redstateupdate.net

interpreting the constitution

crowd control

spread of the red

one nation, under surveillance

fun d' mental

in bed with the red

red state rebate

verbatim

redstateupdate.net

redstat

source: euromonitor

spread of the red

one nation, under surveillance

crowd control

interpreting the constitution

News

Weather

2008 Winter Solstice Edition

redstat
archive

verbatim
archive

Slim Harpo
Tribute Page

redstat

fun d' mental : o come on, all ye faithful

Bigotry Compromises Inaugural Gaiety

EPA High Priest's Creationist Views Evolving

More Americans Believe in Devils than Darwin

source: Viroqua Institute

In a pair of recent interviews granted as
his term in office concludes, Vice
President Dick Cheney has offered an
unapologetic defense of controversial
and discredited aspects of Bush
administration policy, including
warrantless surveillance of US citizens,
torture of prisoners, and indefinite
detention of terrorist suspects. Cheney
disclosed that he played a central role in
approving interrogation tactics widely
regarded as torture and banned under
international law, adding that he
continued to support the use of such
techniques as waterboarding. The Vice
President’s contentious bearing
contrasted markedly with the tone of
similar retrospective interviews given by

other senior administration figures,
including the President.

Cheney departed from the prevailing
view, even among White House officials,
that the military detention facility at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should be
closed down. The prison has become a
lightning rod for international criticism of
the Bush administration “war on terror”.
Since 2001, more than 700 detainees
have been processed through
Guantanamo, with the US achieving a
single conviction: a plea bargain arranged
at the behest of the Australian
government, allowing an Australian
civilian to serve one year in jail in his
home country. But in interviews with

both ABC News and Fox News,
Cheney said that the controversial
facility should remain open
indefinitely, until the unforeseeable
conclusion of the “war on terror”.

The Vice President was dismissive of
opinion polls showing that the Bush
administration has historically high
disapproval numbers, saying on Fox,
"Eventually you wear out your
welcome in this business, but I'm
very comfortable with where we
are and what we've achieved
substantively." Cheney also expressed
his approval of the direction of the
incoming Obama security and foreign
policy teams. it's all true

The Justice Department has
announced a new policy authorizing
the collection of DNA samples from
all people arrested for federal crimes,
and also for all noncitizens detained
in the United States. The rule,
published on December 10 to take
effect nationally on January 9, will
dramatically expand DNA databases
maintained and accessed by law
enforcement agencies. Civil liberties
and immigration rights organizations
decried the new rule, saying that it
unfairly and prejudicially criminalizes
whole classes of citizens and US
residents.

Currently, the federal DNA database
includes information only on
convicted criminals, and arrestees
from 13 states. Under the new
policy, detainees will be included in
the database even if they are never
convicted or even charged with a
crime. Critics say the DNA policy
effectively abolishes the presumption
of innocence. Early this month, the
European Court of Human Rights
repudiated a British program similar
to the US DNA database for violating
privacy rights. it's all true

Database Built
On Presumption of Guilt

Defiant Dick Cheney Still on Board With Torture Regime

President elect Barack Obama’s selection
of celebrity preacher Rick Warren to
deliver the invocation at the inaugural
ceremonies in Washington next month
has generated a fierce backlash among
gay rights supporters and progressive
groups, who argue that offering an
important national stage to the Christian
right sends the wrong message at the
outset of the new administration.
Warren, the pastor of the politically
active Saddleback Church in Lake Forest,
California, has publicly opposed same sex
marriage and other rights for gays,
despite efforts to appear more tolerant

than many of his evangelical pastor
colleagues.

