Justice re-opens probe into wiretap wrongdoing; Supreme Court suspends FL execution pending constitutionality ruling...

16 November :: The Dept. of Justice, under new attorney general, Michael Mukasey, has reopened an investigation into whether its lawyers violated the law in connection with Pres. Bush's warrantless wiretapping; the investigation had been suspended when the White Houes refused security clearance to investigators to examine evidence, which refusal has been called into question because no such request has ever been refused before... Supreme Court stops Florida execution, pending judgment on three-drug execution process which produced botched execution last December, a situation which may violate Constitutional protection against "cruel and unusual punishment"... Saudi woman to be whipped 200 times and jailed for becoming rape victim; Truthdig reports "Saudi woman has been sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in jail by an appeals court because she was riding in a car with a man when she was attacked and gang-raped by seven men", sentence based on law segregating unmarried men and women... In effort to mitigate holiday congestion for air traffic and prevent 'chaos' for travelers, Pres. Bush has ordered the Defense Dept. to open some of its restricted airspace for commercial "express lanes"; new FAA rules to promote efficiency may include doubling the fine to airlines to 'bump' paying passengers and officially labeling any flight route that travels 15 minutes late 70% of the time "an unfair and deceptive practice"... Global milk shortage creating pricing pressures for businesses, regions, markets; despite Hershey's raising prices to cover milk costs, its profits fell 96% over the last year; IHT reports "along with zippy cars and flat-panel TVs, milk is the mark of new money, a significant source of protein that factors into much of any affluent person's diet. Milk goes into infant formulas, chocolates, ice cream and cheese. Most baked goods contain butter, and coffee chains like Starbucks sell more milk than coffee", that meeting such demand now requires more milk that New Zealand's entire annual output...