Many Believe US Already in a Recession

JEANNINE AVERSA | February 10, 2008 05:50 PM EST |

WASHINGTON — Empty homes and for-sale signs clutter neighborhoods. You've lost your job or know someone who has. Your paycheck and nest egg are taking a hit.

Could the country be in recession?

Sixty-one percent of the public believes the economy is now suffering through its first recession since 2001, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll.

The fallout from a depressed housing market and a credit crunch nearly caused the economy to stall in the final three months of last year. Some experts, like the majority of people questioned in the poll, say the economy actually may be shrinking now. The worry is that consumers and businesses will hunker down further and pull back spending, sending the economy into a tailspin.

"Absolutely, we're in a recession," said Hilda Sanchez, 44, of Waterford, Calif.

Squeezed by high energy and food bills, "we can't afford the things that we normally buy," she said. "We are cutting corners in our spending. For our groceries, we are buying a lot of generic and we are eating out less."

For many, the meltdown in the housing and mortgage markets has proved especially disturbing. Record numbers of people were forced from their homes, unable to afford the monthly loan payments. People watched their single biggest asset fall in value, a reason to tighten the belt.

"Obviously the housing market is creating deep concern. And one of the real problems could be that if people, as a result of their value of their homes going down, kind of pull in their horns," President Bush said in a television interview aired Sunday.

Credit has become harder to get, thwarting would-be home buyers, adding to the glut of unsold homes and aggravating the housing industry's woes.

"For-sale signs are everywhere. In my area, 35 to 40 homes are standing there and aren't even complete. There aren't any buyers," said Jim Sims, 60, of Greer, S.C.

Nanette Dahlin, 52, of St. Louis Park, Minn., called the situation "very scary." She said friends in Madison, Minn., put their home up for sale recently and reduced the asking price more than $100,000 in just a week. "They are in bad shape," Dahlin said.

For all of 2007, the economy grew by just 2.2 percent. That was the weakest performance since 2002, when the country was struggling to recover from the last recession. The housing collapse was the biggest culprit in 2007. Builders lowered spending on housing projects by 16.9 percent on an annualized basis, the most in 25 years.

The job market is faltering _ a point driven home by a report showing that employers cut jobs in January for the first time in more than four years.

"The way things are, people are afraid of losing their jobs," Sanchez said.

Employment concerns are contributing to darker feelings about the economy and people's own financial well-being. Consumer confidence, as measured by the RBC Cash Index, dropped to a mark of 48.5 in early February. It was the worst reading since the index began in 2002.

A cooling job market along with high energy and food prices are taking a toll on paychecks. Workers' average weekly earnings, adjusted for inflation, fell 0.9 percent last year. In 2006, earnings grew by a solid 2.1 percent.

Wall Street is unsettled and as a result, people's nest eggs are not what they once were.

In fact, that was the top economic worry in the AP-Ipsos poll. Fifty-nine percent said they were worried "a lot" or "some" about seeing the value of stocks and retirement investments drop.

"I really dread opening my (financial) statements," Sims said.

By one rough rule of thumb, a recession occurs when there are two consecutive quarters _ six straight months _ when the economy shrinks. That did not happen in the last recession, though. The economy contracted in the first quarter of 2001, turned positive in the second quarter, shrank in the third quarter and turned up again in the final quarter of that year.

The National Bureau of Economic Research, the recognized arbiters for dating recessions, uses a more complicated formula. It takes into account such things as employment and income growth. By that measure, the last recession was in 2001, starting in March and ending in November.

Bush, citing some experts, said the U.S. was not in a recession, although he acknowledged "that the signs are troubling enough" to justify the $168 billion economic rescue plan that passed Congress this past week. The measure he intends to sign on Wednesday includes tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses.

To bolster the economy, the Federal Reserve embarked on a rate-cutting campaign in September, with two big reductions last month. In just eight days in January, the Fed slashed rates by 1.25 percentage points. The hope it that the lower rates will induce people to buy more and revive the economy.

So if the poll figure of 61 percent is right _ that the country is now in recession _ then those relief efforts will help ease the effect of a downturn.

"People are both depressed and anxious about the state of affairs. The anxiety is going to persist because we are in an uncertain season economically and politically," said Terry Connelly, dean of Golden Gate University's Ageno School of Business.

The poll was based on the responses from 1,006 adults surveyed Monday through Wednesday about their attitudes on personal finance and the economy. Results of the survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Chavez 'may cut oil supplies to US'

AFP
Monday February 11, 2008

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned that Caracas would stop oil supplies to the US if Exxon Mobil seized the country's assets.

"If you freeze us, if you really manage to freeze us, if you damage us, then we will hurt you. Do you know how? We are not going to send oil to the United States. Take notes, Mr. Bush, Mr. Danger,'' Chavez said.

Exxon Mobil has launched a bid to freeze the assets of Venezuela's state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, in the US, British and Dutch courts.

The move comes after the nationalization of a multibillion dollar oil project by Chavez's government last year.

A British court has issued an injunction freezing as much as US$12 billion in assets.

"The outlaws of Exxon Mobil will never again rob us," Chavez said, accusing the oil giant of acting in line with the policies of 'the imperialist government of the United States' and of being part of the 'international mafia.'

The Venezuelan leader warned that such a move by the US could push oil prices up to $200 a barrel.

Police launch dawn raid on boy of 12 'over school fight'

By CHRIS BROOKE - More by this author » Last updated at 00:02am on 11th February 2008 daily mail

A father told yesterday how police made a dawn raid on his home - to arrest his 12-year- old son following a "scuffle" with another boy.

Taher Faleh, 31, said he was woken at 6am by two officers hammering at his front door. They insisted on waking his son Dean themselves.

When the worried father objected to them being the first to walk into the bedroom Dean shared with four young siblings, he claimed they threatened to arrest him as well.

By the time Dean was led away, the other youngsters were all "scared and crying", their father said.

The schoolboy was taken to Sheffield's Attercliffe police station where his DNA and fingerprints were taken and he was released on bail at 9.30am pending further inquiries into the alleged assault months earlier.

Recalling the incident at his home in Shiregreen, Sheffield, the father of six said: "I was woken by the knocking. I went downstairs and they said they were the police and they had come for my son.

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I thought it was a joke. But they were ready to smash the door down so I let them in.

"I told the two policemen I would wake him up. I didn't want them going upstairs and frightening my children.

"They said they had to arrest him from his bed. I stood in front of them on the stairs because I was knew they would be frightened if strangers burst into their bedroom.