Spokesman for the Obama transition
team have defended the decision to
invite Warren to participate in the
inauguration. Obama himself said that
he hopes to encourage a diversity of
beliefs in his administration, calling
Warren a “friend” with whom he had
“disagreements”. Earlier this year,
Warren hosted a debate between
presidential candidates Obama and
John McCain at his Orange County
megachurch. it's all true

A report released this month by the
Inspector General for the US
Department of the Interior provides
new details of pervasive politicization at
the federal agency by Bush
administration appointees, particularly
within the Fish and Wildlife Service
during the stormy tenure of the already
notorious deputy assistant director Julie
MacDonald. The report is the second by
Inspector General Earl Devaney to
investigate sensational charges against
MacDonald, an administrative manager
with no expertise in biology or natural
sciences who is alleged to have displayed
an improper bias toward business
interests in routinely overruling scientific
findings and recommendations. The
Inspector general concludes that in 15 of
20 cases investigated, “the integrity of
the process was potentially jeopardized”
by MacDonald and her close colleagues.

In a cover letter submitted to Congress
with his report, Devaney wrote that
“MacDonald’s zeal to advance her
agenda has caused considerable harm to
the Endangered Species Act program and
to the morale and reputation” of the
Fish and Wildlife Service. Apart from the
specific cases studied by the Inspector
General, MacDonald’s influence may
have affected other agency decisions,

according to the report, which says,
“Her heavy-handedness has cast doubt
on nearly every ESA decision issued
during her tenure.” MacDonald, who
resigned in 2007 following Devaney’s
first report on her improper activities,
refused to comment on the new
document.

Investigators found that the culture of
brazen political interference was so
pervasive in the agency that veteran
scientific staff referred to persistent
politicization of agency decisions and
findings as “getting MacDonalded,” using
the controversial deputy assistant
director’s name as a verb. In addition to
MacDonald, the report names former
Assistant Secretary of the Interior Craig
Manson one of his top aides, Randal
Bowman, and department attorney
Thomas Graf as being especially culpable
for the department’s current morale and
credibility issues.

Democratic Representative Nick Rahall
of West Virginia said, "The results of this
investigation paint a picture of something
akin to a secret society residing within
the Interior Department that was
colluding to undermine the protection of
endangered wildlife and covering for one
another's misdeeds." it's all true

Corporate Crusader Acted to Endanger Species

Archeologists who have been
repairing the damage caused by
the coalition forces who occupied
the ancient city of Babylon
between 2003 and 2005 said that
the destruction caused by troops,
tanks and helicopters is extensive
and in many instances
permanent.

Maryam Omran Mussa, who
directs reconstruction efforts at
the archeological site, told
Agence Presse France, “Many
of the relics were buried near the
surface. Vibration from tanks and
lorries caused irreversible
damage.” The director of the
museum that is on site at the
ancient city told AFP, “Look at
this land, it is packed with
remnants. They filled their
sandbags with them.”

As previously reported by
redstateupdate.net, the British
Museum documented the
destruction that was left behind
by invading coalition forces
finding “substantial damage” and
“severe contamination” of
Babylon, one of the world’s most
important archaeological sites.
US forces carved out huge
avenues between the ruins of the
palace of Nebuchadnezzer that
were paved with tons of gravel
brought in from other areas and
constructed buildings to house
2000 troops. US forces also built
a heliport between the palace and
the temple of Ninmah.

“From the start, we told the
Americans (their actions) were
a mistake,” Mussa told the
AFP, “That which is broken
is broken.” it's all true

A survey conducted by the American
College of Emergency Physicians found
that emergency care in the US is facing a
crisis of short staffing and under funding
threatening the ability of hospital
emergency rooms to care for the
increasing numbers of citizens who rely
upon immediate care facilities.

The annual report card released by the
ACEP graded American’s access to the
nation’s emergency care service at a D
minus. The survey found the system to
be “fraught with significant challenges
and under more stress than ever
before.” ACEP president, Dr. Nicholas
Jouriles, said the state of emergency care
in the US is “a national disgrace.”

90 percent of the states received low or
near-failing grades. Emergency care
services in Nebraska, for example, were

rated fifth best in the nation with a grade
of C plus. The lowest grade received
from the College was Arkansas, which
received an overall grade of D minus.

The ACEP reported that emergency
room visits have increased by 32 percent
over the past decade, while emergency
room facilities have been reduced by 7
percent over that same period. The
survey stressed, “The nation has too few
emergency departments to meet the
needs of a growing and aging population.”

