Oil traders view war with Iran as ‘inevitable.’
On Friday, oil prices hit a record $95.93 a barrel. One “veteran energy trader at a U.S. hedge fund” told The Washington Post that part of the reason prices are so high is because “traders have become convinced that military conflict between the United States and Iran is inevitable.” He added, “People react to perceptions of what will happen. That’s not idle speculation.”
Law firm sues Kerik for $200,000.
Bernard Kerik, former NYPD commissioner and close friend of Rudy Giuliani, is now “being sued for allegedly stiffing a law firm on a $202,384.04 tab, after its lawyers helped keep him out of jail.” The suit comes as federal prosecutors are reportedly prepared to file charges against Kerik “that will likely include allegations of bribery, tax fraud and obstruction of justice.” Marc Mukasey, son of Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey, has also been tasked by Giuliani “to keep an eye on” Kerik’s criminal investigation and “distance Giuliani from all” the allegations.
Rep. Lofgen: Bush Administration Carries Out Politically-Motivated Immigration Raid
Rep. Lofgen: Bush Administration Carries Out Politically-Motivated Immigration Raid
Twenty-four year old Tam Tran is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants and has consistently spoken out on U.S. immigration reform. On May 17, she appeared before the House Immigration Subcommittee to speak in support of the DREAM Act, which would have granted legal status to children of immigrants who complete at least two years of college.
More recently, a USA Today article on Oct. 8 featured Tran in an article on “children caught in the immigration crossfire”:
Without the DREAM Act, Tam Tran, 24, is a person without a country. The daughter of Vietnamese boat people, Tran was born in Germany, where her parents ended up after the German Navy plucked them out of the sea. The family moved to the USA when Tran was 6. … For now, Tran is permitted to stay — only because the United States has no repatriation treaty with Vietnam. Tran, who has never been to Vietnam, says that “I consider myself a Southern Californian.“
Just three days after the article appeared, federal officers entered her home in the middle of the night and forcibly arrested her family. Tran’s family was detained on a “years-old deportation order,” even though they have been in regular communication with immigration officials for almost 20 years since arriving in the United States.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), chair of the immigration subcommitee, equated the family’s arrest to “witness intimidation” and accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials of targeting the Tran family because Tam “testified before Lofgren’s panel earlier this spring.” Earlier this week, USA Today spoke with Lofgren about the Tran family’s arrest:
“Would she and her family have been arrested if she hadn’t spoken out?” Lofgren said of Tran, who was not at home for the raid but has been asked to report to Immigration and Customs officials next week. “I don’t think so.“
Since Bush crony Julie Myers took over ICE, the agency has increasingly become known for its willingness to retaliate against immigrants who publicly discuss their situation in the United States. Arrests have been made after individuals spoke out on everything from immigration reform, to workplace rights, to the right to fair wages, to the right to report crimes without fear of retaliation.
UPDATE: More on the DREAM Act from Migra Matters.
UPDATE II: Kyle at Citizen Orange has more on Tran’s case.
14 percent:
The drop in federal corruption prosecutions since President Bush took office, according to a new Syracuse University study. Prosecutions have fallen every year since 2003:
The study also found that “prosecution of all kinds of white-collar criminals” has dropped 27 percent since Bush took office, despite the President’s 2001 promise following the Enron scandal to “do everything in our power to end the days of cooking the books, shading the truth, and breaking our laws.”
State Dept. not giving ‘honest answers’ on Iraq corruption.
Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and John Tierney (D-MA) introduced a resolution today chastising the State Dept. for “withholding from Congress and the American people information about the extent of corruption in the Maliki government.” Waxman writes:
“The resolution further condemns the State Department for retroactively classifying documents that had been widely distributed previously as unclassified, and [for] directing its employees not to answer questions in an open forum that call for ‘assessments which judge…the ability/determination of the Iraqi government to deal with corruption.’”
Earlier today, several House Chairmen wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calling for “honest answers” about corruption in Iraq.
Glaciers disappearing from Glacier Park.
The glaciers of Glacier Park are melting more quickly than expected. Dan Fagre, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey notes, “We’re about eight and a half years ahead of schedule. … They’re going faster than we thought.” The last official count in 1998 “pegged the number of glaciers here at 27, down from 150 a century ago.”
25,000:
Number of people the U.S. military is holding in its prisons in Iraq, according to Gen. Douglas Stone. Approximately 860 of the detainees are under the age of 16.” The United States has incarcerated “10,000 more detainees compared to this time last year, worsening already serious backlogs in the court system.”
Supreme Court refuses appeal of tortured detainee.
Today, the Supreme Court “terminated a lawsuit from a man who claims he was abducted and tortured by the CIA, effectively endorsing Bush administration arguments that state secrets would be revealed if the case were allowed to proceed. Khaled el-Masri, 44, alleged that he was kidnapped by CIA agents in Europe and held in an Afghan prison for four months in a case of mistaken identity.”
Anti-Immigration Hate Group Intent On Denying Green Card For Soldiers’ Spouses
Anti-Immigration Hate Group Intent On Denying Green Card For Soldiers’ Spouses
Eduardo Gonzalez is preparing to deploy for his third tour of duty with the U.S. Navy in November. He will serve aboard the U.S.S. Harry Truman in the Persian Gulf. As he faces deployment, Gonzalez is not focused on his own safety, as most would be, but rather on the safety of his wife (who is not a U.S. citizen) and child, who face “deportation to Guatemala.”
Gonzalez described his feelings on the situation:
Defending the country that’s trying to kick my family out, goes through my mind. … This is the type of situation that the government doesn’t really get to see. They’re tearing families apart. And it hurts. It hurts a lot.
Watch CNN’s report on the story:
Despite Gonzalez’s service to the nation, anti-immigration hate groups are rallying to deport Mildred Gonzalez. Mark Krikorian, who heads the the Center for Immigration Studies, a radical group that opposes immigration, offered this heartless assessment of the situation:
What you’re talking about is amnesty for illegal immigrants who have a relative in the armed forces, and that’s just outrageous. What we’re talking about here is letting lawbreakers get away with their actions just because they have a relative in the military. … There’s no justification for that kind of policy.
The Center for Immigration Studies was founded by John Tanton. “Most Americans have never heard of John Tanton because he operates behind the scenes, but he is the founder and/or early funder of almost every national anti-immigrant organization in the country, including at least a dozen groups” that promote a racist ideology.
The right-wing is more than happy to send Gonzales off to fight in Iraq, but can’t see beyond their hate to reciprocate his patriotic service by granting his wife legal residence.
House passes bill strengthening govt watchdogs.
Today, a bipartisan majority voted 404-11 to give government watchdogs “more autonomy and protection from political retribution.” President Bush has promised to veto the legislation, but the bill garnered significantly more support than the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto.
Bush administration wasted millions on government travel.
A Government Accountability Office report reveals “federal employees wasted at least $146 million over a one-year period in business or first-class airline tickets.” The report found that “67 percent of premium-class travel by executives or their employees…was unauthorized or otherwise unjustified. Among the worst offenders: the State Department, whose employees typically fly abroad on official business.”