"I was adamant the police officers shouldn't violate my children's space. In my culture it's a sin to violate other people's space, especially children.'

"But they said if I didn't move, they would arrest me for obstruction of justice. They refused to allow me or his mother to wake him up and they insisted on going into my children's bedroom, where there were four children under ten asleep, and waking him up.

"I have six children, they were all scared and crying. There was a big commotion."

Mr Faleh said he phoned the police switchboard when the officers were in his house but could find no one willing to help him or discuss the arrest of his son.

Mr Faleh, originally from Yemen, said Dean was involved in a "scuffle" with a boy on the way home from school.

He added: "I found out about it and I spoke to the other boy's mother and we both agreed we would not take the incident any further.

"They are only children and they have fights, that's what they do. They had a little scuffle and we tried to sort it out.

"Two children had a fight. There were no broken bones, no scars and no lasting damage."

But six weeks later, in September, Mr Faleh received a letter from South Yorkshire Police asking him to contact them about an allegation of assault.

He said he took Dean to the local police station five days after receiving the letter. There, they spoke to two officers.

Mr Faleh made a counter-complaint of racist abuse against the boy's mother, whom he claimed chased Dean home, calling him racist names.

He added: "My son is a good lad. He's got no criminal record, he's doing well at school and he respects his elders.

"I thought England was the cradle of civilisation and then something like this happens, it's unbelievable."

He said he was speaking out about the incident because he was so shocked at the attitude of the police.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said: 'A 12 year-old boy was arrested in connection with an alleged assault, following numerous requests for him to present himself at a police station.

"He has been released on police bail pending further investigations into the alleged assault.

"We treat allegations of assault very seriously and are determined to bring offenders to justice using proportionate means."

Op/Ed: At one point, they called it 'water torture'

Raw Story
Monday February 11, 2008

As the Bush Administration quibbles over whether or not the interrogation practice known as waterboarding can be considered torture under the Geneva Convention, one veteran speaks definitively in today's Washington Post.

"As someone who has experienced waterboarding, albeit in a controlled setting, I know that the act is indeed torture," opens Richard E. Mezo.

Stationed in California in 1963, Mezo describes what he went through as part of his Navy training, which included being placed in a simulated POW camp that was modeled on encounters with Korean and Chinese forces.

"As a nation," Mezo appeals, "we must ask our leaders, elected and appointed, to be aware of such horrors; we must ask them to stop the narrow and superficial thinking that hinges upon "legal" definitions and to use common sense."

"Waterboarding is torture," he concludes, "and torture is clearly a crime against humanity."

EXCERPTS:

#
We were all interrogated a few times, some of us more than others. During one interrogation, I was led blindfolded into a room. Suddenly one of the "enemy" hit me hard in the stomach -- a sucker punch that left me doubled over, out of breath. I think three other people were present, but I was never sure. Two men grabbed me at my sides. They put a pole of some kind under my knees and bent me over backward. My head went down lower than the rest of my body.

The questions (What is your unit? Where are you from?) were asked by one man. But we were not supposed to talk. I remember that the blindfold was heavy and completely covered my face. As the two men held me down, one on each side, someone began pouring water onto the blindfold, and suddenly I was drowning. The water streamed into my nose and then into my mouth when I gasped for breath. I couldn't stop it. All I could breathe was water, and it was terrifying. I think I began to lose consciousness. I felt my lungs begin to fill with burning liquid.

Even though I knew that I was in a military facility and that my "captors" would not kill me, no matter what they threatened, my body sensed and reacted to the danger it was in. Adrenaline helped me to fight out of the position the men were holding me in. I can't really explain how I managed to stand up, still with one man clinging to each arm. I only know how horrible it was. The experience was probably only a few minutes, but to me it seemed much longer.

#
The entire article is available HERE.

'They will kill Obama if he becomes US president': Outcry over Nobel Prize winner's assassination warning

DAVID GARDNER
UK Daily Mail
Monday February 11, 2008

British Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing caused uproar last night by predicting the assassination of Barack Obama if he becomes the first black U.S. president.

The 88-year-old novelist's remarks came as the Democratic candidate toasted the most successful day in his White House campaign.

Mr Obama, the 46-year-old son of a black Kenyan man and a white American, dismissed Mrs Lessing's comments.

Miss Lessing said: "He would probably not last long, a black man in the position of president. They would kill him."

She said it would be better if Mrs Clinton, 60, became America's first woman president with Obama as her running mate

"Hillary is a very sharp lady. It might be calmer if she wins," she told a Swedish newspaper.

But one Democratic analyst said: "Suggesting Obama is in danger if he wins the election in November is not only divisive, it is insulting to the American people."

Princeton University political science professor-Melissa Harris-Lacewell raised assassination fears last month, saying: "For many black supporters, there is a lot of anxiety that he will be killed. It is on people's minds.

"You can't make a prediction like this - like he has a 50 per cent chance of getting shot.

"But the greater his visibility and the greater his access to people, there is a danger."

Full article here.

FBI program alleged to prepare businesses for martial law

Michael Roston - Raw Story
Published: Friday February 8, 2008

A public-private partnership program on infrastructure preparedness and protection run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation allegedly has briefed its corporate members on the possibility of martial law and the use of lethal force, according to an exclusive report in the magazine The Progressive.

"One business owner in the United States tells me that InfraGard members are being advised on how to prepare for a martial law situation—and what their role might be," writes Matthew Rothschild in the Feb. 7 report, quoting an anonymous whistleblower on the program. "'Then they said when—not if—martial law is declared, it was our responsibility to protect our portion of the infrastructure, and if we had to use deadly force to protect it, we couldn’t be prosecuted,' he says."

Rothschild's report details InfraGard, a program set up between the FBI and a number of businesses engaged in maintaining elements of "critical national infrastructure," such as agriculture, banking and finance, the chemical industry, defense, energy, food, information and telecommunications, law enforcement, public health, and transportation. The program's 23,000-plus members provide information to the FBI and in turn receive privileged information from the FBI on threats to infrastructure.

In one case, Rothschild expalined, InfraGard members appeared to get details on a threat to California's bridges prior to then-Gov. Gray Davis. The California governor was informed by his brother Barry, a banker, of the danger potentially faced by the state's residents.

"I was on the phone with my brother, who is an investment banker. And if he knows, why shouldn’t the public know?" Davis' former press secretary Steve Maviglio quotes the governor as saying, according to Rothschild.

