Attorney General John Ashcroft took yet another step last week to deep-six the Sibel Edmonds case by classifying the report of an investigation into her allegations of FBI wrongdoing so the public will never know what it says. Meanwhile, Justice Department officials met in secret with a federal judge in Washington, following which he dismissed her suit charging the FBI with wrongfully firing her.

Edmonds is the translator hired by the FBI after 9-11 to help its woefully inadequate staff translate documents and wiretaps pertaining to the attacks in languages such as Farsi and Turkish. As she has told the Voice in past and recent interviews, she was given a top secret security clearance. She soon discovered that there were what she describes as two enemy moles with possible connections to 9-11 working both in the FBI and with the Air Force in weapons procurement for Central Asia, at one point. These were the Dickersons: Douglas with the Air Force and his Turkish-born wife, Melek Can Dickerson, with the FBI as a translator monitor. After they were subpoenaed for a court hearing, they left for Belgium in September 2002 and have not been heard from since.

Among other things Edmonds told her FBI superiors, she had discovered that Melek Can Dickerson affixed Edmonds's name to a printout of inaccurate translations. Properly translated, she says, these wiretaps revealed a Turkish intelligence operative in communication with his spies in both the Pentagon and the State Department.

[...]

Finally after two years, the Justice Department's Inspector General last week released his report on the Edmonds case—and it was immediately classified.

You may not have heard of the American Community Survey, but you will. The national census, which historically is taken every ten years, has expanded to quench the federal bureaucracy’s ever-growing thirst to govern every aspect of American life. The new survey, unlike the traditional census, is taken each and every year at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. And it’s not brief. It contains 24 pages of intrusive questions concerning matters that simply are none of the government’s business, including your job, your income, your physical and emotional heath, your family status, your dwelling, and your intimate personal habits.

The questions are both ludicrous and insulting. The survey asks, for instance, how many bathrooms you have in your house, how many miles you drive to work, how many days you were sick last year, and whether you have trouble getting up stairs. It goes on and on, mixing inane questions with highly detailed inquiries about your financial affairs. One can only imagine the countless malevolent ways our federal bureaucrats could use this information. At the very least the survey will be used to dole out pork, which is reason enough to oppose it.

Keep in mind the survey is not voluntary, nor is the Census Bureau asking politely. Americans are legally obligated to answer, and can be fined up to $1,000 per question if they refuse!

I introduced an amendment last week that would have eliminated funds for this intrusive survey in a spending bill, explaining on the House floor that perhaps the American people don’t appreciate being threatened by Big Brother. The amendment was met by either indifference or hostility, as most members of Congress either don’t care about or actively support government snooping into the private affairs of citizens.

Legislation to stimulate the development of drugs and vaccines to counter a bioterror attack won final congressional approval on Wednesday and was sent to President Bush to sign into law.

The $5.6 billion, 10-year Project BioShield program, approved by the House on a 414-2 vote, expands public- and private-sector research incentives to develop treatments, antidotes and vaccines that would otherwise not find a viable commercial niche.

The Senate earlier passed the bill, a 2003 initiative of Bush that enjoyed strong bipartisan support. The goal is to deter a biological, chemical or nuclear attack, as well as to limit casualties should one occur.

[...]

The legislation will encourage more research and will also basically guarantee a market by buying and stockpiling these new drugs and vaccines to treat or protect people against such diseases as anthrax, smallpox or the plague, or against such toxins as ricin.

Without such assurances, the private sector would be reluctant to invest millions in products that in a best case scenario would never be needed. On Wall Street, Biotechnology stocks rose Wednesday before the vote.

The legislation also allows the government to use experimental treatments in an emergency, even if they have not completed the usual Food and Drug Administration approval process.

The U.S. government is dropping a plan to collect personal data on airline passengers to assess security risks because of privacy concerns, USA Today reported on Thursday, citing the U.S. homeland security chief.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said officials had all but scrapped plans for the controversial Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, known as CAPPS II, which has come under criticism from privacy advocates and some members of Congress.

The program, which has never been tested fully, was launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking attacks to refine electronic techniques for using personal information to identify and rate potential threats.

Asked whether the program could be considered dead, Ridge jokingly gestured as if he were driving a stake through its head and said: "Yes," USA Today reported.

He cited privacy concerns, particularly those arising from proposed legislation that would have required airlines to hand over information about passengers as part of a test of the program, the newspaper said.

Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka announced Wednesday he won't run for the U.S. Senate, leaving Republicans desperate for a candidate four months before the election.
[...]
Illinois Republicans have been scrambling to find a challenger for Democrat Barack Obama since the winner of the GOP primary, investment banker Jack Ryan, dropped out following embarrassing sex club allegations in his divorce records.
[...]

