the Vice President's daughter. 
Larson inquired as to whether Ms. Cheney should be subject to the same treatment 
Mr. Kaiser suggested for Elton John: 

Larson: How about Mary Cheney? How about the vice president's daughter? 
Should she be killed? Should she be killed, sir, if she does not repent? 

Keiser: You know the important thing is they are facing the second death 

Larson: Of course, but in your perfect world, should Mary Cheney be 
killed for her being a homosexual? 

Keiser: If she's not going to repent. 

Larson: Then she should be killed? 

Keiser: She's not being killed. 

Larson: If her life is no longer existing then she is being killed. 

Keiser: Well, how else are you going to do it? 

Larson: So you are saying Mary Cheney …
So you are saying Mary Cheney should be killed for being a homosexual. 

Keiser: Why don't we….What's wrong with drugs 

Larson: We're going to drug her? 

Keiser: Why do we have laws against drugs?