The FBI called accusations of deputizing businesses to shoot-to-kill in emergency situations "ridiculous."

“If you want to quote a businessperson saying that, knock yourself out. If that’s what you want to print, fine," a spokeswoman for the bureau told Rothschild.

The full article can be read at the Progressive's website.

FBI Deputizes Private Contractors With Extraordinary Powers, Including 'Shoot to Kill'

By Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive.

The FBI has a new set of eyes and ears, and they're being told to protect their infrastructure at any cost. They can even kill without repercussion.

Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does -- and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to "shoot to kill" in the event of martial law. InfraGard is "a child of the FBI," says Michael Hershman, the chairman of the advisory board of the InfraGard National Members Alliance and CEO of the Fairfax Group, an international consulting firm.

InfraGard started in Cleveland back in 1996, when the private sector there cooperated with the FBI to investigate cyber threats.

"Then the FBI cloned it," says Phyllis Schneck, chairman of the board of directors of the InfraGard National Members Alliance, and the prime mover behind the growth of InfraGard over the last several years.

InfraGard itself is still an FBI operation, with FBI agents in each state overseeing the local InfraGard chapters. (There are now eighty-six of them.) The alliance is a nonprofit organization of private sector InfraGard members.

"We are the owners, operators, and experts of our critical infrastructure, from the CEO of a large company in agriculture or high finance to the guy who turns the valve at the water utility," says Schneck, who by day is the vice president of research integration at Secure Computing.

"At its most basic level, InfraGard is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the private sector," the InfraGard website states. "InfraGard chapters are geographically linked with FBI Field Office territories."

In November 2001, InfraGard had around 1,700 members. As of late January, InfraGard had 23,682 members, according to its website, www.infragard.net, which adds that "350 of our nation's Fortune 500 have a representative in InfraGard."

To join, each person must be sponsored by "an existing InfraGard member, chapter, or partner organization." The FBI then vets the applicant. On the application form, prospective members are asked which aspect of the critical infrastructure their organization deals with. These include: agriculture, banking and finance, the chemical industry, defense, energy, food, information and telecommunications, law enforcement, public health, and transportation.

FBI Director Robert Mueller addressed an InfraGard convention on August 9, 2005. At that time, the group had less than half as many members as it does today. "To date, there are more than 11,000 members of InfraGard," he said. "From our perspective that amounts to 11,000 contacts . . . and 11,000 partners in our mission to protect America." He added a little later, "Those of you in the private sector are the first line of defense."

He urged InfraGard members to contact the FBI if they "note suspicious activity or an unusual event." And he said they could sic the FBI on "disgruntled employees who will use knowledge gained on the job against their employers."

In an interview with InfraGard after the conference, which is featured prominently on the InfraGard members' website, Mueller says: "It's a great program."

The ACLU is not so sanguine.

"There is evidence that InfraGard may be closer to a corporate TIPS program, turning private-sector corporations -- some of which may be in a position to observe the activities of millions of individual customers -- into surrogate eyes and ears for the FBI," the ACLU warned in its August 2004 report The Surveillance-Industrial Complex: How the American Government Is Conscripting Businesses and Individuals in the Construction of a Surveillance Society.

InfraGard is not readily accessible to the general public. Its communications with the FBI and Homeland Security are beyond the reach of the Freedom of Information Act under the "trade secrets" exemption, its website says. And any conversation with the public or the media is supposed to be carefully rehearsed.

"The interests of InfraGard must be protected whenever presented to non-InfraGard members," the website states. "During interviews with members of the press, controlling the image of InfraGard being presented can be difficult. Proper preparation for the interview will minimize the risk of embarrassment. . . . The InfraGard leadership and the local FBI representative should review the submitted questions, agree on the predilection of the answers, and identify the appropriate interviewee. . . . Tailor answers to the expected audience. . . . Questions concerning sensitive information should be avoided."

One of the advantages of InfraGard, according to its leading members, is that the FBI gives them a heads-up on a secure portal about any threatening information related to infrastructure disruption or terrorism.

The InfraGard website advertises this. In its list of benefits of joining InfraGard, it states: "Gain access to an FBI secure communication network complete with VPN encrypted website, webmail, listservs, message boards, and much more."

InfraGard members receive "almost daily updates" on threats "emanating from both domestic sources and overseas," Hershman says.

"We get very easy access to secure information that only goes to InfraGard members," Schneck says. "People are happy to be in the know."

On November 1, 2001, the FBI had information about a potential threat to the bridges of California. The alert went out to the InfraGard membership. Enron was notified, and so, too, was Barry Davis, who worked for Morgan Stanley. He notified his brother Gray, the governor of California.

"He said his brother talked to him before the FBI," recalls Steve Maviglio, who was Davis's press secretary at the time. "And the governor got a lot of grief for releasing the information. In his defense, he said, 'I was on the phone with my brother, who is an investment banker. And if he knows, why shouldn't the public know?' "

Maviglio still sounds perturbed about this: "You'd think an elected official would be the first to know, not the last."

In return for being in the know, InfraGard members cooperate with the FBI and Homeland Security. "InfraGard members have contributed to about 100 FBI cases," Schneck says. "What InfraGard brings you is reach into the regional and local communities. We are a 22,000-member vetted body of subject-matter experts that reaches across seventeen matrixes. All the different stovepipes can connect with InfraGard."

Schneck is proud of the relationships the InfraGard Members Alliance has built with the FBI. "If you had to call 1-800-FBI, you probably wouldn't bother," she says. "But if you knew Joe from a local meeting you had with him over a donut, you might call them. Either to give or to get. We want everyone to have a little black book."

This black book may come in handy in times of an emergency. "On the back of each membership card," Schneck says, "we have all the numbers you'd need: for Homeland Security, for the FBI, for the cyber center. And by calling up as an InfraGard member, you will be listened to." She also says that members would have an easier time obtaining a "special telecommunications card that will enable your call to go through when others will not."

This special status concerns the ACLU.

"The FBI should not be creating a privileged class of Americans who get special treatment," says Jay Stanley, public education director of the ACLU's technology and liberty program. "There's no 'business class' in law enforcement. If there's information the FBI can share with 22,000 corporate bigwigs, why don't they just share it with the public? That's who their real 'special relationship' is supposed to be with. Secrecy is not a party favor to be given out to friends. . . . This bears a disturbing resemblance to the FBI's handing out 'goodies' to corporations in return for folding them into its domestic surveillance machinery."

