News Updates from
CLG27 Feb 2014
http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
Previous edition: U.S. examines Afghanistan option that would leave behind
3,000 troops (which Google relegated to the spam bin. Reminder for Google
subscribers: Google
Filter Instructions for CLG
Newsletter.)
Canada Water Tests Positive for Fukushima
Cesium-134 --Radiation
will flow south then circle back to Hawaii 25 Feb 2014 Researchers from
the annual American Geophysical Union's Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu
announced today that radioactive isotopes from the Fukushima nuclear disaster
have finally reached the West
Coast. John Smith, a research scientist at Canada's Bedford Institute of
Oceanography in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, told the AGU meeting that since 2011 he
and colleagues had measured a radioactive plume from a nuclear complex at ocean
monitoring stations west of Vancouver. Fukushima's radiation reached Canada
before the US on the powerful Kuroshio Current. It's predicted to flow south and
then circle back to Hawaii.
Fukushima's Radioactive Ocean Water Arrives at West
Coast 25 Feb 2014 Radiation from
Japan's leaking Fukushima nuclear power plant has reached waters offshore
Canada, researchers said today at the annual American Geophysical Union's Ocean
Sciences Meeting in Honolulu. Two radioactive cesium isotopes, cesium-134 and
cesium-137, have been detected offshore of Vancouver, British Columbia,
researchers said at a news conference.
Tepco Says Fukushima Radiation 'Significantly'
Undercounted 25 Feb 2014 Tokyo
Electric Power Co. is re-analyzing 164 water samples collected last year at the
wrecked Fukushima atomic plant because previous readings "significantly
undercounted" radiation levels. The utility known as Tepco said the levels were
undercounted due to errors in its testing of beta radiation, which includes
strontium-90, an isotope linked to bone cancer. None of the samples were taken
from seawater, the company said today in an e-mailed statement... Earlier today,
Tepco suspended the removal of spent nuclear fuel rods at Fukushima
plant after a cooling system failed due to a damaged power cable, the
company said in a separate e-mailed statement.
Feds move to keep NSA call data
indefinitely 26 Feb 2014 Citing the
need to preserve evidence related to pending lawsuits, the Obama administration
is asking for permission to keep data on billions of U.S. phone calls
indefinitely instead of destroying it after five years. In a motion filed
Tuesday with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the Justice Department
says the series of lawsuits over the program create a duty for the government to
hang on to the so-called metadata currently in the National Security Agency's
computer systems. The motion was released Wednesday on the court's public web
page.
How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate,
Deceive, and Destroy Reputations 24
Feb 2014 One of the many pressing stories that remains to be told from the
Snowden archive is how western intelligence agencies are attempting to
manipulate and control online discourse with extreme tactics of deception and
reputation-destruction. Over the last several weeks, I [Glenn Greenwald] worked
with NBC News to publish a series of articles about "dirty trick"
tactics used by GCHQ's previously secret unit, JTRIG (Joint Threat Research
Intelligence Group). These were based on four classified GCHQ documents presented to the
NSA and the other three partners in the English-speaking "Five Eyes" alliance. Today, we are publishing another new JTRIG
document, in full, entitled
"The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations".
Break-in at Major D.C. Whistleblowers
Office 23 Feb 2014 A major
Washington, D.C. national-security whistleblowers organization says it's
bolstering security after a suspicious break-in last week. Danielle Brian,
executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, which specializes in
exposing waste, fraud and abuse at the Pentagon, says it's taking new measures
to protect its confidential sources after a Feb. 11-12 overnight break-in, in
which the main door and a file cabinet were jimmied open but dozens of computers
and other valuable office equipment were left untouched. POGO, as its generally
known, is a private organization that has conducted several sensitive
investigations in recent months, including a critical report on a controversial
Pentagon leak investigation.
Israeli jets hit targets on Lebanon-Syria
border 25 Feb 2014 Israeli warplanes
have launched airstrikes on targets near the border between Lebanon and Syria,
reports say. There were contradictory reports on the targets of Monday’s
attacks, with sources in Lebanon saying the airstrikes hit inside Syrian
territory. Israeli sources, however, claimed that the warplanes bombed a target
in Lebanon.