CHICAGO -- Barack Obama, candidate for U.S. Senate laid out his platform on international relations policy to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations Monday, July 12.
[...]
Text is as follows:

Good afternoon. It’s an honor to address the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, and I applaud the organization for fostering the type of debate, discussion and free exchange of ideas that can contribute to an enlightened international strategy.
[...]

Documents recently obtained under ongoing FOIA litigation describe how the FBI had a policy of withholding "suspicious" physical evidence from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). And today, a key piece of evidence recovered by the Navy is still missing.

The NTSB said a spark in a fuel tank caused the crash, and that they had "no physical evidence" of a missile engagement. But did the FBI's evidence-withholding policy effectively keep physical evidence from the NTSB?

Perhaps, but what is certain is that the very first piece of wreckage that left the plane (FAA radar recorded it flying off the plane at apparent supersonic speeds1 just as Flight 800 explodes) is now missing. It's listed "confirmed recovered" on Navy charts, but is nowhere to be found on the NTSB's.

AUDIO CLIP

Musicians often voice political opinions in their songs, especially during an election year. Most hip-hop acts, however, have remained mum on the current political environment -- until now.

Ruff Ryders/Interscope artist Jadakiss -- also a member of rap trio the Lox -- is receiving a lot of attention for his single "Why?" The song questions President Bush's involvement in the events of Sept. 11, 2001, with the lyric "Why did Bush knock down the Towers?"
[...]
The Yonkers, N.Y., rapper's view is unwavering. "I just felt had something to do with that," Jadakiss says, referring to the events of Sept. 11. "That's why I put it in there like that. A lot of my people felt that he had something to do with it."

Some programers say they received only the version that omitted the line -- in both the radio edit and the "clean" version.

"Actually, the uncensored version of that line is probably my favorite in the whole song," says one program director, who asked to remain anonymous.

"Since they can hear us in D.C., and I don't want Secret Service knocking down my door in the middle of the night," the program director adds, "I'll stick to the clean version."
[...]
Jadakiss' second album, "Kiss of Death," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last week, selling more than 246,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
[...]

Mexico's attorney general said on Monday he had had a microchip inserted under the skin of one of his arms to give him access to a new crime database and also enable him to be traced if he is ever abducted.

Attorney General Rafael Macedo said a number of his staff had also been fitted with chips that will give them exclusive and secure access to a national, computerized database for crime investigators that went live on Monday.

It's an area of high security, it's necessary that we have access to this, through a chip, which what's more is unremovable," Macedo told reporters.

"The system is here and I already have it. It's solely for access, for safety and so that I can be located at any moment wherever I am," he said, admitting the chip hurt "a little."

The chips would enable the wearer to be found anywhere inside Mexico, in the event of an assault or kidnapping, said Macedo.

And kidnapping is a huge problem here. From 1992 to 2002, Mexico saw some 15,000 kidnappings, second only to war-torn Colombia, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.

The government is quietly shipping stocks of antidotes against chemical weapons to states under a long-awaited program to boost response to a potential terrorist attack.

New York and Boston, sites of the upcoming political conventions, are among the first areas to receive the "chem-packs."

Within two years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hopes to have the allotments dispersed to every state.

"It's a quick way for hospitals to know they'll have the antidotes they need," said Donna Knutson, CDC's deputy director of terrorism preparedness.

The international Red Cross said Tuesday it suspects the United States is hiding detainees in lockups across the globe, though the agency has been granted access to thousands of prisoners in Iraq and elsewhere.

Terror suspects reported by the FBI as captured have never turned up in detention centers, and the United States has failed to reply to agency demands for a list of everyone it's holding, said Antonella Notari, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"These people are, as far as we can tell, detained in locations that are undisclosed not only to us but also to the rest of the world," Notari told The Associated Press.

INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005

Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to my friend and distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), who is also a naval intelligence officer.

Mr. KIRK. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the Simmons amendment. Unlike some other amendments in this bill that are offered for partisan advantage, this amendment is offered by a former CIA officer with detailed knowledge of how the U.S. intelligence community works. To my knowledge, there are only three current Members of Congress who work with the CIA: our chairman, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss), the author of this amendment; the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons); and me, who is detailed to the CIA from navy intelligence.

The Italian Ministry of Defence has been ordered to compensate the family of a soldier who died of a malignant vascular tumor after many missions in areas contaminated by depleted uranium.

Stefano Melone began his service in the Italian army in 1977. For many years he had been deployed to a whole host of missions abroad. He had been in Lebanon, Albania, Somalia, ex-Yugoslavia and Kosovo. His was a helicopter pilot but he was also assigned to NBC troops.

Suddenly, in February 2000, he was diagnosed with cancer (Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma of the bone, lung and pleura), due to exposure to radioactive and carcinogen substances. In August 2000 a military commission acknowledged the link between his illness and the military service abroad, so he applied for a pension. However, after many surgical operations, he died on 8th November 2001 in Milan, at the age of 40.

