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Federal judge rules U.S. no-fly list violates Constitution

Dan Whitcomb
Reuters
Tue, 24 Jun 2014 15:58 UTC
Image
The U.S. government's no-fly list banning people accused of links to terrorism from commercial flights violates their constitutional rights because it gives them no meaningful way to contest that decision, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Anna Brown, ruling on a lawsuit filed in federal court in Oregon by 13 Muslim Americans who were branded with the no-fly status, ordered the government to come up with new procedures that allow people on the no-fly list to challenge that designation.

"The court concludes international travel is not a mere convenience or luxury in this modern world. Indeed, for many international travel is a necessary aspect of liberties sacred to members of a free society," Brown wrote in her 65-page ruling.

"Accordingly, on this record the court concludes plaintiffs inclusion on the no-fly list constitutes a significant deprivation of their liberty interests in international travel," Brown said.
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MIB

Higher prices at the pump? US gives go ahead for crude oil exports after four decade ban


RT
Wed, 25 Jun 2014 01:45 UTC
Oil wells
© AFP Photo / David Mcnew
The US Commerce Department has given the go-ahead to several companies to export crude oil, a big policy change essentially ending a ban in place for the last four decades. At question is whether the end of the ban will mean higher prices at the pump.

Ultra-light oil, often referred to as 'condensate' by the energy industry, will be cleared to be exported abroad, according to a private ruling by the federal government impacting Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Enterprise Product Partners LP, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Currently, the export of crude oil is restricted by the US government, though the ban has not applied to refined versions such as gasoline and diesel. The restrictions were put into place during the 1970s as a direct result of the 1973 oil embargo imposed by a number of Arab nations. At the time, global oil prices were spiking upwards, and many Americans were struggling to simply fill their car's gas tank.

Exceptions to the crude ban - known officially as the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act - have been made over the years, including for crude oil produced in Alaska's Cook Inlet, oil that travels through the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline, certain fields in California, and oil shipped to Canada for domestic consumption. Still, even after all of those exceptions, the amount of crude being exported by the US amounted to a modest 67,000 barrels per day in 2011, reported the Washington Post.
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People

Lugansk and Donetsk republics join forces and form confederation


Voice of Russia
Wed, 25 Jun 2014 01:34 UTC
Divided Ukraine
© Voice of Russia
The parliament of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in southeastern Ukraine has passed a constitutional act on a confederation with the neighboring Lugansk People's Republic (LPR).

"The DPR Supreme Soviet passed a constitutional act on the unification of the DPR and LPR on a confederative basis into the Union of People's Republics," the DPR said on its official website on Twitter.

A list of DPR deputies to the parliament of the Union of the People's Republics has been approved.

The DPR and LPR proclaimed independence from Kiev after the May 11 referendums on their self-determination.

On May 24, the two republics signed a treaty on the creation of the Union of the People's Republics under the name of Novorossiya.

Earlier, South Ossetia officially recognized the Lugansk People's Republic's sovereignty.
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Attention

Dick Cheney: There will be another 'massive attack' on America that's 'far deadlier' than 9/11

Brett Logiurato
Business Insider, Australia
Wed, 25 Jun 2014 00:53 UTC
Cheney
© Business Insider.com

Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday predicted there would be an attack on the United States within the next decade that is "far deadlier" than the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"I doubt it," Cheney told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, when asked if he thinks the U.S. would "get through this decade" without another "massive attack on the homeland."

"I think there will be another attack. And the next time, I think it's going to be far deadlier than the last one. Imagine what would happen if somebody could smuggle a nuclear device, put it in a shipping container, and drive it down the beltway outside Washington, D.C."

Hewitt then asked Cheney if another attack would lead to "military rule" and the reconstitution of the U.S. government. Cheney detailed the "continuity of government" program, which he said was set up during the Cold War so that a "government in waiting" could be in place if necessary.
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Smoking

British Medical Association seeks to permanently ban cigarette sales to everyone born after the year 2000


RT
Tue, 24 Jun 2014 17:08 UTC
cigarettes
© Reuters / Suzanne Plunkett
A shopkeeper reaches for a packet of cigarettes in a newsagent in London
British Medical Association (BMA) doctors have voted to demand a permanent ban on selling cigarettes to those born after the millennium - i.e. kids who are currently 14 or under. The group's ambitious plan is to make British society tobacco free by 2035.

The motion was passed at a meeting on Tuesday.

"It is not expected that this policy will instantly prevent all people from smoking, but [rather it will] de-normalise cigarette smoking," said London research assistant in academic public health, Dr Tim Crocker-Buqué at the meeting. "The level of harm caused by smoking is unconscionable."

The decision was made at the British Medical Association's annual representatives' meeting on Tuesday. The doctors' voting in favor means that the doctors' union will push for the British government to introduce the ban.

Comment: "Sensationalist"? Maybe. Fascist? Most definitely.

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Quenelle

Austria and Russia sign $45 billion South Stream gas pipeline treaty... as Gazprom seeks to bypass US-occupied Ukraine


RT
Tue, 24 Jun 2014 18:13 UTC
Image

"Ok boys, so here's the deal: we have to sabotage Russian economic expansion and integration with Europe, no matter what. Europe belongs to US!"

"Ok boss, whatever you say. But, eh, what if some other European countries do choose to cooperate?"

"Let us worry about 'Old Europe'. We know all their secrets..."
Russia and Austria have agreed on a joint company to construct the Austrian arm of the $45 billion South Stream gas pipeline project, which is expected to deliver 32 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to the country, bypassing Ukraine.

At Tuesday's meeting in Vienna, the creation of South Stream Austria was announced.The company will be 50 percent owned by Gazprom, Russia's largest gas producer, and 50 percent by Austria's OMV Group, the country's largest oil and gas company.

