Under the Radar: Look Over Here

The Justice Department under President Barack Obama has quietly dropped its legal representation of more than a dozen Bush-era Pentagon and administration officials – including former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and aide Paul Wolfowitz – in a lawsuit by Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla, who spent years behind bars without charges in conditions his lawyers compare to torture.

Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, confirmed Tuesday that the government has agreed to retain private lawyers for the officials, at a cost of up to $200 per hour. Miller said “conflicts concerns” prompted the decision. He did not elaborate.

(emphasis mine)

This is not the first time that the NYT has done the bidding of the administration in power. Keller even boasted in a BBC interview that the NYT had earned the praise of the U.S. Government for withholding materials which the Obama administration wanted withheld.

The NYT is now Pravda and Izvestia all in one.

Jury Convicts Iraqi Immigrant in ‘Honor Killing’ of Daughter

Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, also was convicted of aggravated assault for injuries suffered by the mother of his daughter’s boyfriend during the October 2009 incident in a suburban Phoenix parking lot, and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident.

Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that he mowed down 20-year-old Noor Almaleki with his Jeep Cherokee because she had brought the family dishonor by becoming too Westernized. He wanted Noor Almaleki to act like a traditional Iraq woman, but she refused an arranged marriage, went to college and had a boyfriend.

Border Activist Sentenced to Death for Fatal Home Invasion

Forde was convicted Feb. 14 of first-degree murder in the May 30, 2009, deaths of Raul “Junior” Flores, 29, and his daughter, Brisenia Flores, 9. She was also found guilty of attempted murder in the shooting of Gina Gonzalez, Flores’ wife and Brisenia’s mother.

Prosecutors said Forde decided to target the house in Arivaca, Ariz., because she believed Flores was a drug smuggler and would have cash in the house. She wanted money to fund her border protection group, Minutemen American Defense, prosecutors said.

Detroit Ordered to Close Half Its Public Schools Amid Budget Crisis

The Detroit public school system has been ordered to close half its schools to make up for a $327 million deficit. The schools will be shuttered over the next four years, causing class sizes to bulge to 60.

The plan, mandated by state education officials, will reduce the number of schools in the district from 142 to 72. . . . . .

Census figures on Detroit show a bleak reality. Incomes in the city are half the national average, and one third of the population is in poverty. Michigan’s unemployment rate is 12 percent, and from 2000 to 2010, it was the only state in the country where population decreased.

Data released today shows that only 10 percent of the state’s high school graduates this year are ready for college.

State of Montana, Representative Read submitted Montana House Bill 549 entitled “An Act Stating Montana’s Position on Global Warming.”

This bill does three very simple things. If passed and signed into law, Montana’s legislature repeals the laws of nature and the realities of science by simply declaring that (1) carbon dioxide does not cause global warming; (2) oh, well, maybe there is global warming but it is entirely natural; and (3) anyway, it’s going to be good for the welfare and “business climate” of Montana — all findings that are self-contradictory, false, or simply out of the control of the Montana legislature, no matter what reality they might prefer.

The Laws of Physics are just hard work to understand, so just repeal them.

The purpose of the state guard shall be the defense of the state: to coordinate the resources of the state and interface between the state and the national guard in time of emergency or natural disaster and to defend the state against invasion.

(emphasis mine)

Will out of staters need passports? You never know about those damned skiers, hikers and campers.

South Carolina, not to be  out done, wants to introduce its own currency

Bigotry in the guise of religious beliefs. Twist that First Amendment, just don’t expect to have health insurance to cover the back injury sustained while doing it.

Proof of life anyone?

– House Bill 2561 and Senate Bill 1309 would define children as citizens of Arizona and the U.S. if at least one of their parents was either a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent U.S. resident and therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

– House Bill 2562 and Senate Bill 1308 would seek permission from Congress to set up a system so states can create separate birth certificates for children who meet the new definition of a citizen and those who do not.