Pentagon plans work on new 'missile defense'
interceptor 25 Feb 2014 The next
U.S. military budget will include funds to overhaul Boeing Co's ground-based
missile defense system and develop a replacement for an interceptor built by
Raytheon Co, the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer said Tuesday, citing "bad
engineering" on the existing system. Reuters reported earlier this month that
the Pentagon planned to ask Congress for 4.5 billion in additional funding for
missile defense over the next five years, including 560 million for work on a new interceptor after
several failed flight tests in recent years. [Oh, but
there's no money for food stamps, though, right? Start reading.]
Rights Group 'Outraged' After Director Arrested on Suspicion
of Terrorism 25 Feb 2014 A British
human rights group expressed "outrage" today after one of its high-profile
directors, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg, was arrested in London
on suspicion of terrorist activity in Syria. "We are disgusted that Moazzam Begg
is being re-traumatized with the same guilt by association accusations that
resulted in his unlawful incarceration in Guantanamo Bay. We fully support our
colleague and see his arrest as politically motivated and as part of a campaign
to criminalize legitimate activism," Asim Qureshi, a senior official at CAGE,
said in a statement.
Ex-Guantanamo Prisoner Arrested on Suspicion of
Terrorism 25 Feb 2014 A former
Guantanamo Bay detainee who has written a book about his time in Gitmo and
campaigned for the rights of terrorism suspects was arrested today on suspicion
of attending a terrorist training camp and involvement in terrorism in Syria,
British police told ABC News. Moazzam Begg was arrested by specialist
counter-terrorism police in the city of Birmingham, England, in an operation
stemming from unspecified intelligence. Two other men and a woman were arrested
in the operation and suspected of "facilitating terrorism overseas," according
to police who say there was no immediate risk to public safety. None of the four
have been charged.
Government set to make payments to former Guantanamo Bay
prisoner Moazzam Begg 25 Feb 2014
Birmingham Guantanamo Bay detainee prisoner Moazzam Begg is
set to receive a compensation payout totalling millions of pounds from the
British government. Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said details of the
out-of-court settlement to around a dozen UK citizens would remain confidential.
Among those expected to receive p-yments, thought to run into millions of
pounds, is father-of-four Moazzam Begg, from Sparkhill, who was accused of being
a member of al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] and held at Guantanamo Bay for almost two years
before begin released without charge. Several former detainees have complained
of mistreatment during their detention, including allegations the Government
knew they were being illegally transferred to Guantanamo Bay but failed to
prevent it, and that British security and intelligence officials colluded in
their torture while they were held abroad.
Richland deputies, U.S. military carry out secretive - and
noisy - joint exercise Monday and Tuesday --Reporters will not be allowed to 'view or participate' in
the exercise. 19 Jan 2014 (SC) Richland County sheriff’s deputies on
Monday and Tuesday will conduct a secretive joint exercise around the county
with unidentified units from Ft. Bragg, according to the sheriff's
department...Ft. Bragg is home to some of the U.S. Army's elite fighting groups,
including Special Forces, aviation support and airborne units. The Army's Delta
Force is also at Ft. Bragg. A sheriff's department spokesman Sunday declined to
say which Ft. Bragg units will be involved.
Protesters target Duke Energy's coal
ash 26 Feb 2014 (NC) Dozens of
protesters chanting "Shame!" outside the Duke Energy Center on Tuesday afternoon
demanded that Duke remove the ash stored at its coal-fired power plants. Leaders
of several environmental groups attempted to deliver anti-ash petitions they
said were signed by 9,000 people. The petitions asked that Duke pay cleanup
costs of its Feb. 2 ash spill into the Dan River without billing
customers.
Arizona governor
vetoes controversial bill allowing denial of service to
gays 26 Feb 2014 Arizona Gov. Jan
Brewer (R) announced Wednesday night that she has vetoed a controversial bill
that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gays and lesbians if they
felt it violated their religious rights. Gay rights advocates have denounced the
legislation, labeling it a form of legalized discrimination, and Arizona's two
GOP senators and leading Republican candidates for governor urged Brewer to veto
the bill. [Make no mistake about it: If big business supported the bill,
Brewer would have signed SB-1062 into law in five picoseconds and the GOP would
be backing the bill until the ends of time.]
Judge rules Texas same-sex marriage ban
unconstitutional 26 Feb 2014 The
Texas state ban on same-sex marriage was ruled unconstitutional on Wednesday by
a U.S. federal judge, who declared a stay on the decision, meaning that the ban
stays in effect. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia said the law excludes the
two couples who brought the suit from the constitutional guarantees of equal
protection and due process. The matter has been deferred to Fifth Circuit Court
of Appeals, the judge said.
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