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Clintons accused of ‘hypocrisy’

President Bush commuted the jail term of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, convicted over a CIA-leak case, on Monday.

White House spokesman Tony Snow accused the Clintons of “chutzpah” – Yiddish for brashness – in criticising Mr Bush.

President Clinton issued 140 pardons on his final day in office, including one for fugitive financier Marc Rich.

Mr Bush commuted the 30-month prison sentence but left in place a $250,000 (£124,000) fine, which Libby paid on Thursday, and a two-year “supervised release”, or probation, period. He has refused to rule out a full pardon for Libby.

The White House’s accusation of hypocrisy against the former president and first lady followed a radio interview in which Mr Clinton said the Bush administration viewed the law as a “minor obstacle”.

Mr Clinton, from the state of Arkansas, also rejected comparisons with his own controversial granting of pardons, saying “the facts were different”.

Mrs Clinton, a Democratic contender for the presidential elections in 2008, in turn accused the administration of having “elevated cronyism over the rule of law”.

White House spokesman Tony Snow responded: “I don’t know what the Arkansan is for chutzpah, but this is a gigantic case of it.”

He then referred critics to Mr Clinton’s pardons on the last day of his presidency, 20 January, 2001.

Oh the Hypocrisy……………

This issue with pardons is going to bite Bill and Hillary in the ass again as the race for 2008 heats up.

Previous:

Michael Ramirez on John Edwards and the UK Terrorist Bombings

Michael Ramirez on the Apple iPhone

Michael Ramirez on Cameron Diaz and Other DumbASS Celebrities

Michael Ramirez on Iran and the Spread of Islamic Extremism

Michael Ramirez on Hamas and the Destruction of the Palestinian State

Michael Ramirez on Paris Hilton AND Illegal Immigration

Michael Ramirez on Democrat Representative William Jefferson

The Michael Ramirez Archive

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Technorati Tags: Michael Ramirez, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, George W Bush, Marc Rich

The National Security Agency (NSA) logo is shown on a computer screen inside the Threat Operations Center at the NSA in Fort Meade, Maryland, January 25, 2006.

US appeals court throws out ruling against eavesdropping

A US federal appeals court on Friday rejected a legal challenge to the US government’s domestic eavesdropping program, launched in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.The ruling allowed President George W. Bush’s administration to continue its controversial program of wartime spying on communications between US and foreign locations in suspected terror cases without first seeking a warrant.

Striking down a lower court’s order, the appeals court, in a 2-1 decision, said the plaintiffs should not have won an injunction against the National Security Agency’s surveillance program because they failed to show that they were personally affected by it.

The two judges deciding against the plaintiffs did not rule, however, on the legality of the controversial program, known as the Terrorist Surveillance Program, or TSP.

“Because we cannot find that any of the plaintiffs have standing for any of their claims, we must vacate the district court’s order and remand for dismissal of the entire action,” wrote Judge Alice Batchelder.

Ann Beeson, the American Civil Liberties Union’s associate legal director and the lead attorney for the plaintiffs challenging the government’s wiretapping policy, addresses the media in Detroit, in this June 12, 2006, file photo. A federal judge ruled Thursday, Aug. 17, 2006 that the government’s warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it. U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency’s program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy.

Remember the story

Everyone agreed the plaintiffs had no standing and could not proceed with this injunction. But this did not deter the left wing judge, Anna Diggs Taylor from Detroit from making an absurd ruling.

But, then again, we knew the US Court of Appeals would reverse her.

Federal Judge Anna Diggs Taylor

The surveillance program permitted the security agency to intercept e-mails and telephone conversations between the United States and terror suspects abroad.

“We have to have a reasonable basis to conclude that one party to the communication is a member of Al-Qaeda, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, or a member of an organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda, or working in support of Al-Qaeda,” Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez said of the program in 2005.

But in August 2006, a district court judge in Detroit, Michigan imposed an injunction against the program, arguing that Bush had overstepped his authority. Her ruling was suspended while it was under appeal.

