Watada could face prison and discharge for defiance
Refusing to report for Iraq could elicit a court-martial
>> During Vietnam, his father Bob Watada was able to avoid serving
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com
A patriotic Eagle Scout who had hoped to make the Army his career, 1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada says the war in Iraq is illegal and that he will not deploy with his Fort Lewis unit when it leaves in two weeks.
Watada, who turns 28 today, did not tell his mother he had joined the Army until after he signed enlistment papers in March 2003 just before he graduated from Hawaii Pacific University. He reported for boot camp in June.
The 1996 Kalani High School graduate said he enlisted because "I felt the pull of duty, service and patriotism" following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Watada, an artillery officer, said even after enlisting he did not believe that "an invasion was fully justified, but I believed the president's claims should be given a benefit of doubt. At that time, I never imagined that our leader could betray the trust of the people over something as serious as war."
http://starbulletin.com/2006/06/08/news/story03.html
Bilbray punctures Democrats' plans to retake House
By Dani Dodge
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 8, 2006
Angelides, Westly pledge unity vs. Schwarzenegger
Republican Brian Bilbray believes he rode a wave of anti-illegal-immigration sentiment to defeat Democrat Francine Busby and replace imprisoned former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in the 50th Congressional District.
“The biggest scandal facing the U.S. isn't Cunningham,” Bilbray said yesterday, “but the 11 to 12 million illegal aliens in our country. That's what people feel impacts their lives.”
Cunningham resigned in November after pleading guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy related to taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060608-9999-1n8bilbray.html
Decency Act Vote Gets Quick D.C. Reaction
June 08, 2006
By Brooks Boliek, The Hollywood Reporter, and Tony Sanders
Official Washington's reaction came quickly last night, shortly after the 379-to-35 House passage of the Decency Enforcement Act. Within an hour of the vote, President Bush issued a statement saying he was ready to sign the bill into law: “I believe that government has a responsibility to help strengthen families,” Bush said, adding that the bill, which boosts indecency fines 10-fold, “will make television and radio more family friendly.”
While the legislation faced little opposition in Congress, there were lawmakers who expressed concern that the bill goes too far.
"What is at stake here is freedom of speech and whether it will be nibbled to death by election-minded politicians and self-righteous Pietists," Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., said.
He recalled how after the Super Bowl halftime incident, numerous ABC affiliates refused to air the acclaimed war movie "Saving Private Ryan" because of its rough language.
http://billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor/news/business/leg_reg/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002650484
Specter: Cheney put pressure on panel
Posted 6/7/2006 9:37 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this
Enlarge By Dennis Cook, AP
Sen. Specter said he was surprised that Cheney "sought to influence, really determine," lawmakers' actions. "It is neither pleasant nor easy to raise these issues with the administration of my own party, but I do so because of their importance," he said.
By John Diamond, USA TODAY
The Bush administration instructed telephone companies not to discuss classified information about domestic intelligence programs with the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel's chairman said in a letter to Vice President Cheney on Wednesday.
The letter by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Cheney had lobbied other Republicans on the panel to oppose any move by Specter to call telephone company executives to testify. "I was further advised that you told those Republican members that the telephone companies had been instructed not to provide any information to the committee as they were prohibited from disclosing classified information," Specter wrote.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-07-eavesdropping-cheney_x.htm
California prisons lead nation in abuse
By Don Thompson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SACRAMENTO - Abuse and neglect in California prisons is so bad that it has brought condemnation from national experts and forced a federal judge to seize control of inmate health care.
Now a federal commission says in a 126-page report made available in advance to the Associated Press that similar problems exist in many prisons and jails across the nation.
California has become known as a national leader in areas such as environmental protection and energy efficiency. In this case, it's leading by bad example, said state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, a member of the national Commission on Safety and Abuse In America's Prisons.
The first national prison commission in three decades is presenting its findings and recommendations to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Corrections and Rehabilitation in Washington, D.C., today.
