Up to 700 arrests estimated in Iowa raid 12 May 2008

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(Mon, 12 May 2008 14:10:06 -0500 (CDT)) --- Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens For Legitimate Government
12 May 2008

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5 News Logo? Video posted by fliesinthek 02 May 2008 Fox 5 News
WNYW (New York) has subliminally inserted images of John McCain and
his wife, Cindy, into their opening animation.

Up to 700 arrests estimated in Postville raid 12 May 2008 (IA) Four
Homeland Security buses with U.S. Immigration and Customs tags on
them have entered the Agriprocessors Inc. complex. The buses, along
with a trail of SUVs and vans with Minnesota license plates, arrived
at about 11:45 a.m. Tim Counts, a Midwest ICE spokesman, declined
to confirm where people who are arrested will be detained. Federal
officials have leased the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in
Waterloo, but they declined to explain last week whether the property
was being prepared for use as a detention center.

'Activists discussed today possible strategies to help after a raid,
including locating children and identifying detainees.' Fearing
raid, immigration-rights activists meet in Waterloo 11 May 2008
Several Iowa immigration-rights activists gathered today at a
Waterloo church and the home of a local social worker to discuss
what they consider to be an impending immigration raid. The discussions
were prompted by federal officials' lease last week of the National
Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo. Local immigration-rights
activists fear the fairgrounds will be used as a detention center.

Questions Surround Homeland Security's Presence in Waterloo --Many
people in Waterloo believe the site is being transformed into a
detention center. 09 May 2008 People in Waterloo are trying to
figure out what sort of operation federal officials are conducting
in town. This week, the Department of Homeland Security took-over
and sealed-off the grounds of the National Cattle Congress on the
west side of Waterloo. Thursday night, our crew went to investigate,
but security guards told them to stay across the street from the
property. Our camera caught pictures of elaborate ventilation systems
going into the buildings. There were dozens of cars coming in and
out with license plates from surrounding states, and even as far
away as Georgia and Texas. A guard at the gate told us they are
preparing for training exercises, but a Homeland Security spokesman
would not confirm that. Many people in Waterloo believe the site
is being transformed into a detention center.

A once ailing private-prison sector is now a revenue maker 12 May
2008 "The private prison industry was on the verge of bankruptcy
in the late 1990s, until the feds bailed them out with the
immigration-detention contracts," said Michele Deitch, an expert
on prison privatization with the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public
Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin. As increasingly tough
immigration laws have called for the detention and deportation of
ever more immigrants [and soon-to-be bird flu vaccine refuseniks],
the demand for bed space by immigration authorities has helped turn
what was once a dying business into a multibillion-dollar industry
with record revenue and stock prices several times higher than they
were eight years ago. In San Diego, CCA [Corrections Corporation
of America] is in the permitting process to build a nearly 3,000-bed
facility that the company hopes will be used by U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. It would hold more
than four times the detainees held in San Diego now.

Deadly Animal Virus May Soon Come to U.S. Mainland 02 May 2008 The
nations food supply may soon be under significant threat as the
result of a Bush administration decision to move its research on
one of the most contagious animal diseases from an isolated island
laboratory to the U.S. mainland, placing it near herds of livestock.

Families will make case for vaccine link to autism 12 May 2008
Families claiming that a mercury-based preservative in vaccines
triggers autism will challenge mainstream medicine Monday as they
take their case to a federal court. Overall, nearly 4,900 families
have filed claims with the U.S. Court of Claims alleging that
vaccines caused autism and other neurological problems in their
children.

'No thanks to Americans for their effort to bring us democracy that
killed half of us by their bombs and is now apparently killing the
other half by starvation.' Iraq: Food Crisis Hits Fallujah 12 May
2008 Sharp increases in food prices have generated a new wave of
anti-occupation and anti-U.S.

sentiment in Fallujah. "This is a country that was damned by the
Americans the moment they stepped on our soil," Burhan Jassim, a
farmer from Sichir village just outside Fallujah told IPS. "This
is Iraqi land that has always been blessed by Allah with the best
production in quality and quantity, but now see how it has been
turned into a wasteland." Fallujah faces this new crisis after much
of the city was destroyed by U.S. military operations in 2004.

Iraqi water supply in jeopardy 09 May 2008 Conflict, warm summer
weather and a lack of electricity forced many agricultural sectors
of Iraq's Diyala province into near-drought conditions. The central
pumping station in Diyala is plagued by frequent power disruptions,
and its position near a conflict zone pitting Shiite and Sunni
fighters against each other means little clean water reaches the
surrounding community, the Inter Press News Service said.