When the government raises its alert levels, InfraGard is in the loop. For instance, in a press release on February 7, 2003, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General announced that the national alert level was being raised from yellow to orange. They then listed "additional steps" that agencies were taking to "increase their protective measures." One of those steps was to "provide alert information to InfraGard program."

"They're very much looped into our readiness capability," says Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. "We provide speakers, as well as do joint presentations [with the FBI]. We also train alongside them, and they have participated in readiness exercises."

On May 9, 2007, George Bush issued National Security Presidential Directive 51 entitled "National Continuity Policy." In it, he instructed the Secretary of Homeland Security to coordinate with "private sector owners and operators of critical infrastructure, as appropriate, in order to provide for the delivery of essential services during an emergency."

Asked if the InfraGard National Members Alliance was involved with these plans, Schneck said it was "not directly participating at this point." Hershman, chairman of the group's advisory board, however, said that it was.

InfraGard members, sometimes hundreds at a time, have been used in "national emergency preparation drills," Schneck acknowledges.

"In case something happens, everybody is ready," says Norm Arendt, the head of the Madison, Wisconsin, chapter of InfraGard, and the safety director for the consulting firm Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc. "There's been lots of discussions about what happens under an emergency."

One business owner in the United States tells me that InfraGard members are being advised on how to prepare for a martial law situation -- and what their role might be. He showed me his InfraGard card, with his name and e-mail address on the front, along with the InfraGard logo and its slogan, "Partnership for Protection." On the back of the card were the emergency numbers that Schneck mentioned.

This business owner says he attended a small InfraGard meeting where agents of the FBI and Homeland Security discussed in astonishing detail what InfraGard members may be called upon to do.

"The meeting started off innocuously enough, with the speakers talking about corporate espionage," he says. "From there, it just progressed. All of a sudden we were knee deep in what was expected of us when martial law is declared. We were expected to share all our resources, but in return we'd be given specific benefits." These included, he says, the ability to travel in restricted areas and to get people out. But that's not all.

"Then they said when -- not if -- martial law is declared, it was our responsibility to protect our portion of the infrastructure, and if we had to use deadly force to protect it, we couldn't be prosecuted," he says.

I was able to confirm that the meeting took place where he said it had, and that the FBI and Homeland Security did make presentations there. One InfraGard member who attended that meeting denies that the subject of lethal force came up. But the whistleblower is 100 percent certain of it. "I have nothing to gain by telling you this, and everything to lose," he adds. "I'm so nervous about this, and I'm not someone who gets nervous."

Though Schneck says that FBI and Homeland Security agents do make presentations to InfraGard, she denies that InfraGard members would have any civil patrol or law enforcement functions. "I have never heard of InfraGard members being told to use lethal force anywhere," Schneck says.

The FBI adamantly denies it, also. "That's ridiculous," says Catherine Milhoan, an FBI spokesperson. "If you want to quote a businessperson saying that, knock yourself out. If that's what you want to print, fine."

But one other InfraGard member corroborated the whistleblower's account, and another would not deny it.

Christine Moerke is a business continuity consultant for Alliant Energy in Madison, Wisconsin. She says she's an InfraGard member, and she confirms that she has attended InfraGard meetings that went into the details about what kind of civil patrol function -- including engaging in lethal force -- that InfraGard members may be called upon to perform.

"There have been discussions like that, that I've heard of and participated in," she says.

Curt Haugen is CEO of S'Curo Group, a company that does "strategic planning, business continuity planning and disaster recovery, physical and IT security, policy development, internal control, personnel selection, and travel safety," according to its website. Haugen tells me he is a former FBI agent and that he has been an InfraGard member for many years. He is a huge booster. "It's the only true organization where there is the public-private partnership," he says. "It's all who knows who. You know a face, you trust a face. That's what makes it work."

He says InfraGard "absolutely" does emergency preparedness exercises. When I ask about discussions the FBI and Homeland Security have had with InfraGard members about their use of lethal force, he says: "That much I cannot comment on. But as a private citizen, you have the right to use force if you feel threatened."

"We were assured that if we were forced to kill someone to protect our infrastructure, there would be no repercussions," the whistleblower says. "It gave me goose bumps. It chilled me to the bone."

Minnesota Cops, School District: OK to Use Tasers On Students

Superior Daily Telegram
February 08, 2008

Superior High School scored a dubious first last week when law enforcement officers subdued a student with a Taser stun gun.

The electronic devices have been part of the Superior Police Department’s arsenal for the past two years. Last week, Officer Jeff Darst was the first to deploy one in a school. The target was a 15-year-old boy.

Assistant Police Chief Chuck LaGesse called the Taser’s use reasonable as officers and school administrators struggled to gain control of a violent situation.

“I’m not uncomfortable with it,” school district Superintendent Jay Mitchell said. He said officers used necessary means to defuse a difficult situation.

“In this particular case, the young man involved was out of control,” Mitchell said.

The Taser, a brand name for a stun gun that can propel electrodes toward its intended subject, wasn’t fired.

“They used it as more of a stun gun to get his attention,” Mitchell said.

The teen, who stands 6 feet tall and weighs more than 300 pounds, was not injured by the incident, according to police reports.

“He appeared fine, and there was very little, if any, sign of Taser use on his right back area,” Darst wrote in his report.

An electronic control device like a Taser transmits electrical pulses that lock up skeletal muscles during the few seconds it is applied. Barbs are either shot out of the gun to hook into the suspect’s clothing or skin, or the gun is placed close to the skin causing a stun effect. The Superior Police Department’s X26 and older M26 Tasers pack 50,000 volts but only a fraction of an amp.

“Amperage is what makes electricity deadly,” LaGesse said.

The department deploys its Tasers about 20 times a year, on average, and every officer is trained to use them.

LaGesse said use of the device at a school is uncommon and generally unnecessary, but not prohibited.

According to Superior police reports, the incident started when the student began swearing at staff members and refusing to follow directions. When School Liaison Officer Tom Johnson was called to Assistant Principal Steve Olson’s office to issue the 15-year-old a citation, problems escalated. The boy tried to leave and swung at Johnson when the officer stopped him, according to reports. Johnson placed the boy up against the wall with the help of Olson and Assistant Principal Bill Punyko. By that point, Johnson wrote in his report, the boy “was totally out of control … flailing his arms and trying to either hit us and/or get away.”

The three adults brought him to the floor, but the boy continued to fight. He repeatedly kicked Johnson in the lower back and tried to bite both school officials, reports stated.