The US Department of Justice welcomed the ruling, saying it protected “a vital intelligence program that helped detect and prevent terrorist attacks,” according to spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

Lawyers, journalists and professors represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had argued that their communications risked being eavesdropped on because they were in frequent contact with people in the Middle East.
However, Friday’s ruling noted that “the plaintiffs do not allege as injury that they … anticipate or fear any form of direct reprisal by the government, such as criminal prosecution, deportation, administrative inquiry, civil litigation, or even public exposure.”

In addition, the plaintiffs were unable to prove that any of them had “actually been wiretapped,” and any declaration of injury was therefore “too speculative,” the ruling said.

The plaintiffs “allege only a subjective apprehension and a personal (self-imposed) unwillingness to communicate.”

The ACLU said they were disappointed.

But, this court ruling puts a damper on those subpoenas issued by the Democrat Congress to Vice President Dick Cheney over this very program.

Stay tuned…..

Others Blogging:

Stop The ACLU

SCOTUSBlog: Circuit Court bars challenge to NSA spying

Volokh: Plaintiffs Lack Standing to Challenge NSA Surveillance

Captain’s Quarters: Court Reverses Anna Diggs Taylor

Bashman

Powerline: Reversal in the NSA surveillance case

Flopping Aces

The American Mind

Sister Toldjah

Macsmind
Previous:

NSA Surveillance Watch: Judge Orders Halt to NSA Surveillance Program

NSA Surveillance Leak Case Watch: Former National Security Agency (NSA) Intelligence Analyst Subpoened to Testify Before Federal Grand Jury

NSA Surveillance Watch: Mark Steyn – “To Connect the Dots, You Have to See the Dots”

NSA Surveillance Watch: President Bush Defends Scope of NSA Surveillance

NSA Surveillance Watch: NSA’s Telephone Data Collection and Analysis Program – Is It LEGAL?

NSA Surveillance Watch: NSA Has Massive Database of Americans’ Phone Calls

NSA Surveillance Watch: Senate Intelligence Committee Decides NOT to Pursue Investigation

NSA Surveillance Watch: Congressional Probe of NSA Surveilance Is in Doubt

NSA Surveillance Watch: Two Lawsuits Filed Today to Seek End of President Bush’s NSA Electronic Surveillance Program

NSA Surveillance Watch: Specter Skeptical of Domestic Spy Program

NSA Surveillance Leak Case Watch: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to Testify

NSA Surveillance Watch: AP Poll- Most Say U.S. Needs Warrant to Snoop? – RECYCLED

NSA Surveillance Leak Case Watch: Vice President Cheney Strongly Defends Eavesdropping Operation

Cox & Forkum: One Man’s Whistleblower

Global War on Terror Watch: Why the NSA Monitors Communications of Al-Qaida

NSA Surveillance Leak Case Watch: President Bush Defends NSA Surveillance

NSA Leak Case Watch: New York Times’ Reporter James Risen

NSA Leak Case Watch: Justice Deptartment Probing Domestic Spying Leak

NSA Surveillance Watch: President Had Legal Authority to OK Taps

NSA Surveillance Watch: Carter and Clinton Executive Orders Authorizing Secret Searches Without a Warrant

NSA Surveillance Watch: Calls for Congressional Hearings

NSA Surveillance Watch: President Bush defends Spying as “A Necessary Part of My Job to Protect” Americans from Attack

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Technorati Tags: National Security Agency, NSA, Anna Diggs Taylor, Warrantless Surveillance

Dr. Bilal Abdulla arrested at the Glasgow Airport bombing

Dr. Bilal Talal Abdul Samad Abdulla, an Iraqi from Baghdad who arrived in the UK in April 2006.  Dr. Bilal Abdulla has been transferred to Paddington Green high-security prison in London as the investigation continues

Man charged with London and Glasgow bomb plots

Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah tonight became the first person to be charged over the London and Glasgow car bomb attacks.

Abdullah, who was arrested after a flaming Jeep was driven into the doors of the arrivals hall of Glasgow Airport on Saturday, will appear before magistrates in Westminster, central London, tomorrow.

He was charged tonight with conspiring to cause explosions, Scotland Yard said.

Abdullah, 27, was working as a doctor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Scotland, before his arrest.

He was transferred to London’s Paddington Green police station for questioning before being charged tonight on advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.