Construction on the Austrian section is expected to begin in 2015 and that the first deliveries will start in 2017, reaching full capacity in January 2018.

OMV spokesman Robert Lechner was more optimistic, and said the first South Stream deliveries could come as early as 2016.

In April, Gazprom and the OMV Group signed a memorandum to implement the South Stream project in Austria.

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Magic Wand

Why there is no 'war on terror': Ex-FBI informant sez "there is no real hunt for terrorists... it's all fixed to make it look that way"

Paul Harris
The Guardian
Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:19 UTC
Craig Monteilh describes how he pretended to be a radical Muslim in order to root out potential threats, shining a light on some of the bureau's more ethically murky practices.
Craig Monteilh
© The Washington Post
Craig Monteilh: 'It is all about entrapment.'
Craig Monteilh says he did not balk when his FBI handlers gave him the OK to have sex with the Muslim women his undercover operation was targeting. Nor, at the time, did he shy away from recording their pillow talk.

"They said, if it would enhance the intelligence, go ahead and have sex. So I did," Monteilh told the Guardian as he described his year as a confidential FBI informant sent on a secret mission to infiltrate southern Californian mosques.

It is an astonishing admission that goes to the heart of the intelligence surveillance of Muslim communities in America in the years after 9/11. While police and FBI leaders have insisted they are acting to defend America from a terrorist attack, civil liberties groups have insisted they have repeatedly gone too far and treated an entire religious group as suspicious.

Comment:


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Stormtrooper

Ex-British police informer: 'After stint snitching on BNP leader, they asked me if I'd to grow a beard and pretend being an Islamic fundie'


The Guardian
Tue, 24 Jun 2014 14:56 UTC
Image

Gary Shopland, right, with BNP leader Nick Griffin
Gary Shopland says he was recruited by the police to infiltrate the British National party. Shopland worked as the BNP leader Nick Griffin's bodyguard during an election campaign. When his identity as a BNP member was exposed, Shopland claims the police failed to support him or admit he worked undercover for them.


Comment: ...What they instead did, as you'll learn in the following video, was suggest he grow a beard and pretend to be an Islamic religious fanatic.



Comment: Same stuff happens all the time in the US too:

The ex-FBI informant with a change of heart: 'There is no real hunt. It's fixed'
Craig Monteilh describes how he pretended to be a radical Muslim in order to root out potential threats, shining a light on some of the bureau's more ethically murky practices


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Clock

Putin asks Upper House to repeal decision allowing use of military force in Ukraine


RT
Tue, 24 Jun 2014 17:25 UTC
Putin
© AFP Photo/Alexey Druzhinin
Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Minsk, on April 29, 2014.
President Vladimir Putin has proposed that the upper house call off the March 1 resolution allowing the head of state to use the armed forces on the territory of Ukraine, said presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

"Because of the beginning of the three-party talks to settle down the situation in the eastern parts of Ukraine, the head of state has addressed to the Federation Council to repeal the resolution on the use of Russian armed forces on the territory of Ukraine," ITAR-TASS cited Peskov as saying.

The president sent an address to Federation Council Valentina Matvienko today morning, ahead of leaving on official visit to Vienna.

Deputy Head of the Federation Council's International Committee Andrey Klimov confirmed the upper house will back Putin's proposal and repeal the resolution on Wednesday, June 25.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called the proposal of his Russian counterpart a "first practical step towards settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine," reported the Ukrainian president's press-service in a specially released statement.

The EU welcomed Putin's decision to reject the right to use military force to settle the crisis in Ukraine and welcomes its earliest realization, the press-secretary of EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton stated.


Comment: Putin continues to play it safe in the face of provocation after provocation from the West. If Putin is anything (and he's many things!), he's patient.

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Handcuffs

Why are we not surprised? Seized Benghazi suspect worked for U.S.

Aaron Klein
WND
Wed, 18 Jun 2014 17:13 UTC
Khattalah

Benghazi suspect Ahmed Abu Khattallah
Benghazi suspect Ahmed Abu Khattallah, seized by the U.S. on Sunday, once served as a key conduit in an effort staged by the U.S. and Arab interests to aid insurgents fighting in Libya and later in Syria, according to informed Middle Eastern security officials.

It was not immediately clear whether Khattallah himself worked directly with the Americans or if he knew he was part of an effort that involved the U.S..

He did, however, receive funds for his participation in a nexus coordinated by the U.S., Saudis, Turkey and other Arab countries to recruit the fighters that ultimately toppled Muammar Gadhafi's regime, the security officials said.

Khattallah, the senior leader of the Benghazi branch of the Ansar al-Sharia terrorist organization, was later instrumental in helping to recruit fighters from inside Libya to travel to Syria to aid in the insurgency targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in 2011, the officials said.

Khattallah's participation came to a grinding halt following the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi attacks in which he is accused of participating.

Ansar al-Sharia was not yet declared a terrorist organization by the State Department during the period of Khatallah's alleged work to help recruit Mideast rebels.

Prior to the Benghazi attacks, the U.S. relationship with those linked to Khattalah's group was so comfortable that it was the February 17th Martyrs Brigade, an Ansar al-Sharia offshoot, that officially served as the armed quick reaction force within the U.S. Special Mission in Benghazi.

Comment: Another American-controlled patsy/tool? Looks like it! "Khatallah's al-Qaida-linked Ansar al-Sharia group advocates strict Shariah implementation and the creation of the Islamic Caliphate." Since Al-Qaida and its subsidiaries are pretty much controlled by the CIA, it looks like our U.S. masters are fans of Shariah law and an Islamic Caliphate... over there, of course.

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