Johnson called in more officers to help prevent the boy from hurting himself or the adults. Three officers responded and Darst deployed the Taser as they struggled to apply handcuffs. The boy complied after the stun was applied.

At the point when officers entered the room, LaGesse said, they had other options to gain control — using pressure points, pepper spray or a baton.

“All of these are more likely to create injury than a Taser,” LaGesse said.

Electronic control devices are not governed by the state of Wisconsin.

“We don’t have any mandate at the moment,” said Ken Hammond, law enforcement education director for the Wisconsin Department of Justice Training and Standards Bureau.

While the bureau does offer sample policies on its Web site, he said, “Policies are a matter of home rule and local control.”

Superior’s policy on the use of nonlethal force places Tasers on the same level as pepper spray. They may be deployed to control a dangerous or violent person when other tactics have been ineffective or the officer believes other options would be either unsafe or ineffective.

“Our guidelines take into consideration: ‘What do you need to do to establish control?’ Age is really secondary,” LaGesse said.

Use of Tasers by law enforcement officers is not prohibited by Superior school district policies.

“When police take over, they do whatever they think is necessary,” Mitchell said. Crafting a policy to prevent Taser use, he said, would be like tying the hands of police officers.

“Having a person out of control, trying to deal with him and not hurt him is a difficult situation to be in,” Mitchell said.

The Duluth school district would frown on the use of Tasers in its schools, Superintendent Keith Dixon said Thursday.

“We don’t necessarily have a policy at this time,” Dixon said, “but [Duluth Police Chief] Gordon Ramsey and I have talked about it, and in our judgment Tasers are not an appropriate use in our schools. I don’t know what happened in Superior, but in our discussions we just see too many downsides and we don’t want them in our buildings. … I know he has informed his officers of that, so that is where we are at on the issue right now.”

The 15-year-old was arrested on charges of battery to a law enforcement officer, attempted battery to school officials, resisting an officer and disorderly conduct. He was then released to his mother.

Let us talk to Sept 11 planner, U.S. lawyers ask

By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Military lawyers defending Osama bin Laden's former driver on terrorism charges in the U.S. war court at Guantanamo Bay have offered a compromise in their quest to interview September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

They promised not to ask Mohammed about his treatment in U.S. custody or about the CIA's admission that it subjected him to a simulated drowning technique known as "waterboarding" during interrogations.

Bin Laden's former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 and faces life in prison if convicted in the Guantanamo court of conspiring with al Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism.

The Yemeni man said he never joined al Qaeda, had no advance knowledge of its attacks and became bin Laden's driver in Afghanistan because he needed the salary of $200 per month.

Hamdan's lawyers said Mohammed -- the highest-ranking al Qaeda leader held at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- can help their defense by telling them what role, if any, Hamdan had in the organization.

They likened it to somebody "on trial for organized crime and you've got the opportunity to bring in the godfather."

The request was still pending when a pretrial hearing ended on Thursday but the military judge suggested he might at least let the lawyers question Mohammed via written notes.

The judge is expected to rule in the next couple of weeks and Hamdan is scheduled to go to trial in May. So far, only one captive -- an Australian man -- has been convicted by the widely criticized court and that was in a plea bargain.

TOO DANGEROUS

Prosecutors said Mohammed, accused of masterminding the attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants on September 11, 2001, was too dangerous an enemy in an ongoing war to allow defense lawyers to go on "a fishing expedition."

"The defense is asking for access to some of the most notorious terrorists the world has ever seen," said one of the prosecutors, Air Force Lt. Col. William Britt.

There was a risk of endangering U.S. agents if Mohammed revealed to the defense lawyers the sources and methods the government used to get information from him, prosecutors said.

The CIA has acknowledged using waterboarding, which critics say is a form of illegal torture, on Mohammed and two other senior al Qaeda leaders who were later sent to Guantanamo.

The defense lawyers, one of whom has top clearance to view government secrets, said they disapproved of waterboarding but would not ask Mohammed about it or about anything that occurred after the September 11 attacks.

Mohammed is one of 15 "high-value" al Qaeda prisoners held separately from the other 260 non-U.S. captives at Guantanamo in a facility whose location is kept secret even from the officers who run the other detention camps.

Prosecutors also objected to defense requests to question six other high-value prisoners.

"Equally wrapped up in secret tape, eh?" asked the judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred.

He said the defense had shown adequate need to question Mohammed and suggested they conduct the interview via written questions and answers, which the prosecutors also opposed.

The United States set up the Guantanamo tribunals to try suspected terrorists after the September 11 attacks but so far, none of the handful of prisoners facing charges has been accused of direct involvement in the attacks.

No defense lawyer has been allowed access to the high-value group, which was brought to Guantanamo in 2006 after about three years in secret CIA custody.

One of Hamdan's lawyers, retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, said that raised a crucial question about U.S. plans to try those important figures.

"Who is going to represent Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and when will his trial be?" Swift said. (Editing by John O'Callaghan)

Home rates hit 9% but some savers will lose out

Jacob Saulwick
February 8, 2008
AP

BANK mortgage rates have hit 9 per cent for the first time in a decade, as the Federal Government finalises a plan to help customers switch bank accounts.

The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, will meet top economic advisers today to finalise the plan. The meeting comes as banks continue to pass on this week's Reserve Bank interest rate rise. St George Bank lifted variable mortgage rates by 0.25 percentage points to 9.02 per cent, while Westpac pushed rates up by the same amount, to 8.97 per cent.

AMP lifted its variable mortgage rate to 9.02 per cent after a 0.33 percentage point rise, 0.08 percentage points more than the official increase. NAB, which last month was the first bank to raise rates apart from official increases, continued last night to declare rates under review.

But some customers will miss out on higher deposit rates, as banks elect not to pass on the full rate rise to all deposit accounts.

The Government's plan, which could be unveiled today, is expected to force banks into helping customers switch their automatic credit and debit payments when they want to switch banks.

Consumer advocates said any changes making it easier to organise direct debits and credits would be long overdue.

Elissa Freeman, a policy officer with the consumer advocate Choice, said people could have up to 20 direct payments linked to their accounts, such as phone bills, council rates, gym membership, or E-Toll, where there is no choice but to use direct debit. "At the moment when consumers switch accounts they are required to get in touch with every direct debitor and creditor and inform them."

She said that when customers switched accounts in Britain the old bank was required to pass on the account details to the new bank.

Mr Swan has repeatedly called on customers to change banks if they are unhappy with banks raising rates.