Two trainee doctors, aged 25 and 28, arrested at the same hospital, are among a total of seven people to have been arrested in the UK over the plot.

Send him away for a life term.

He and his Al Qaeda cohorts will wish they would have chosen self-detonation rather than cell phone remote detonation after their Muslim friends get a hold of them in a British prison.

Didn’t they want to martyr themselves?

Nah, probably not

The CPS said Abdullah was being charged under 1883 Explosive Substances Act.

The charge, which covers a period from January 1 to July 1 this year, alleges that he “unlawfully and maliciously conspired with others to cause explosions of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property in the United Kingdom”.

It carries a maximum sentence of life.

Abdullah wont last that long……

Previous:

UK Terror Watch: What’s in A Name?

UK Terror Watch: 45 Muslim Doctors Planned USA Terror

UK Terror Watch: Well, That Didn’t Work Out So Great

UK Terror Watch: London Car Bombs Failed Because of Medical Syringe

Terror in London Watch: Police Have Crystal Clear Image of Car Bomber

Terror in London Watch: Explosives-Packed Car Defused; Update: UK Launches Manhunt for Failed Car Bombers; Update: A Suspect Has Been Identified on Camera; Update:3 sought after 2nd car bomb found in London

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Technorati Tags: London, Global War on Terror, United Kingdom, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Glasgow, Al Qaeda

Flap is a little late to this game but here goes:

Instructions for Blog Popularity shares the Ultimate Technorati Favorites Exchange, an ongoing experiment began by Dosh Dosh.

In a nutshell, here is how to do it:

1. Add me to your Technorati Favorites. Just click this button here

2. Create your own post, in your own words about this favorites exchange, copying the table below if you wish, making sure to add your information to the table. See Dosh Dosh’s blog for more ideas of what you might write. Then return to this blog.

3. Leave a comment on this post so I can add you to my faves and to the table below. In your comment, make it easy for me and give me that anchor text and link to your Technorati Favorites blog post with your Technorati button so that I can just copy and paste you into the table below. Also tell me your Technorati username so I can find you. I will then add you as one of my favorites. My Technorati username is fullosseousflap. It will appear in the list of those who have made you their Favorite at your Technorati account.

To facilitate easier Fave-making, Amy has made a chart with the current list of participants with buttons that allow you to add each one to your favorites of Technorati without having to visit each individual page. After adding each to your favorites, then visit each site individually and add your comment with a link to your Technorati Favorites blog post and your Technorati username.

All are welcome to copy this table and use it for your own sites, as long as you keep the attribution in the footer of the table. Just drop Amy a line if you would like to be added to the table of if your linking info in the table is incorrect.