The same day, federal judges from Sacramento and San Francisco will hold an unusual hearing in the state capital to consider expanding federal control of inmates' medical treatment to cover mental health care as well.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/state/14768575.htm
Refusing to report for Iraq could elicit a court-martial
>> During Vietnam, his father Bob Watada was able to avoid serving
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com
A patriotic Eagle Scout who had hoped to make the Army his career, 1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada says the war in Iraq is illegal and that he will not deploy with his Fort Lewis unit when it leaves in two weeks.
Watada, who turns 28 today, did not tell his mother he had joined the Army until after he signed enlistment papers in March 2003 just before he graduated from Hawaii Pacific University. He reported for boot camp in June.
The 1996 Kalani High School graduate said he enlisted because "I felt the pull of duty, service and patriotism" following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Watada, an artillery officer, said even after enlisting he did not believe that "an invasion was fully justified, but I believed the president's claims should be given a benefit of doubt. At that time, I never imagined that our leader could betray the trust of the people over something as serious as war."
http://starbulletin.com/2006/06/08/news/story03.html
Bilbray punctures Democrats' plans to retake House
By Dani Dodge
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 8, 2006
Angelides, Westly pledge unity vs. Schwarzenegger
Republican Brian Bilbray believes he rode a wave of anti-illegal-immigration sentiment to defeat Democrat Francine Busby and replace imprisoned former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham in the 50th Congressional District.
“The biggest scandal facing the U.S. isn't Cunningham,” Bilbray said yesterday, “but the 11 to 12 million illegal aliens in our country. That's what people feel impacts their lives.”
Cunningham resigned in November after pleading guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy related to taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060608-9999-1n8bilbray.html
Decency Act Vote Gets Quick D.C. Reaction
June 08, 2006
By Brooks Boliek, The Hollywood Reporter, and Tony Sanders
Official Washington's reaction came quickly last night, shortly after the 379-to-35 House passage of the Decency Enforcement Act. Within an hour of the vote, President Bush issued a statement saying he was ready to sign the bill into law: “I believe that government has a responsibility to help strengthen families,” Bush said, adding that the bill, which boosts indecency fines 10-fold, “will make television and radio more family friendly.”
While the legislation faced little opposition in Congress, there were lawmakers who expressed concern that the bill goes too far.
"What is at stake here is freedom of speech and whether it will be nibbled to death by election-minded politicians and self-righteous Pietists," Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., said.
He recalled how after the Super Bowl halftime incident, numerous ABC affiliates refused to air the acclaimed war movie "Saving Private Ryan" because of its rough language.
http://billboardradiomonitor.com/radiomonitor/news/business/leg_reg/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002650484
Specter: Cheney put pressure on panel
Posted 6/7/2006 9:37 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this
Enlarge By Dennis Cook, AP
Sen. Specter said he was surprised that Cheney "sought to influence, really determine," lawmakers' actions. "It is neither pleasant nor easy to raise these issues with the administration of my own party, but I do so because of their importance," he said.
By John Diamond, USA TODAY
The Bush administration instructed telephone companies not to discuss classified information about domestic intelligence programs with the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel's chairman said in a letter to Vice President Cheney on Wednesday.
The letter by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Cheney had lobbied other Republicans on the panel to oppose any move by Specter to call telephone company executives to testify. "I was further advised that you told those Republican members that the telephone companies had been instructed not to provide any information to the committee as they were prohibited from disclosing classified information," Specter wrote.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-06-07-eavesdropping-cheney_x.htm
California prisons lead nation in abuse
By Don Thompson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SACRAMENTO - Abuse and neglect in California prisons is so bad that it has brought condemnation from national experts and forced a federal judge to seize control of inmate health care.
Now a federal commission says in a 126-page report made available in advance to the Associated Press that similar problems exist in many prisons and jails across the nation.
California has become known as a national leader in areas such as environmental protection and energy efficiency. In this case, it's leading by bad example, said state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, a member of the national Commission on Safety and Abuse In America's Prisons.
The first national prison commission in three decades is presenting its findings and recommendations to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Corrections and Rehabilitation in Washington, D.C., today.
The same day, federal judges from Sacramento and San Francisco will hold an unusual hearing in the state capital to consider expanding federal control of inmates' medical treatment to cover mental health care as well.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/state/14768575.htm
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