Denis Orrock, the managing director of the consumer group InfoChoice, said Australian customers switched bank accounts less than in other countries. "You see inertia often quoted as the reason. But a lot of that apathy is based around the hassle."

Westpac yesterday pushed up deposit rates by 0.3 percentage points on some savings accounts, but St George and Bendigo Bank raised interest rates on some deposit accounts by less than the Reserve's increase.

It is understood Mr Swan's review is unlikely to tackle exit or "deferred establishment" fees. These fees are a big impediment to switching accounts, because they can hit customers with a bill for thousands of dollars when they opt out in the early years of a loan.

Today Mr Swan will meet the Council of Financial Regulators, whose members include the Treasury secretary, Ken Henry, the Reserve Bank governor, Glenn Stevens, and the chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Tony D'Aloisio.

Lenders are criticised as cut in interest rate fails to curb mortgage levels

Times Online

Banks and building societies came under pressure last night to do more to pass on the Bank of England’s quarter-point cut in interest rates, announced yesterday, to a wider number of borrowers. Even if mortgage rates were cut, homeowners would continue to see the cost of their loans rising, economists said.

Although many lenders announced that they would pass on the base-rate cut to borrowers, mortgage brokers said that recent increases in mortgage rates could wipe out potential savings.

The rate cut, the second in three months, seemed modest after the rate cuts in the US last month when the Federal Reserve cut the cost of borrowing by a total of 1.25 percentage points. But it sent out a clear signal that the Bank of England was taking a cautious approach.

Mortgage brokers said that banks and building societies — including Bradford & Bingley, Nationwide and Intelligent Finance — had increased the cost of tracker mortgages for new borrowers by up to 0.55 per cent over recent weeks in an attempt to offset this month’s interest-rate cut.

Halifax, NatWest, Woolwich, Abbey, Nationwide and HSBC said that they would cut their rates by a quarter point, but brokers suggested that this was effectively an empty gesture, because relatively few borrowers were on deals linked to their lender’s standard variable rate.

Other lenders were slower to respond. Many of the lenders that failed to pass on December’s quarter-point rate cut, including Alliance & Leicester and Skipton Building Society, refused to confirm that they would pass on the rate cut this time round.

Brokers blamed chronic funding shortages among lenders in the aftermath of the credit crunch for the reluctance to pass on the cut, as well as the recent increases in the cost of borrowing. Even lenders with strong balance sheets will be unable to pass on the full benefit to borrowers because they cannot cope with demand. Ray Boulger, of John Charcol, the mortgage broker, said: “The bad news for mortgage borrowers is that bank rate cuts have increasingly less of an influence on their pockets.”

Even the lenders’ trade body gave warning that borrowers should not expect lower mortgage bills. Michael Coogan, director-general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, said: “Borrowers should not expect that a base-rate reduction will automatically result in a cut in standard variable rates or discounted rates. Lenders’ rate-setting policies are more complex than simply the level of the base rate.”

Borrowers already locked into a tracker deal will benefit from the rate cut, however. Those with a £250,000 mortgage pegged at the base rate will see their bills shrink by £444 a year. The 55 per cent of borrowers on fixed-rate deals will be unaffected.

Julia Harris, of moneyfacts.co.uk, the comparison site, said: “Lenders are trying to ensure they continue to make a profit and reduce their risk. Anyone looking to take advantage of the drop in rates by going for a tracker rate is not going to get as low a rate as they perhaps had hoped.”

The Bank of England’s rate cut came with a warning of increasingly challenging economic conditions. In a statement, the Bank said: “Credit conditions for households and businesses are tightening. Consumer spending growth appears to have eased . . . and business surveys suggest that further slowing is in prospect.”

But the Bank was unable to cut rates further because of inflationary pressures. It pointed to the rising cost of energy and food. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee had access to the most recent inflation figures, due to be released publicly next week, during their deliberations.

The rate cut was not enough to revive confidence in the markets. The FTSE dropped by more than 100 points as several blue-chip companies reported profit warnings. Experts said that only a half-point cut would have affected the market as the quarter-point cut had already been factored in.

Many economists expect further rate cuts in the months ahead, although the expectation is that these will be introduced gradually. Roger Bootle, Economic Adviser to Deloitte and Touche, the accountant, said: “Today’s 0.25 per cent cut in interest rates to 5.25 per cent is another step along the path that will eventually take rates all the way down to 4 per cent.”

Alan Clarke, UK Economist at BNP Paribas, said: “The Bank is not about to encourage expectations of aggressive easing at this stage. That is not to say that the Bank won’t step up the pace of easing later in the year — we think it will. For now the Bank is trapped between plunging growth prospects and sharply rising inflation.”

Retailers report weakest January results in nearly 4 decades as shoppers pull back further

By Anne D'innocenzio

ASSOCIATED PRESS

9:31 a.m. February 7, 2008

NEW YORK – The nation's retailers delivered more evidence of a stumbling economy Thursday, as merchants reported their weakest January performance in nearly four decades, extending a malaise that has deepened since the holiday shopping season.

The sales figures made it clear that consumers wrestling with high gas and food prices, a slumping housing market, an escalating credit crisis and a weakening job market retrenched further, buying mostly necessities even when redeeming their holiday gift cards. The disappointments cut across all sectors including discounters like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., teen retailers including Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. and mall-based apparel chain Limited Brands Inc. Even affluent shoppers are pulling back, hurting stores like Nordstrom Inc.

“Clearly, this is a reflection of a very difficult environment for the consumer,” said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics LLC, a research company in Swampscott, Mass. “It looks like consumer spending is stalling.”

Nonetheless, shares of a number of retailers rose as many either backed their earnings forecast or even raised guidance, signaling that they were able to control their inventories. Hot Topic Inc. and Wal-Mart stuck with their earnings forecast, while Pacific Sunwear, Wet Seal and Gap Inc. raised their profit outlooks despite sales drops.

The UBS-International Council of Shopping Centers preliminary sales tally of 43 retailers rose 0.5 percent in January, well below the original 1.5 percent forecast. The results followed an anemic 0.7 pace in December and were below last year's same-store sales average gain of 2.1 percent. Michael P. Niemira, chief economist, said January's performance was the weakest ever, according to records that go back to 1970. It is based on same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year.