1. GarryConn.com – Garry Conn
2. MrGaryLee.com – Gary Lee
3. AskaX World – Andika Kusuma
4. T Jantunen.com – T Jantunen
5. CalvinWarr.com – Calvin Warr
6. Vinod Live! – Vinod Ponmanadiyil
7. Bil2me dot com – William Toomey
8. Zath – Simon Barker
9. VersaCreations – Vivienne Quek
10. Azazil.net – Gary V. Vaughan
11. Blogging for Money – Michael A. Setyaputra
12. Money Consciousness – Nenad
13. Brown Thoughts – Brown Baron
14. Quasi Fictional – Diogenes
15. Foreign Perspectives – Arnold
16. Home Based Business – Brian Pratt
17. The Million Dollar Experiment Down Under – Rob St George
18. Sexy in Red – Norlina
19. JameoTips – ValkrieAngel
20. I Thought Therefore I Blog – Bet Shop Boys
21. Make Money Online: Quick n’ Easy Way – EJ Cooksey
22. MLM Forums online marketing blog – Jens P. Berget
23. Ramblings of an Undisturbed Mind – Beth
24. QMusings – Mrs Q
25. NiaTrading Signals – Alex 3071
26. BlogOp – Chris Lodge
27. Technospot.net – Ashish Mohta
28. ContentPays.info – Yogesh
29. Shadow Scope – Richard
30. TechJunction – Netbizopp
31. Genius Type – Brian Lee
32. FrugalMomma – Lisa Knight
33. Life Spices – Indra
34. Living Your Dreams – Lee Tuck Sing
35. My Online Collections – star500k
36. How to Earn Money Blogging – Daryl Lau
37. Pentimento – Webduck
38. Article Discovery Politics – David Greene
39. Rugjeff’s Blog about Blogging – Rugjeff
40. Lack of Money is the Root of All Evil – Kakashihatake
41. Digital Phocus – Brendan Monaghan
42. Digital Information Technology – Atul Dogra
43. Inklings: The Copywriter’s Blog – Walter Burek
44. Gauravonomics – Gaurav
45. Internet Serious Business – The Troll
46. Romance Tracker – Phil Van Treuren
47. Genus_Loci – John
48. KylesCove.com – Kyle Eslick
49. Msdanielle.com – Danielle
50. Bubba Stuff – Sandee Leong
51. Syaf the Geek – Syafrizal Abu Mansor
52. Manila Mom – Maia Jose
53. Can’t Coach That – Coach McGee
54. UrgentClick – Andy
55. Dannydang.com – Danny Dang
56. Blog About Money Online – Alex Bamo
57. The Pond – Karen
58. Untwisted Vortex – RT Cunningham
60. The Rojak Blog – Ap0gEE
61. eJabs.com – Matthew Jabs
62. Life Rocks! 2.0 – Nirmal T V
63. Life in the Fast Lane – Deborah
64. Dummies Guide to Google Blogger Beta – Vin
65. Army Mum: New Jersey – Charlotte
66. Home Office Women – Doris
67. Wampago – Chris
68. EmpowerWomenNow.com – Ponn M. Sabra
69. Bigfoot Sightings – Linda Martin
70. Online Business News – Tammy Ames
71. Tricia’s Musings – Tricia
72. Blog Fyais – iszo
73. ShanKri-La – Karthik Ramadoss
74. The anitokid chronikos – Anitokid
75. Random Expressions – Deepak Jeswal
76. Keeping Fit is A Daily Battle – Nash Trout
77. Magical Rose Garden – Magical Rose Garden
78. Revvi::blog – Revvi Sudirnoputra
79. Skeet’s Stuff – Skeet
80. Tech Lock Rahul – Rahul
81. Anja Merret – Anja Merret
82. Rishiraj – Rishi
83. ::Under the Rainbow:: – [s][e][x][y][i][n][r][e][d]
84. //Engtech – Engtech
85. Mom Gadget – Gayla McCord
86. Planet Apex – Planet Apex
87. Captain Picard’s Journal – Jean Luc Picard
88. Table4Five – Elizabeth
89. Computer Mobile Corner – Santa
91. Sizlopedia – Sizlopedia
92. Mother’s Home – Stine
93. Dox – Rahul
94. iReview – iReview
95. My Life – Clsyee
96. My Journey to One Million Dollars – Laura
97. Ordinary Folk – Mike
98. AndyBeard.eu – Andy Beard
99. TechnoDiary – Sahil Gupta
100. SEO Blog at Pixnet – SEO Blog at Pixnet
101. SMO Blog – Mark Blair
102. My Life My Story -My Passion – Yong Kai Loon
103. My Affiliate Journey – Vlad
104. Real Amber – Real Amber
105. Me and My Net – Anoop Kumar Singh
106. Klamath Design – Linda
107. Homemaker Diary – MQ
108. The Blog Columnist – The Blog Columnist
109. Six Degrees of Inspiration – Nicholas Kister
110. Internet Marketing – Schee
111. Vacilamos! – Ari
112. Mr & Mrs Imran – Mr and Mrs Imran
113. Mina’s Musings – Mina
114. Panda Cube – Aki Jinn
115. Lifecruiser – Lifecruiser
116. SMS Today – SMS Today
117. Creative Design – David Airey
118. Jon Lee dot see eh – Jon Lee
119. Nukilan Jejari Azhad – Shaz Azhad
120. (exceptional) work.com – Jon
121. Arts & Stuff – Susan Borges
122. Sapphire Knight – Sapphire Knight
133. Shakeroo’s Gold – Shakeroo
134. The Making of an Internet Entrepreneur – Maria
135. Domestic Divapalooza – Angela Llewellyn Stevens
136. Business Sanity – Susan Martin
137. The Thinking Blog – Ilker Yoldas
138. TechChee.com – ketyung
139. TechLivez.com – Tech Livez
140. Ms Latina Renee Enterprise – Latina Renee
141. Design Adaptations – Charity Ondriezek
142. Online Diary – Venu
143. Square Cookies – Square Cookies
144. Sleeping Princess – Jocelyn
145. Shankar’s Tech Blog 2.0 – Shankar
146. Diet Recipe for Everyday – Cherry
147. Technacular – Vikas Sah
148. Kabatology – Kabatology
149. Filipino Entrepreneur – Manolito
150. Intensive Care for the Nurtured Soul – Hueina Su
151. The Reviewer – The Reviewer
152. IndiaPR Blog – hobbithob
153. Show me the Money – Gerri
154. Blue Sky Brothers – Greg Meares
155. Reality Wired – James
156. A Blogspate – Juliet Pain
157. Mom Of Many Redheads – Amy Mc
158. JesterTunes – Jester
Table designed by the makers of Doodlebuckets.com and AskMama! Web Directory

