U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan

The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa. The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem.

The Prime Minister's Office, which views the pipeline to Haifa as a "bonus" the U.S. could give to Israel in return for its unequivocal support for the American-led campaign in Iraq, had asked the Americans for the official telegram.

The new pipeline would take oil from the Kirkuk area, where some 40 percent of Iraqi oil is produced, and transport it via Mosul, and then across Jordan to Israel.

About time.

FBI agents searched the home of a former Justice Department lawyer last week in an effort to determine who leaked details of the warrantless eavesdropping program to the news media, Newsweek magazine reported yesterday, citing two anonymous legal sources.

The agents, who had obtained a classified search warrant, took Thomas Tamm's desktop computer, two laptops belonging to his children and some of Tamm's personal files, Newsweek reported.

TNR has once again has been taken for a ride by an author with a great immagination.

I actually watched the movie about Glass last week (great Movie), ironic they didn't learn any lessons.  

Is it TNR's fault or the writer?

An imminent terrorist attack on U.S. soil?  Raise your hand if you believe that one.  Anyone?  Didn't think so.

OK, then.  What does this timeline tell you?

* July 20, 2007: A public unclassified brief, filed by Bush administration lawyers in the bundled cases of Al-Haramain Islamic, et al v. Bush and Hepting v. AT&T, shows a particularly urgent desire for the consideration of what constitutes "electronic surveillance" to be quashed:

"Litigation of plaintiffs' constitutional and statutory claims would require careful consideration of the facts and circumstances surrounding the TSP and any application of the TSP to plaintiffs (including facts concerning whether any surveillance constituted "electronic surveillance" within the meaning of FISA)-an inquiry foreclosed by the state secrets privilege."

* July 24: Judge Vaughn Walker rejects the "state secrets" assertion of the Bush administration in pending citizen lawsuits, and allowed consideration of the facts of the cases under consideration, and their fit under the definition of "electronic surveillance," to proceed.

* July 24 and July 25: As Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico introduces a bill  to Congress on July 24 -- the very same day of Walker's ruling -- changing the definition of "electronic surveillance" under FISA law.  The very next day, Republican Party leader John Boehner of Ohio adds his vocal support for that bill.

* July 30:  The Docket entry for this day in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for the bundled Hepting/Al-Haramain reads, "This court is in receipt of C-Span's application for permission to videotape oral argument for later broadcast. The application is granted."

* July 31: The Docket entry for this day in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for the bundled Hepting/Al-Haramain reads, "The governments unopposed motion regarding oral argument is granted. On August 15, 2007, the court will hear separate arguments in Hepting v. ATT, Nos. 06-17132, 06-17137 and Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Bush, No. 06-36083. The government in Hepting will take place first. The parties in Hepting will have thirty minutes per side for argument, and the parties in Al-Haramain will have twenty minutes per side for argument."

* August 1:  The Protect America Act of 2007.  A curious redefinition of the term "electronic surveillance" at the top of the text of the bill.  Lawsuits against telecommunications executives for cooperation with warrantless surveillance activities are legally prohibited.

* August 5: After the House and Senate meet in late-night weekend sessions to vote on this bill that Senator Dianne Feinstein says she doesn't understand yet votes YES on, George W. Bush signs the bill into law.

* August 6: Congress goes home.

** August 15: The scheduled date arrives for arguments in Hepting v. AT&T and Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Bush, televised by C-SPAN, concerning the extent of Bush administration surveillance and the complicity of telecommunications corporations.  

Do you think that televised arguments will be allowed to take place on that date?  Or will the Protect America Act of 2007 take its first legal victims?

Strangers on my flight,
turbans they're packin'.
Wonderin' if they might,
plan a hijacking.
They could pull a stunt,
before this flight is through.

Something's on their minds.
I saw them mutter.
What that in their hands?
Looks like box cutters,
I'm gonna kick some ass,
if they make a move.

Strangers on my flight.
Two smelly people,
and they're not talking right;
and in a moment,
I will grab base ball bat;
and that will be that.
Swing like Joe DiMaggio,
and rip them both a new a-hole.

And if they pick a fight,
and try to screw us,
I'll punch out their lights,
just like Joe Louis.
It would feel so right,
for strangers on my flight.

Ratta Tat Tat Tat,
Budda Bing Bang Boom,
Zooma Zooma Zoom.

Send those bastards to the moon...

This 3-hour, BBC documentary shows that the "threat of terrorism" is to a very large extent, "a fantasy manufactured by politicians, national security profiteers and Islamic terrorists in order to project and consolidate their own political power". The documentary reveals the origins of the "war on terrorism" in the Reagan Administration under the influence of Neocons like Michael Ledeen and their ally, former CIA Chief, William Casey.

[Actor Stephen Baldwin] became a right-wing, born-again Christian after the 9/11 attacks, and now is the star of Operation Straight Up (OSU), an evangelical entertainment troupe that actively proselytizes among active-duty members of the US military. As an official arm of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, OSU plans to mail copies of the controversial apocalyptic video game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces to soldiers serving in Iraq. OSU is also scheduled to embark on a "Military Crusade in Iraq" in the near future.

"We feel the forces of heaven have encouraged us to perform multiple crusades that will sweep through this war torn region," OSU declares on its website about its planned trip to Iraq. "We'll hold the only religious crusade of its size in the dangerous land of Iraq."

The Defense Department's Chaplain's Office, which oversees OSU's activities, has not responded to calls seeking comment.

"The constitution has been assaulted and brutalized," Mikey Weinstein, former Reagan Administration White House counsel, ex-Air Force judge advocate (JAG), and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, told me. "Thanks to the influence of extreme Christian fundamentalism, the wall separating church and state is nothing but smoke and debris.
...
With the endorsement of the Defense Department, OSU is mailing "Freedom Packages" to soldiers serving in Iraq. These are not your grandfather's care packages, however. Besides pairs of white socks and boxes of baby wipes (included at the apparent suggestion of Iran-Contra felon Oliver North, according to OSU) OSU's care packages contain the controversial Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game. The game is inspired by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' bestselling pulp fiction series about a blood-soaked Battle of Armageddon pitting born-again Christians against anybody who does not adhere to their particular theology.