'Ghost city' Mosul braces for assault on last bastion of al-Qa'ida
in Iraq 12 May 2008 Mosul looks like a city of the dead. American
and Iraqi troops have launched an attack aimed at crushing the last
bastion of al- Qa'ida [al-CIAduh] in Iraq and in doing so have
turned the country's northern capital into a ghost town. Soldiers
shoot at any civilian vehicle on the streets in defiance of a strict
curfew. Two men, a woman and child in one car which failed to stop
were shot dead yesterday by US troops, who issued a statement saying
the men were armed and one made "threatening movements".

Official survives attempt on his life in Baghdad 11 May 2008 The
Iraqi undersecretary of finance survived an attempt on his life on
Sunday when an improvised explosive device went off near his motorcade
in central Baghdad, leaving six civilians wounded, police said.

10 policemen referred to judiciary 11 May 2008 Ten policemen,
including one officer, were referred to the judiciary for abusing
the law during raid operations, the Karbala police & operations
chief said on Sunday. "We ordered the referral of ten policemen,
including one officer, to the judiciary for abusing the law in
dealing with human rights issues," Maj. General Raed Shakir Jawdat
told Aswat al-Iraq.

Heavy bombardment on Sadr city despite ceasefire 10 May 2008 Three
large parts of Sadr city were subjected to heavy bombardment that
was continuously carried out by U.S. helicopters, starting from
Saturday 3:30 p.m. until now, despite the Iraqi government and
representatives of the Sadr movement having signed an agreement to
stop confrontations in the city.

Tony Blair used Cherie's grief to protect Iraq strategy 12 May 2008
Cherie Blair was astonished by the ruthless manner in which her
husband made public within hours the fact that she had lost the
baby she was carrying. In her autobiography, serialised in The Times
today, she reveals that Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell, his
communications chief, insisted on informing the media almost
immediately in 2002. In an emotional account of losing her baby,
she writes of her disbelief that her husband and Mr Campbell
telephoned to discuss the announcement as she lay in pain and still
bleeding. They did so in order that a delay in their holiday did
not trigger false speculation of an early invasion of Iraq.

Iran arrests group for mosque blast, blames West 08 May 2008 Iran
has arrested members of a terrorist group with links to Britain and
the United States who were behind a blast at a mosque last month
that killed 14 and wounded 200 in the southern city of Shiraz, a
news agency said. Iranian officials had previously said the April
12 blast, in the Shohada mosque during an evening prayer sermon by
a prominent local cleric, was caused by explosives left over from
an exhibition commemorating the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. "The blast
... was caused by a bombing by a terrorist group with links to
Western countries, especially Britain and America," ISNA news agency
quoted Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei as saying
late on Wednesday.

Blast kills Gaza teacher in front of her children 12 May 2008 The
UN is demanding an investigation into how the Israeli military
killed one of its Palestinian school teachers by blasting open the
front door of her Gaza home with explosives in the presence of three
of her children.

2 Humvees missing from US base in Afghanistan 12 May 2008 Two armored
Humvees were missing from a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, a
military spokesman said Monday. The military was investigating
whether the vehicles were stolen, although officials believed they
were likely still in the possession of U.S.

personnel but simply unaccounted for [!], said Lt. Col. Paul Fanning.

More Fort Campbell Soldiers Die In Afghanistan 10 May 2008 Another
Ft.

Campbell soldier has been killed while serving in Afghanistan. The
department of defense said Pfc. Ara T. Deysie was killed when his
unit came under rocket-propelled grenade fire. The 18-year old
soldier was assigned to the 101st division. The military said Sgt.
Isaac Palomarez, 26, was killed Friday in the Kapisa Province.

Surge in disabled vets to cost U.S. billions 11 May 2008 Increasing
numbers of U.S. troops have left the military with damaged bodies
and minds, an ever-larger pool of disabled veterans that will cost
the nation billions for decades to come -- even as the total
population of America's vets shrinks.

Post-War Suicides May Exceed Combat Deaths, U.S. Says 05 May 2008
The number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health
care, the U.S.

government's top psychiatric researcher said. The government expects
to be spending $59 billion a year to compensate injured warriors
in 25 years, up from today's $29 billion, according to internal
documents obtained by the Associated Press. And the Veterans Affairs
Department concedes the bill could be much higher.