The former headquarters of a supermarket tabloid was declared clean of anthrax spores Monday, almost three years after it became the first target in a series of deadly attacks.

The cleanup crew finished decontaminating the American Media Inc. building at 7:30 a.m., said Karen Cavanagh, chief operating officer of BioONE and Sabre Technical Services.
[...]

The arrival of anthrax in the mail at the building was the first in a series of still-unsolved attacks that killed five people, among them photo editor Bob Stevens of AMI's tabloid the Sun. The attacks rattled a nation shaken by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks a month earlier.

AMI, which also publishes The National Enquirer, abandoned the three-story office after anthrax was found in 2001. A real estate investor bought the building for a paltry $40,000 and made plans to lease it to BioONE, a company established by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

BioONE plans to occupy the space by the end of the year as the headquarters for its new crisis management venture.

SINCE its first meeting 50 years ago, the Bilderberg conference, a secretive gathering of global power brokers, has inspired layer upon layer of conspiracy theories, which it has done little to dispute. Over the years, the deeds laid at the conference's devious door have included the creation of the European Union, the invasion of Iraq and the bombing of Serbia - all to service its most cherished goal: the creation of a world government.

The conspiracy theories bubbled to the surface anew last week, after it was reported that a well-received speech by Senator John Edwards at the conference last month in Stresa, Italy, was one reason for his selection as John Kerry's vice-presidential running mate.

Is the Bilderberg confab now molding domestic American policy?

The U.S. government is exploring the steps that would be needed to postpone the November election in the event of a major terrorist attack.

A report in the July 19 issue of Newsweek said the Department of Homeland Security asked the Justice Department last week to determine what the legal mechanism for calling a halt to a national election would be.

While a local primary election in New York was postponed during the Sept. 11 terror attack, federal election officials have told the Homeland Security Department that no agency currently has the authority to put the brakes on a national vote.

DeForest Soaries, the chairman of the newly created U.S. Election Assistance Commission, has suggested Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge ask Congress to pass legislation giving Ridge the authority to make the call in the event al-Qaida follows through with its suspected desire to disrupt the elections.

Critics of electronic voting are suing Diebold under a whistleblower law, alleging that the company's shoddy balloting equipment exposed California elections to hackers and software bugs.

California's attorney general unsealed the lawsuit Friday. It was filed in November but sealed under a provision that keeps such actions secret until the government decides whether to join the plaintiffs.

Lawmakers from Maryland to California are expressing doubts about the integrity of paperless voting terminals made by several large manufacturers, which up to 50 million Americans will use in November.

The California lawsuit was filed in state court by computer programmer Jim March and activist Bev Harris, who are seeking full reimbursement for Diebold equipment purchased in California. Issues cited by the case include Diebold's use of uncertified hardware and software, and modems that may have allowed election results to be published online before polls closed.

CAN'T KEEP HANDS OFF EACH OTHER

Hugs, kisses to the cheek, affectionate touching of the face, caressing of the back, grabbing of the arm, fingers to the neck, rubbing of the knees...

John Kerry and John Edwards can't keep their hands off each other!

In the past 48 hours, "candidate handling" has become the top buzz on the trail.

News photographers have been going wild with photos of the two Johns.

"I've been covering Washington and politics for 30 years. I can say I've never seen this much touching between two men, publicly," e-mailed one wire photographer.

John Kerry and John Edwards are all over each other.
[...]
Hugging, kissing and squeezing has become a part of every event since Kerry and Edwards set off on the campaign trail.
[...]
Both men have covered their wives - and each other's wives - with kisses and hugs.
[...]

ENRON DOCUMENTS SHOW TOM DELAY'S REDISTRICTING EFFORTS... MORE... WASH POST PLANNING ENTIRE ABOVE-FOLD FRONT PAGE SPLASH, NEWSROOM SOURCES TELL DRUDGE. 3,200-WORD STORY... // DeLay requested donation come from 'combination of corporate and personal money from Enron's executives,' with the understanding that it would be partly spent on "the redistricting effort in Texas," said the e-mail to Ken Lay... The e-mail, which surfaced in a subsequent federal probe of ENRON, is one of at least a dozen documents obtained by POST that show DeLay and his associates directed funds from corporations and Washington lobbyists to Republican campaign coffers... MORE...

A hi-tech device that can bring speeding cars to a halt at the flick of a switch is set to become the latest weapon in the fight against crime.
Police forces in Britain and the US have ordered tests of the new system that delivers a blast of radio waves powerful enough to knock out vital engine electronics, making the targeted vehicle stall and slowly come to a stop.