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Technorati Tags: Technorati, Technorati Favorites

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa arrives for a news conference about his relationship with Telemundo newscaster Mirthala Salinas. He was at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to attend the swearing-in ceremony for the Los Angeles school board.

A Latino star shines less brightly

His career may survive, but many are disappointed by Villaraigosa’s involvement in scandal

Felipe Mares groped for words Thursday morning as he tried to explain his complicated feelings about the mayor he voted for with such high hopes just two years ago.

“I feel like a kid. I’m confused,” said the Boyle Heights jewelry store owner, lamenting recent revelations of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s affair with a Telemundo newscaster.

Villaraigosa is “a person in a very important position,” Mares said. “I think it’s embarrassing. It’s not supposed to be like that. He’s supposed to be pro-family.”

Over the last decade, the city’s government has finally started to reflect its demographics. Los Angeles, with a Latino population of nearly 50%, has a city attorney named Rocky Delgadillo and a City Council on which five of 15 members are of Mexican descent.

But the telegenic Villaraigosa, one of the highest-profile Latino politicians in America and a likely future candidate for governor, has been the undisputed star. Shortly after his election as the first Latino mayor of modern Los Angeles, he made the cover of Newsweek, with the headline: “Latino Power.” Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton bragged in May when she snared his endorsement.

Villaraigosa and Salinas wait out a pause in filming on the north steps of the state Capitol. Salinas is now a news anchor on Telemundo 52, June 19, 2006.

Flap wonders if Latino and Democrat leaders would be more nonplussed if the rumours sweeping Los Angeles are true:

Mayor Antonio Villaragiosa’s affair with Mirthala Salinas was disclosed by Salinas herself because Mayor Villaraigosa was having an affair with another woman – unnamed Korean female developer.

The story goes that the “girlfriend” of a particular member of the City Council has “disclosed” that it was none other than Mirthala Salinas herself who allegedly leaked news of the affair she was having with the Mayor. Salinas’ motivation? The Mayor had allegedly already moved on to a new relationship with an unnamed Korean female developer – and as they say “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” (One of our readers posted a similar claim.)

And apparently it was the rumored relationship with the developer – and not necessarily Salinas – that was the final straw for Corina Raigosa, prompting her to file for divorce.

Yesterday various political consultants apologized for Hizzoner and said he reamained politically viable for the California Governorship.

Flap doesn’t think so.

Mayor Villaraigosa is DONE – PUT A FORK IN HIM.

Mirthala Salinas, a Telemundo newswoman, interviews L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the state Capitol on June 21, 2006. Villaraigosa has now acknowledged that he has “a relationship” with Salinas.

Related:

TV anchor put on leave while ethics studied

Previous:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Mirthala Salinas Placed on Leave by Telemundo

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: Still A Contender for California Governor in 2008?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Watch: The End of a Political Career

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Technorati Tags: Antonio Villaraigosa, Mirthala Salinas, Telemundo, Fabian Nunez

Day By Day by Chris Muir

Previous:

The Day By Day Archive

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Technorati Tags: Day By Day, Chris Muir