Democrats propose ex-parte defense right for telecoms, no immunity; CentCom commander resigns amid perceptions of opposition to Bush Iran policy...

12 March :: Democrats propose permitting telecom firms to defend themselves in ex parte communications with judges, away from view of plaintiffs, where evidence includes classified national security information; move is designed to allow court cases to move forward, permit phone companies right to mount defense, but with no offer of retroactive immunity for any potential violations of federal law; move is challenge to White House whose complaint about lawsuits was from concern over release of classified information... Admiral William Fallon, head of US Central Command, which oversees entire Middle East, East Africa, South Asia region, resigns amid growing press reports of rift between admiral, White House over possible war with Iran; recent Esquire magazine article called Fallon "the strongest man standing between the Bush Administration and a war with Iran"; Fallon himself has said there are no actual policy differences, though some observers expresss concern he may have been forced to step down... In effort to stave off further deterioration in credit, banking, real estate markets, "The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and central banks in the UK, Canada and Switzerland will inject billions of dollars into money markets"; some $200 billion in loans to banks is designed to promote expansion of lending to individuals, small businesses... Scientists achieve direct command-structure between chemical-molecular "brain", mulitple nano-devices, leading to potential direct remote control for nanotech-equipped robotic devices, far more efficient computing capabilities...

Bush admin. says waterboarding legal, may be used again; Malay destruction of Hindu temples sparks anger; UK bugs MP without warrant...

7 February :: Bush spokesman says "waterboarding" is legal, may be authorized for use at any time, "under certain circumstances"; critics express disbelief, as two recent laws, Supreme Court ruling clearly bar use of abusive interrogation techniques; according to the LA Times "The technique has been traced to the Spanish Inquisition and has been the subject of war-crimes trials dating back a century", and Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (AZ) recently said in a televised debate he found it inconceivable "anyone could believe that [waterboarding is] not torture. It's in violation of the Geneva Convention. It's in violation of existing law"; it is thought the declaration by a White House spokesperson is based in part on the Bush administration's long-running, highly controversial assertion that Congress cannot dictate such policies to the Executive... Destruction of Hindu temples by authorities in Malaysia sparks ethnic tensions, allegations of a racist state that ignores the ethnic Indian minority; some 20,000 ethnic Indians defied a gov't ban against organizing a march through Kuala Lumpur to protest ill treatment, marginalization, demolition of places of faith and worship... Outcry in Britain over apparently irregular bugging of a minister of parliament who visited a constituent facing extradition to the US; according to the Christian Science Monitor "The outcry involving Sadiq Khan, whose conversations with a man facing extradition to the United States on terrorism charges were secretly recorded, has generated alarm that individual rights are increasingly becoming subordinated to national security"; the UK has until now resisted using wiretap evidence in court, but CSM adds that "Bugging and telephone wiretaps can be set up without recourse to a judge – unlike the vast majority of European democracies and the US. The home secretary authorized more than 3,500 spy operations in 2005 and 2006"...

Blair proposes jobs plan for West Bank, Gaza; oil nears $100/barrel, fears of widespread recession; Senate bill bars telecom immunity in wiretap...

19 November :: Fmr UK PM Tony Blair, envoy for 'Quartet' —UN, US, EU, Russia— to Middle East, has proposed a sweeping economic regeneration, job-creation plan for Palestinian territories, to dissuade militancy, get territories on path to viable statehood, long-term peace; plan to include Jericho trade-park, a checkpoint-free Jordan-Jericho trade corridor, public works projects like new sewage system for beleaguered Gaza strip... Oil nearing $100/barrel, observers worry record price could cause recession in several economies around the globe; CSM report suggests OPEC, created to stabilize oil prices, has lost control of pricing due to market, political factors... US Senate committee has voted to strip telecommunications firms of immunity from prosecution for collaborating in illegal NSA wiretaps; telecoms have contended they were forced by gov't to cooperate, while critics charge the companies knowingly violated the law, aided in assault on Constitutional liberties... Transport strike deepens in France, as unions oppose Sarkozy's proposed pension reforms across nation; as more groups join work stoppages, threat of real national 'general strike' looms for president... AP reports "Everyone will feel its effects, [said Yvo de Boer, director of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change] but global warming will hit the poorest countries hardest and will 'threaten the very survival' of some people", as UN scientists gather at Valencia IPCC talks to prepare language, agenda for Bali climate meetings...

Bank of England warns UK of economic slowdown; Pakistan detains another opposition leader, as student movement grows...