US lawyer barred for Guantanamo bias 12 May 2008 A military judge
has disqualified the Pentagon's top legal adviser in the Office of
Military Commissions from participating in the prosecution of a
prisoner at Guantanamo Bay because he exerted improper influence
over a team of prosecutors and may have compromised the case's
fairness. Naval Captain Keith Allred, who is presiding over hearings
in preparation for the military's trial of an alleged driver for
Osama bin Laden, determined that Air Force Brigadier General Thomas
Hartmann was too closely tied to prosecutors.

Gen Hood's withdrawal leaves red faces at Pentagon --New York Times
says Hood was assigned to Pakistan since he was believed to be
crisis-tested 10 May 2008 There are quite a few red faces at the
Pentagon this week since it became known that the controversial Maj
Gen Jay W Hood the "commissar" of the Guantanamo detention colony,
which lies beyond the jurisdiction of American courts, was being
withdrawn as the senior military official based in Pakistan.

The credit for the cancellation to Gen Hoods ill-considered appointment
goes to the Pakistani print and electronic media, which decried the
appointment and demanded that it be cancelled.

Ex-Guantanamo head's name withdrawn for Pakistan post 10 May 2008
An army general who led the Guantanamo detention center at a time
when alleged mishandling of Korans sparked Muslim riots has been
withdrawn as the US military's proposed top representative in
Pakistan, a military spokeswoman said Friday. Major General Jay
Hood was named in March to the post of US defense representative
in Pakistan, a key position at a time of mounting US concern over
Al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] and the Taliban activities in Pakistani safe
havens.

Police in Gun Searches Face Disbelief in Court 12 May 2008 Over the
last six years, the police and prosecutors have cooperated in a
broad effort that allows convicted felons found with a firearm to
be tried in federal court, where sentences are much harsher than
in state court... A closer look at those prosecutions reveals
something that has not been trumpeted: more than 20 cases in which
judges found police officers testimony to be unreliable, inconsistent,
twisting the truth, or just plain false. The judges language was
often withering: "patently incredible," "riddled with exaggerations,"

"unworthy of belief." The outrage usually stopped there.

Voter ID Battle Shifts to Proof of Citizenship 12 May 2008 The
battle over voting rights will expand this week as lawmakers in
Missouri are expected to support a proposed constitutional amendment
to enable election officials to require proof of citizenship from
anyone registering to vote. The measure would allow far more rigorous
demands than the voter ID requirement recently upheld by the Supreme
Court, in which voters had to prove their identity with a
government-issued card.

Federal rules give corporation-backed conservative radio all the
local voices By Sue Wilson 11 May 2008 There's a mournful hush in
Sacramento these days, the empty sound of an entire political
viewpoint quieted. More than 32,000 weekly listeners who once tuned
to KSAC (1240 AM) to hear partisan Democrats beat up on President
[sic] George W. Bush, now hear only Christian hip-hop.

There's nothing wrong with Christian hip-hop... But there are six
other commercial radio stations licensed in the Sacramento area
programming the Christian message. In the political realm, three
local radio stations program 264 hours of partisan Republican radio
talkers beating up on Democrats every week. Now, zero stations
program any Democratic view whatsoever: 264-0.

Clinton holds big leads in West Virginia and Kentucky 12 May 2008
Even as her campaign appears to be in its final stages, Hillary
Clinton is headed for two sweeping victories in West Virginia and
Kentucky, the next two states to weigh in on the prolonged Democratic
presidential race. According to new polls released Monday, Clinton
holds a 34 point lead in West Virginia and a 27 point lead in
Kentucky.

Obama Takes Superdelegate Lead 12 May 2008 Barack Obama has overtaken
Hillary Clinton in the NBC NEWS superdelegate count with the
endorsement of Hawaii's Dolly Strazar. This is his second of the
day and puts him now officially over the top, 277-276.5. The NBC
NEWS delegate counts: Pledged: Obama 1,590, Clinton 1,426; Supers:
Obama 277, Clinton 276.5; Total: Obama 1,867, Clinton 1,702.5.

McCain Pushed Land Swap That Benefits Backer 09 May 2008 Sen. John
McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade
remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable
federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap
that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential
campaign fundraisers. Initially reluctant to support the swap, the
Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through
Congress after the rancher [Steven A. Betts] and his partners hired
lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two
of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned as his
chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor
and is now bundling campaign checks.

