The Plug Nickel Times is proud to bring you website links to news information that you may not find through your local media. All links are offsite unless otherwise noted - followed links should open in another browser window. Links can become dated or otherwise fail to function, for this reason we quote the actual headline of an article. This may allow you to find an alternate copy of the article through a news index or search engine. Some sites we link to may require a registration process to view an article - this website may be useful to you in those instances. Comments, corrections and submissions are welcome - an email link is at the bottom of the page.
September 1-15, 2005
September 14, 2005
Hunger strikers pledge to die in Guantánamo
"More than 200 detainees in Guantánamo Bay are in their fifth week of a hunger strike, the Guardian has been told."
Dutch to Open Electronic Files on Children
"The Dutch government plans to open an electronic file on every child at birth as a tool to spot and protect the troubled kids of the future. Beginning Jan. 1, 2007, all citizens will be tracked from cradle to grave in a single database - including health, education, family and police records - the health ministry said Tuesday."
Pentagon Revises Nuclear Strike Plan
Bush's power to detain US enemy combatant upheld
Bush says he may need more power in disasters
Mercenaries guard homes of the rich in New Orleans
ALA applauds decision in library PATRIOT case
Judge Rules vs. U.S. in Patriot Act Case
Federal DNA database of anyone detained by police advances in Senate
Agencies sharing spoils of drug war
Physician who told Cheney to go F*ck Himself Lost his Home in Katrina, Detained, Cuffed by Cheney's M-16-carrying Goons
Senate OKs Restrictions on Cold Medicines
September 8, 2005
Government Intervention in Stock Market is Detailed by New Report, GATA Says
Police, Soldiers Work to Empty New Orleans
New Orleans Begins Confiscating Firearms as Water Recedes
"No civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns or other firearms, said P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police. 'Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons,' he said.
But that order apparently does not apply to hundreds of security guards hired by businesses and some wealthy individuals to protect property. The guards, employees of private security companies like Blackwater, openly carry M-16's and other assault rifles. Mr. Compass said that he was aware of the private guards, but that the police had no plans to make them give up their weapons."
NYT link - article may not be available via provided link. BugMeNot.com may provide site registration information or run the headline through Google News.
UofL student's Web posting brings out Secret Service
"A University of Louisville student who is chairman of the school's Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service after posting an Internet comment about looting and violence in New Orleans.
...
James Cobb, special agent in charge of the Louisville office, said it will be up to the U.S. attorney's office whether Bailey is charged with making threats against the president. The offense can carry a five-year penalty."
Police Find Pot in 200-Pound Stolen Safe
"Deputies recovered the safe early Wednesday after receiving a tip, Detective Lt. Mike Gierke told the Daily Press of Escanaba. The safe was still locked, and when deputies called the owner to open it, they discovered the items he described, along with the marijuana and $500 cash."
September 7, 2005
Insurgents Assert Control Over Town Near Syrian Border
5,000 U.S. and Iraqi Troops Sweep Into City of Tall Afar
Scores killed in Iraq air strikes
U.S. Influence 'Too Much' by Dahr Jamail
"U.S. influence in the process of drafting a constitution for Iraq is excessive and 'highly inappropriate', a United Nations official says."
Information supplied by Yahoo ! helped journalist Shi Tao get 10 years in prison
"The text of the verdict in the case of journalist Shi Tao - sentenced in April to 10 years in prison for 'divulging state secrets abroad' - shows that Yahoo ! Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. provided China’s state security authorities with details that helped to identify and convict him, Reporters Without Borders said today.
...
Shi Tao Aged 37, Shi worked for the daily Dangdai Shang Bao (Contemporary Business News). He was convicted on 30 April of sending foreign-based websites the text of an internal message which the authorities had sent to his newspaper warning journalists of the dangers of social destabilisation and risks resulting from the return of certain dissidents on the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre."
Heinz Calls on Venezuela to Give Back Seized Ketchup Plant
Damage to oil, gas facilities could mean energy crunch
New Orleans Mayor Orders Forced Evacuation
"As flood waters receded inch by inch Tuesday, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin authorized law enforcement officers and the U.S. military to force the evacuation of all residents who refuse to heed orders to leave the dark, dangerous city."
Some of them might actually like to leave that 'dark, dangerous city' - but it's pretty apparent they don't wish to leave their homes.
Sonic 'Lasers' Head to Flood Zone
"American Technology is donating four devices -- three MRADs (medium-range acoustic devices) and one LRAD (long-range acoustic device). The four devices will be shipped out Friday to a Marine military police unit that is deploying to the Gulf States area for disaster-relief efforts."
'Area Denial' - what a bland euphemism...
Police violence against journalists in New Orleans in Katrina aftermath
Bodies found piled in freezer at Convention Center
Visit the Cryptome website for several 'eyeballs' of Katrina damage
FBI to assess threat from radicalized inmates
"The FBI will conduct 'threat assessments' of inmates nationwide to determine who may have been converted to a radical ideology and could commit extremist violence upon release."
Napolitano: Let DPS stop vehicles bound for Mexico (AZ)
"Gov. Janet Napolitano wants up to 60 DPS officers certified by the federal government to enforce customs laws - a move that would give the officers authority to stop vehicles headed into Mexico and question the occupants.
The proposal, unveiled Monday, would put Department of Public Safety officers at ports of entry along the state's southern border. There, the officers would have the power to demand identification from motorists for no reason except that the vehicles were leaving the country.
DPS spokesman Rick Knight said the proposal is far broader than state law, which requires officers to have a specific reason or probable cause to stop a vehicle."
September 2, 2005
Updates will resume in a couple days - I just don't have any enthusiasm right now for throwing stones.
Your editor suspects that the issue of US refinery capacity is now very relevant - early reports indicated that appx. 10% of US daily usage (1/4 down on page under 'Consumption' heading) was affected - and current news reports don't seem enthusiastic. It doesn't matter how many barrels of oil are released from the US strategic reserve, or reallocated by the International Energy Agency, if the refinery capacity is incapable of making domestic fuel of it.
