Tucked inside the National Defense Authorization Act, being marked up by the House Armed Services Committee this week, is a hugely important provision that hasn't been getting a lot of attention — a brand new authorization for a worldwide war.
This stealth provision was added to the bill by the committee's chairman, Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), but has a bit of a history. It was first proposed by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey in 2008 after the Bush administration lost the Boumediene v. Bush case, in which the Supreme Court decided that federal courts would subject the administration's asserted law of war basis to hold Guantanamo detainees to searching review.
Unchecked Executive War Power Could Slip Through the House
Israel admits it covertly canceled residency status of 140,000 Palestinians
Israel has used a covert procedure to cancel the residency status of 140,000 West Bank Palestinians between 1967 and 1994, the legal advisor for the Judea and Samaria Justice Ministry's office admits, in a new document obtained by Haaretz. The document was written after the Center for the Defense of the Individual filed a request under the Freedom of Information Law.
The document states that the procedure was used on Palestinian residents of the West Bank who traveled abroad between 1967 and 1994. From the occupation of the West Bank until the signing of the Oslo Accords, Palestinians who wished to travel abroad via Jordan were ordered to leave their ID cards at the Allenby Bridge border crossing.
Study Reveals 83 Individuals with Autism Quietly Compensated by Federal Vaccine Injury Court
National Autism Association Calls for Immediate Congressional and Scientific Investigation Into Autism-Vaccine Link
Despite numerous studies cited repeatedly by federal officials as proof that vaccines do not cause autism, a new study released today in the Pace Environmental Law Review revealed that over the last two decades, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) has been quietly compensating dozens of vaccine injury cases involving a child with autism. The preliminary findings showed approximately 1300 cases of vaccine injury resulted in childhood brain injury, 83 of which had autism. The National Autism Association (NAA) says the study further underscores the need for Congressional hearings and independent scientific research into the autism-vaccine connection.
Investigators Find Clear Vaccine-Autism Link Based on Government Data
The Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy (EBCALA) held a press conference in front of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to release a study linking vaccine injury to autism. For over 20 years, the federal government has denied a vaccine-autism link, while at the same time its Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has been awarding damages for vaccine injury to children with brain damage, seizures and autism. Coming out just after the prevalence study of autism in South Korea, this investigation breaks new ground in the controversial vaccine-autism debate.
U.S. violated international law, bin Laden sons say
The adult sons of Osama bin Laden have lashed out at U.S. President Barack Obama over their father’s death, accusing the United States of violating its basic legal principles by killing an unarmed man, shooting his family members and disposing of his body in the sea.
The statement said the family was asking why the leader of al-Qaeda “was not arrested and tried in a court of law so that truth is revealed to the people of the world.” Citing the trials of Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic, the statement questioned “the propriety of such assassination where not only international law has been blatantly violated,” but the principles of presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial were ignored.
Donald Trump has thrived with government's generosity
Donald Trump, the developer and would-be presidential candidate, portrays himself as a swashbuckling entrepreneur, shrewder and tougher than any politician, who would use his billionaire's skills to restore discipline to the federal government.
In his disdain of big government, however, Trump glances over an expensive irony: He built his empire in part through government largesse and connections.
Koch brother role in hiring decisions at Florida State University raises questions
A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university.
A foundation bankrolled by Libertarian businessman Charles G. Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State University's economics department. In return, his representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a new program promoting "political economy and free enterprise."
The myth of American exceptionalism
“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line,” W.E.B. Du Bois wrote in 1903 — and I will not quibble. But the problem of the 21st century is the problem of culture, not just the infamous “culture of poverty” but what I would call the culture of smugness. The emblem of this culture is the term “American exceptionalism.”
It has been adopted by the right to mean that America, alone among the nations, is beloved of God. Maybe so, but on some days it’s hard to tell. The term “American exceptionalism” has been invoked by Mitt Romney, Mike Pence, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee and, of course, Sarah Palin. I would throw in Michele Bachmann, since if she has not said it yet, she soon will because she says almost anything. She is no exception to the cult of American exceptionalism.
WikiLeaks: U.S. saw Israeli firm's rise in Latin America as a threat
A security company led by the former head of operations for the Israeli military made such inroads into Latin America a few years ago that U.S. diplomats saw it as a security risk and moved to thwart the company's expansion, U.S. diplomatic cables show.
The diplomats' efforts were made easier when an interpreter for the Israeli firm, Global CST, was caught peddling classified Colombian Defense Ministry documents to Marxist guerrillas seeking to topple the state, one cable said.
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