The Most Important Piece of Paper in America By Jared Bernstein 11
May 2008 I hold in my hand one of the most important pieces of paper
in America: Table T08-0071, an analysis of candidate John McCain's
tax plan... It is a table constructed by the Tax Policy Center's
steely-eyed tax analysts, and it reveals nothing less than McCain's
secret plan to diminish the US government beyond recognition... The
numbers in the table show the revenue loss to the Federal government
from McCain's proposed tax cuts. In the far right corner is the
10-year total: -$5.7 trillion.

Bush Comment on Food Crisis Brings Anger, Ridicule in India 08 May
2008 A comment by President [sic] Bush about the role of India in
the world food crisis has set off a firestorm of criticism in this
country. Speaking in St.

Louis over the weekend, Bush said that [in India] "middle class is
larger than our entire population." But "when you start getting
wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food," he
said. "And so demand is high, and that causes the price to go up."
Overnight, Indians reacted with outrage at what they saw as a
suggestion that they were to blame for inflation.

Politicians lashed out at Bush. Newspapers excoriated him. "India
is not a net food importer. It is a food exporter. The assumption
that prices are increasing because of a changed India is completely
erroneous," said Manish Tewari, a spokesman for the ruling Congress
party.

Oil could hit $200 in 'super-spike' 10 May 2008 Oil prices threaten
to hit $200 a barrel in a final "super-spike" over coming months
as 'producers fail to keep pace with blistering demand from China
and the Middle East,' according to a controversial report by Goldman
Sachs.

Two foreign groups bid for Pa. Turnpike lease: WSJ 11 May 2008 At
least two groups submitted undisclosed cash offers for the 75-year
lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, The Wall Street Journal reported
on Sunday. One group is led by Spanish toll-road operator Abertis
Infraestructuras SA, while the second group includes Spain's Cintra
Concesiones de Infraestructura de Transporte SA and Australia's
Macquarie Infrastructure Group, the newspaper said in a report on
its website.

Tornado season deadliest in a decade 12 May 2008 The USA has been
ravaged through mid-May by a near-record number of tornadoes that
has pushed the death toll -- including 47 killer twisters over the
weekend -- to a 10-year high.

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[Previous lead stories:] DHS activity at Waterloo fairgrounds raises
questions --ICE declines to say if whole area will be used as
detention center --National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo,
Iowa, is prepared for a 'federal project.' 06 May 2008 Federal
officials have imposed a news blackout at the National Cattle
Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo, where they have leased almost the
entire property through May 25. The Waterloo Courier on Sunday
reported that contractors have installed generators adjacent to
many buildings at the fairgrounds. In addition, windows on many
buildings have been covered up, blocking views inside. A number of
mobile-home-size trailers have been transported to the privately
owned grounds. Doug Miller, general manager of the Cattle Congress,
declined Monday to release a copy of his group's rental contract
with U.S. General Services Administration. He also indicated he was
in the dark about what's happening inside the fairgrounds.

Operation Iraqi Freedom Fascism: Iraqi government closes the Sadr
radio station 10 May 2008 U.S. and Iraqi forces closed on Thursday
the Sadr movement's al-Ahad radio station office, and stopped its
broadcast, at orders from the Iraqi government, said the station's
manager. "An Iraqi-U.S. force stopped al-Ahad radio station's
broadcast, according to a memo that carried Premier Nouri al-Maliki's
signature," Abid Abu-Zahra told Aswat al-Iraq. "The force did not
show a legal memo to stop the station," he said. "This step made
by the government is a dangerous measure that deprives people from
the voice that represents their pains," he added.

Judge: Woman's rape case against Halliburton can go to trial 09 May
2008 A woman who said she was raped by co-workers while employed
by a contractor in Iraq can take her claims to trial, a federal
judge ruled Friday. Jamie Leigh Jones filed a federal lawsuit last
year, saying she was attacked while working for a Halliburton Co.
subsidiary at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005. Her lawsuit claims that
after she endured harassment from some of the men where she lived
in coed barracks, she was drugged and raped by Halliburton and KBR
firefighters. Jones, a former Conroe resident, said a KBR representative
imprisoned her in a shipping container for a day so she wouldn't
report the assault. [I'll stand with whoever will fight KBR,
Halliburton and Blackwater - and the regime that spawned them.
--LRP]

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