The College found that factors that
contributed to the low grades included a
shortage of nurses, primary care
physicians and emergency physicians and
inadequate reimbursement from private
insurers and public health care funding
systems. The College also said that the
scarcity of state-level health care

programs that address disease
prevention have increased health care
costs and made unnecessary demands
on the nation’s health care
infrastructure.

The College said that the low grades
did not reflect on the skill and
dedication of emergency room
doctors, but rather on emergency
room resources and the public’s
access to care. “Doctors are
working in a war zone out there,”
said Dr Angela Gardner, the
president-elect of the ACEP, They’re
being asked to do more with less
every single day.” The survey
predicted that, as the economic crisis
in the US intensifies, emergency care
systems would suffer further as
hospitals slash budgets and more
citizens loose their jobs. it's all true

The American Civil Liberties Union has
called for the president elect to end the
federal government’s practice of tracking
the phone calls of American journalists as
one of his first acts after being sworn in
to office. The union recommended that
the new president “re-examine the
recent amendments to Executive Order
12333 to limit and regulate all
intelligence community activities and to
fully protect the privacy and civil liberties
of US citizens and residents.”

As previously reported by
redstateupdate.net, in 2006 it was
revealed that America’s largest
telecommunications companies had
agreed to provide the records of
reporters to the CIA, ostensibly for
national security reasons. At the time,
Alberto Gonzalez, who was the attorney
general, did not say that agents engaged

in routine surveillance of reporters, but
acknowledged that reporters phones can
and will be monitored because the
Justice Department has an “obligation to
ensure that our national security is
protected.” President Bush said then
that collecting information about
American reporters is one of many
“tools” needed to protect against terror
attacks. A spokesperson for the ACLU
said, “The CIA’s work should not
include rooting out confidential sources
to intimidate both reporters.” The
ACLU noted that history has shown that
“without proper safeguards, domestic
surveillance powers will be abused.”

The ACLU called on the president
elect to “launch an investigation to
determine if any laws were broken” by
America’s spy agencies over the past
eight years. it's all true

VERBATIM number 34.3

"I've abandoned free
market principles...

...to save the free
market system."
Washington DC 12.16.08

A poll that was recently
conducted found that more
Americans believe in theological
concept of hell and devils than
believe in the scientific theory of
evolution.

The poll also found that large
majorities of American believe in
the existence of God and the
resurrection of Jesus. The poll
also revealed that “substantial
minorities” of Americans believe
in ghosts, UFOs and astrology.

The poll found that 80 percent of
Americans believe in God and 71
percent believe that Jesus is the
“Son of God.” The poll found
that only 47 percent of Americans
believe in Darwin’s theory of
evolution. The poll revealed that

Catholics are more likely to believe in
evolution than Protestants (52 to 32
percent). Catholics are, however, more
disposed to believe in UFOs than
Protestants (43 to 31 percent).

Harris reported that for American adults
no matter what religion they profess; 71
percent believe in the concept of angels,
61 percent believe in the virgin birth of
Jesus and 62 percent believe in the
concept of Hell. The poll also revealed
that 90 percent of Americans who
believe in Hell said that they attend
weekly religious services.

Harris also reported that while 54
percent of Americans believe that the
New Testament is the revealed word of
God, only 9 percent believe that the
Koran, the holy book of Islam, is the
word of God. it's all true

The administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency recently astounded
environmentalist and scientist when he
declared that he could not say for
certain he held a scientifically informed
of biblically informed world view.

In an interview with the Philadelphia
Inquirer, EPA chief Stephen Johnson, a
Bush appointee, told the Inquirer, “If
you have studied at all creationism vs.
Evolution, there’s a theistic or God-
controlled evolution and there’s

variations on all those themes.”

Johnson assured the Inquirer's
readers that his theological views
had not been a problem as he
administered the EPA, saying, “As a
practical matter, it has never been an
issue.” Catching himself, Johnson
added, “Perhaps after January 20, I’ll
be happy to discuss it.” it's all true