Thursday's results extended a streak of news that showed more signs of consumer strain. Consumers' spending accounts for two-thirds of economic activity, and their outlays appear to have stalled from an already slowing pace seen over the past year. Wal-Mart noted in its release Thursday that gift card redemptions were below expectations and that customers appear to be holding gift cards longer and “using them more often for food and consumables rather than discretionary purchases.”

While consumers have had to contend with rising gas and food prices and a slumping housing market, there are signs that the job market is becoming a concern as well. On Friday, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers sliced payrolls by 17,000, the first decline in more than four years. And on Thursday, the department said jobless claims fell last week by 22,000, but the decline was smaller than expected.

And while investors are hoping the Federal Reserve can avert a recession with a series of rate cuts, some economists say the moves may be too little, too late. Analysts also say that while the government's proposed economic stimulus package, which offers rebate checks for more than 100 million Americans, could help reignite spending, the lift would only be temporary.

As Perkins said, if the job market continues to deteriorate, “all bets are off.”

Janet Hoffman, managing partner of the North American retail division of the consulting firm Accenture, agreed, noting she expects “some relief” but nothing “radical.”

“Consumers have exhausted all the avenues to get access to credit,” she added.

Retailers are expected to offer a better picture of the impact of slower sales when they report fourth-quarter earnings over the next few weeks. The retail fiscal year ends in late January.

What might salvage earnings for some retailers is their efforts to control inventories; they're also expected to pare merchandise offerings further in the coming months to respond to slowing demand. Still, Wall Street profit expectations have been lowered in recent weeks – Perkins noted that fourth-quarter earnings growth for the 130 retailers he tracks is expected to be down 5.4 percent, compared to a 1.2 percent growth expected at the beginning of December.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, reported a 0.5 percent gain in same-store sales. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected a 2.0 percent increase. The company said it continues to do well with staples like groceries but that home furnishings remain weak. Wal-Mart noted in its news release that gift card redemptions were below expectations and that customers appear to be holding gift cards longer and “using them more often for food and consumables rather than discretionary purchases.”

Rival Target Corp. reported a 1.1 percent decline in same-store sales in January, worse than the 0.6 percent analysts expected.

Costco Wholesale Corp., however, reported a 7 percent gain in same-store sales, surpassing the 6.6 percent estimate.

Within the department store sector, J.C. Penney Co. had a 1.9 percent decline in same-store sales at its department stores, though the results were better than the 6.3 percent Wall Street expected.

Upscale Nordstrom suffered a 6.6 percent same-store sales decline, much worse than the 0.7 percent decrease expected. Saks Inc., which operates Saks Fifth Avenue, said same-store sales rose 4.1 percent, better than the 2.2 percent estimate. But in a release, the luxury retailer said shoppers continue to shift more of their spending to sale merchandise amid a challenging economic environment.

Macy's Inc. on Wednesday reported a 7.1 percent decline in same-store sales, worse than the 5.9 percent decrease. The company also said it was cutting about 2,300 management jobs as the department store operator consolidates three regional divisions and decentralizes buying to reduce costs and boost sales.

Limited Brands reported an 8 percent drop in same-store sales in January, worse than the 6.9 percent forecast.

Gap Inc. posted a 2 percent decline in same-store sales, better than the 6.5 percent decline projected by analysts.

Among teen retailers, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. had flat same-store sales, matching Wall Street expectations. Pacific Sunwear suffered a 7.4 percent drop in same-store sales; analysts expected a 1.2 percent rise.

Wet Seal's January same-store sales fell 5.7 percent as its Arden B chain continued to slump. The results were worse than the 1.5 percent decline expected by analysts.

Putin vows 'arms race' response

Russia has been using oil revenues to bolster its military

bbc
Russia's President Vladimir Putin says the world is engaged in a new arms race and Nato is failing to accommodate Russia's concerns.

In an address to parliament, Mr Putin condemned Nato's expansion and the US plan to include Poland and the Czech Republic in a missile defence shield.

"It is already clear that a new phase in the arms race is unfolding in the world," Mr Putin said.

He said other countries were spending far more than Russia on new weapons.

But Russia would always respond to the challenges of a new arms race by developing more hi-tech weaponry, he said.

Military muscle

Referring to Nato's activities in Central and Eastern Europe, Mr Putin said "there are many discussions on these, but... we have still not seen any real steps towards finding a compromise".

"In effect, we are forced to retaliate, to take corresponding decisions. Russia has, and always will have, responses to these new challenges," he said.

In December, Russia said it was planning naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

It has also resumed long-range patrols by its bomber aircraft.

The practice was suspended after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was revived last August, as part of a more assertive foreign policy pursued by President Putin.

Higher oil prices have enabled Russia to reinvest in its armed forces, but its military capabilities remain far below what they were during the Soviet era, correspondents say.

Bhutto's Supporters Reject

By ZAHID HUSSAIN Wall Street Journal
February 8, 2008 7:33 a.m.

ISLAMABAD -- Supporters of Benazir Bhutto reiterated their call for an independent international investigation into the death of the former Pakistani prime minister after a Scotland Yard probe reaffirmed the government's original contention that she died of a head injury.

"We are not satisfied with the terms of investigation by the U.K. police," said Sherry Rehman, a spokeswoman for Ms. Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party. "We will continue our quest for an independent inquiry on the perpetrators of the crime."

Investigators from London's Metropolitan Police, also known as Scotland Yard, concluded that Ms. Bhutto died of head injury caused by the impact of a suicide blast and not by gunfire, reaffirming Pakistan government's initial position.

In a report released in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, on Friday, the U.K. investigators said Ms. Bhutto was thrown against a lever on her vehicle's roof and that there was no bullet mark on her body. It said Ms Bhutto's only apparent injury was a major trauma to the right side of the head and the investigators ruled out that the wound was result of a gunshot.

"The only tenable cause of her rapidly fatal head injury in this case is that it occurred as the result of impact due to the effect of the bomb blast," the report said. . (Read the Scotland Yard statement.)

The finding matches the Pakistani government's explanation of Ms Bhutto's death following a campaign rally Dec. 27. Pakistani Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the investigation into the circumstances of Ms Bhutto's death was completed, but said Pakistan could seek Scotland Yard's help in a further probe on the perpetrators of the attack. Pakistan has blamed a militant tribal leader for masterminding the attack.

The report may heighten political tensions in the run-up to parliamentary elections scheduled for Feb. 18 that are designed to install a new prime minister and return Pakistan to democracy after nine years of military rule.