17 November :: Bank of England governor warns coming year will be hardest economically for Great Britain, with credit problems, banking tightness and housing slump contributing to general tightening of purse-strings, possible consumer slowedown as well; Bank gov. Mervyn King said it will be 2009 "before growth picks up and inflation is brought under control", according to the Guardian... IHT reporting from Lahore: "The opposition politician Imran Khan emerged from hiding Wednesday to the cheers of hundreds of students at a demonstration against General Pervez Musharraf at a university here, but he was quickly seized by hard-line students and turned over to the police, witnesses said"; Musharraf moves to contain virtually all aspects of opposition organization, leadership increasingly evident, US calls into question security rationale behind emergency rule... CSM, also reporting from Lahore: "What began last week as a protest against the arrests of academics at a university in Lahore has quickly spread across larger campuses, energizing new movements and inciting old student political groups from a near two-decade slumber. But when opposition leader Imran Khan, a perceived hero of the student movement, arrived Wednesday to address students in Lahore, members of a powerful and established Islamist student group quickly handed him over to police"... Google is offering $10 million in prize money for developers who produce the most effective software for its proposed open-platform mobile phone operating system; 'G-prize' for revolution in cellular software could herald new model of mass-market technology development... As Congress wrestles with question of telecom complicity in extralegal spying, Truthdig report revealing in terms of possible link between gov't backing of major telecom mergers, data-mining programs; report reveals that NSA in 2000, in efforts to gather new resources, maintain relevancy in post-Cold-War period, launched a "government-industry partnership for information technology infrastructure services"...

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...

GAO finds terrorist watch list may target too many people; St. Bernard breed may prove Darwin's evolution; oil over $92/barrel...

26 October :: Report from Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds terrorist watch list may be targetting too many people to be effective, including 755,000 names as of May 2007, 860,000 at present; critics of the list say it threatens civil liberties, contravenes Constitutional protections; Sen. Lieberman has expressed concern about its "500 percent increase in three years", Justice Dept. inspector-general's report questions quality of data used... Scientists say study of St. Bernard skulls over 120 year period show selection in dog breeding demonstrates Darwin's theory of evolution; in case of dog breeds, human selection accelerates the process of natural selection, which would likely take longer to show evidence... US announces stiffest sanctions regime against Iran in nearly 3 decades, targeting three state banks, declaring elite Revolutionary Guard "proliferators of weapons of mass destruction" for efforts to enrich uranium, making it a crime for any US citizen to do business with any of the cited entities; Russia has already denounced the new sanctions, some fear move could be provocation, further escalate tensions; US sec. of State Condoleezza Rice said in announcing the sanctions that the US is still fully committed to a diplomatic solution... Financial firm Merrill Lynch has added $2.9 billion to its already massive write-down of losses, now totalling $7.9 billion for this quarter; the firm's revenues fell 94% against this time last year, and spokesman says firm still faces some exposure from sub-prime related accounts... Oil hits record high $92.22 in trading Friday, as falling dollar, mounting violence in Iraq, tension between Turkey, Kurds, dwindling US supplies, Iran sanctions provoke fears of further scarcity; OPEC says it has no plans to increase production at next meeting...

Senate wiretap bill to grant retroactive telecom immunity; Blackwater accused to taking Iraqi military aircraft...

20 October :: US Senate crafts 'compromise' wiretapping bill that grants telecoms immunity from prosecution for illegally handing customer information to NSA; deal was made after intel. committee chair Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV), obtained the secret documents debating, justifying and authorizing the warrantless wiretapping program which spied on American citizens; White House has said it will not allow House intel. committee or House or Senate judiciary committees to see the documents —which may technically illustrate a conspiracy to violate US law— unless immunity is granted retroactively to telecoms... Unnamed Iraqi official reportedly told Congress Blackwater tried to take two Iraqi military aircraft out of Iraq, then refused to return them, US Congressman Henry Waxman is demanding answers, has ordered the company to turn over "a sweeping amount of information about Blackwater's business, including its contracts with the federal government, profits made since the company was founded a decade ago, Prince's personal earnings since 2001, and details about the payments to the families of Iraqis killed by Blackwater personnel", according to IHT... 8 reported killed in bombing of Makati shopping mall, in Manila, Philippines; Pres. Arroyo said police and military were on "highest alert", she was putting 2,000 more security personnel on duty to raise preparedness, warned "those who seek to destabilize our government not to exploit this incident for their selfish political motives"... French pres. Sarkozy and UK PM Brown say they would back Tony Blair as first to fill the new office of EU president, if the new treaty is ratified by all 27 member states; the office would come into being in 2009 and would have a base term of 30 months, with a possible extension to 5 years; EU presidency currently rotates among member states every 6 months, held by top elected official... US House fails to override presidential veto of children's healthcare funding...