David Giri, who left his position as a physics professor at the University of California in Berkeley to set up a company called ProTech, is developing a radio wave vehicle-stopping system for the US marine corps and the Los Angeles police department.
[...]

Federal prosecutors want a judge to review - and possibly block - sensitive information in the trial of a CIA contractor accused of beating an Afghan detainee who later died.

David Passaro is charged with assault and assault with a dangerous weapon in the death of Abdul Wali, 28, who died at a U.S. base in the Afghan town of Asadabad on June 21, 2003. A trial tentatively scheduled for Aug. 2.

Prosecutors filed a motion made public this week asking for a protective order to restrict the disclosure of classified information that would threaten national security, The News & Observer reported Friday.

The motion refers to the Classified Information Procedures Act, which requires the federal judge assigned to the case to review the material before it can be used as evidence by either side.

It says classified information could come from the CIA, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of State, National Security Council and the FBI.

Passaro, who lives in Lillington, is a former Army Green Beret from Fort Bragg who went to Afghanistan on a short-term contract with the CIA as part of a paramilitary team. The group hunted and interrogated al-Qaida and Taliban members.

If convicted, Passaro faces up to 40 years in prison and a $1 million fine. He is being held without bail.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign headed off a showdown in the party platform yesterday over Iraq, convincing rival Dennis J. Kucinich's supporters not to demand withdrawal of U.S. troops or the establishment of a Department of Peace.

Saying party unity is more important than particulars, delegates agreed to forgo amendments on Iraq, a broader call for same-sex unions and a stronger endorsement of Palestinians' rights.
[..]

The platform includes Mr. Kerry's call for boosting military troop strength, his initiatives to contain weapons of mass destruction and his pledge to channel more funding to homeland security.

A Senior Pentagon policy maker created an unofficial "Iraqi intelligence cell" in the summer of 2002 to circumvent the CIA and secretly brief the White House on links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa'eda, according to the Senate intelligence committee.

The allegations about Douglas Feith, the number three at the Department of Defence, are made in a supplementary annexe of the committee's review of the intelligence leading to war in Iraq, released on Friday.

According to dramatic testimony contained in the annexe, Mr Feith's cell undermined the credibility of CIA judgments on Iraq's alleged al-Qa'eda links within the highest levels of the Bush administration.

The cell appears to have been set up by Mr Feith as an adjunct to the Office of Special Plans, a Pentagon intelligence-gathering operation established in the wake of 9/11 with the authority of Paul Wolfowitz. Its focus quickly became the al-Qa'eda-Saddam link.

On occasion, without informing the then head of the CIA, George Tenet, the group gave counter-briefings in the White House. Sen Jay Rockefeller, the most senior Democrat on the committee, said that Mr Feith's cell may even have undertaken "unlawful" intelligence-gathering initiatives.
[...]

Last night a senior Pentagon adviser confirmed that Mr Feith was being targeted by senators unhappy that the administration has so far escaped censure for its use of intelligence.

"There are senators who are clearly gunning for Douglas Feith now. This is turning into a classic conspiracy investigation. They want to get Feith and see if, through Feith, they can go up the ladder to even bigger fish."

The Bush regime is now working out procedures for postponing the coming November general election. This is totally unprecedented -- even in 1864, in the midst of the Civil War, the Lincoln vs. McClellan presidential contest took place according to the schedule established by the Constitution and relevant statutes. This represents further planning for a cold coup designed to perpetuate the power of the current gaggle of discredited neocon ideologues and their Wall Street backers.

In a shamelessly partisan move, Homeland Secretary Ridge today announced that al Qaeda has advanced its preparation for a terror attack in the US designed to disrupt the Democratic process. One wonders how Ridge is able to know so much about the specific intent of the terror attack he says is coming, in particular the part about the intent to disrupt the election. Ridge said during his press conference that we are now in a "post-Madrid" atmosphere. He also confirmed that planning for postponing the general election is now in full swing.

Ridge's press conference marked a crude new low in the shameless terror demagogy of the Bush regime. Even Democratic politicians and CNN talking heads were able to surmise that this outing was largely aimed at deflating the five-point approval bounce which Kerry had acquired by naming Edwards. It is clear that the Bush campaign will rely on a relentless pounding of the electorate with terror warnings, alerts, and alarms over the next four months -- in the first place as psychological warfare to strengthen the regime. At a deeper level, the option of an actual ABC/WMD terror attack at least one order of magnitude greater than 9-11 must be reckoned with, possibly as an October Surprise, or perhaps sooner.

Finally, the Congress is looking into the June 9 incident in which a small plane lacking a transponder caused the panicked stampeding of the entire US Congress, including Senators, Congressmen, and staff. This was a transparent ploy to terrorize the Congress, where both parties have lately been giving Bush some embarrassing moments over Abu Ghraid, the national debt, the budget, and related issues.