In between the bronzed bodies in skimpy thongs soaking up the rays on Copacabana beach, a tiny black and white bundle of feathers struggles to emerge from the surf. Exhausted and emaciated, its bones poking through the blubber, the young penguin finally collapses on the sand. It has strayed thousands of miles from home, one of more than 1,000 penguins to have washed up on the Brazilian coast this year
The long march of the penguins
Govt. Uses Contractors to Probe Iraq Contractors
In an apparent violation of federal regulations, the State Department has outsourced to private contractors the responsibility to investigate possible crimes committed by security contractors in Iraq.
According to a contract obtained by ABC News, the company was hired to supplement Diplomatic Security personnel. However, the eight USIS contractors hired for the team represent the majority of the full-time team, an apparent violation of federal regulations that prohibit such work by contractors.
Secret Service must hand over Abramoff logs
The Secret Service has 18 days to hand over White House visitor logs detailing disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s visits, according to Judicial Watch, a public interest legal group.
The court ruled that the Secret Service violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by not thoroughly searching White House visitor records that could contain information about Abramoff’s visits. The Secret Service had argued that these additional visitor records, called “Sensitive Security Records,” were so secret that the agency could neither confirm nor deny their existence.
Bailout bill loops in green tech, IRS snooping
That includes, as the New York Post pointed out, millions in tax breaks and related pork for kids' wooden arrows, Puerto Rican rum producers, auto race tracks, and corporations operating in American Samoa. (The likely explanation for the latter: StarKist has a large tuna-canning operation in American Samoa. And StarKist's parent company happens to be located in the district of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.)
Justice Inspector General: Rove needs to answer to prosecutor
Officials like Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, who have refused to cooperate with separate investigations from the IG and Congress, should be compelled to answer to a federal prosecutor, Fine told lawmakers Friday.
Company charged with fraud in Afghan war contracts
A Houston security company has been indicted on charges of defrauding the U.S. government for work done during the Afghanistan war and rebuilding efforts.
The company accused is United States Protection and Investigations. The indictment released Friday names the company and four employees: CEO Dwayne Spier; President Barbara Spier; USPI's Afghanistan operations manager, William Felix Dupre; and executive assistant Behzad Mehr.
Woman, 90, shoots self inside foreclosed home
A 90-year-old Akron, Ohio, woman who shot herself as sheriff's deputies tried to evict her from her foreclosed home became a symbol of the nation's home mortgage crisis Friday.
"There's a lot of people like Miss Polk right now. That's the sad thing about it," said Akron City Council President Marco Sommerville, who had met Polk before and rushed to the scene when contacted by police. "They might not be as old as her, some could be as old as her. This is just a major problem."
TVNL Comment; No bailout for her. God bless America!
Judge Suppresses Report on Voting Machine Security
A judge of the New Jersey Superior Court has prohibited the scheduled release of a report on the security and accuracy of the Sequoia AVC Advantage voting machine. Last June, Judge Linda Feinberg ordered Sequoia Voting Systems to turn over its source code to me (serving as an expert witness, assisted by a team of computer scientists) for a thorough examination. At that time she also ordered that we could publish our report 30 days after delivering it to the Court--which should have been today.
TVNL Comment: And we the people should suppress this judge's oxygen supply!
Red Flag On Purging Voter Rolls
CBS Evening News Investigates Little-Known, Problem-Ridden Process That Could Endanger Your Vote.
The Brennan report calls the nationwide process "chaotic," "shrouded in secrecy", "riddled with inaccuracies", "prone to error" and "vulnerable to manipulation."
"What's wrong with the process is it's happening in secret. It's happening with no accountability," Michael Waldman, the center’s executive director, told CBS News.
TVNL Comment: Little known? This has been reported since the 2000 election coup! Everyone outside the establishment have been screaming about this! And it's "news" to CBS? Incompetence or conspiracy?
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