There was no post mortem on Ms. Bhutto's body and the scene of the crime was hosed down within hours, compromising forensic evidence. Ms. Bhutto's supporters have insisted that she died from a bullet and have accused President Pervez Musharraf of covering up his administration's complicity. They have also called for an independent investigation by the United Nations. The demand was rejected by Mr. Musharraf, who denies his government was in any way involved in her murder.

TV pictures that emerged after Ms. Bhutto's death appeared to show a gunman aiming a weapon at her as she stood through the escape hatch of her vehicle. The U.K. police report confirmed that shots were fired - but said they weren"t the cause of death.

The British inquiry also determined that the gunman who was spotted on the scene and the suicide bomber were the same person. "The body parts of only one individual remain unidentified," the report said. It said the footage of the incident didn't show the presence of any other potential bomber. The bombing suspect stood up to two meters from the vehicle, the investigators ascertained.

Home repossessions jump to hit eight-year high as owners struggle to keep up payments

David Edwards and Mike Sheehan
Raw Story
Friday February 8, 2008

Home repossessions rocketed by more than 20 per cent during 2007 to reach an eight-year high, according to new figures.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders said a total of 27,100 homes were repossessed during the year after people fell behind on their repayments.

Government figures also released today by the Ministry of Justice showed that more than 35,000 mortgage possession orders were made through the courts in the final three months of last year.

Despite the CML figures being better than expected, housing experts predicted that worse was to come with the possibility of a return to the problems of the 90s now a distinct possibility.

The CML figure equates to 0.23 per cent of all mortages and is still well short of the 75,540 repossessions reached during the housing price crash in 1991.

Their figures show that the predicted increase in repossessions during the course of 2007 failed to materialise.

Fewer than one in 400 mortgages led to a home being repossessed, less than half the level seen during the first half of the 1990s, according to CML.

Just 13,500 homes were taken over by lenders during the final six months of the year, compared with 13,600 during the first half.

The CML said that although repossessions had risen from their recent low of fewer than 10,000 a year in 2003 and 2004, they continued to represent a tiny fraction of all home loans.

Full article here.

"Euros Accepted" signs pop up in New York City

Reuters
Friday February 8, 2008

In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain't what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise.

"We had decided that money is money and we'll take it and just do the exchange whenever we can with our bank," Robert Chu, owner of East Village Wines, told Reuters television.

The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable exchange rates.

"We didn't realize we would take so much in and there were that many people traveling or having euros to bring in. But some days, you'd be surprised at how many euros you get," Chu said.

"Now we have to get familiar with other currencies and the (British) pound and the Canadian dollars we take," he said.

While shops in many U.S. towns on the Canadian border have long accepted Canadian currency and some stores on the Texas-Mexico border take pesos, the acceptance of foreign money in Manhattan was unheard of until recently.

Not far from Chu's downtown wine emporium, Billy Leroy of Billy's Antiques & Props said the vast numbers of Europeans shopping in the neighborhood got him thinking, "My God, I should take euros in at the store."

Leroy doesn't even bother to exchange them.

"I'm happy if I take in 200 euros, because what I do is keep them," he said. "So when I go back to Paris, I don't have to go through the nightmare of going to an exchange place."

Whistleblower Reporters Expose How Fox Ordered Them To Lie

Youtube
Friday February 8, 2008

McCain: Sanctions, attacks await Iran

Press TV
Friday February 8, 2008

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain says the US and its European allies will adopt unilateral sanctions against Iran.

He stated that if the UN is not prepared to impose stronger political and economic sanctions, the United States and its European partners will take such measures.

He also said that a military solution should remain on the table as a last resort and that Iran is playing 'a game it cannot win'.

“I intend to make it unmistakably clear to Iran that we will not permit a government that espouses the destruction of ... Israel . . .and pledges undying enmity to the United States to possess weapons to advance their malevolent ambitions,” Suddeutschen Zeitung quoted the senator as saying.

The recently published US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) has confirmed that Iran is not developing nuclear arms.

Iran says under the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) it is entitled to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes and that its nuclear activities are aimed at civilian purposes.

Iowa professor claims FBI suspects him of al Qaeda ties

David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Raw Story
Friday February 8, 2008

A professor at Northwest Iowa Community College claims that the FBI is investigating students and faculty there on suspicions that pirated music, movies, and software are being sold to help fund al Qaeda.

College President William Giddings acknowledges that law enforcement officers were asked to look into problems with excessive bandwidth use and possible illicit file-sharing, but he expressed bewilderment at allegations of an al Qaeda connection.

The al Qaeda story comes from computer science professor Steven Gifford, who says that he was visited by the FBI and "they told us the college had alleged that my students and I were running a piracy ring. We were downloading, cracking and re-selling software, movies and music and were doing this in support of al Qaeda terrorists."

"I was a little stunned," Gifford stated. "There would be no benefit to me to do anything to harm my country. ... I am a patriot."

Gifford, who has been on paid administrative leave since January 25 over budget issues, suggested that the real problem might be that he is about to become president of the faculty association and the administration doesn't like him. He accused college president William Giddings of wanting "to humiliate and intimidate me."

President Giddings was reluctant to make any comment about Gifford. He said he did not know who the target of the FBI investigation was but that it definitely did not involve terrorism.

This video is 9 News, KCAL, broadcast February 7, 2008.

Force of blast killed Bhutto, not bullet: report

Reuters
Friday February 8, 2008

British police have concluded that Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed by the force of a suicide bomb and not by an assassin's bullet, The New York Times reported in its Friday editions.

The findings, if confirmed, would support the Pakistani government's explanation of Bhutto's death.

Scotland Yard, the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police, which sent investigators to examine her death, declined to comment on the report. A spokesman said the police force would not discuss its findings until they were made public.

Bhutto died on December 27 while campaigning in Rawalpindi.

Controversy rages in Pakistan over whether the popular politician was struck down by a bullet or by a concussive injury caused by the bomb, detonated after an assassin shot at her from close range.

President Pervez Musharraf asked Scotland Yard to help in the investigation. A poll conducted by Gallup Pakistan found almost half of all Pakistanis believed government agencies or politicians allied to Musharraf were involved in the killing.

The British police report, which will be presented to the Pakistani government and Bhutto's family on Friday, said Bhutto died after the suicide blast detonated and she hit her head, the Times said.

It quoted "officials who have been briefed on the inquiry," but did not identify which country the officials came from.

The newspaper also said the inquiry determined a single gunman, whose image was captured in photographs at the scene, caused the explosion. Government officials in Pakistan initially said there were two assailants, according to The Times.

Full article here.