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NASA Hacker Fights Extradition to US in UK's high court

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
ZD Net - Oct 15, 2007
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39290029,00.htm

Nasa hacker granted Lords appeal

Gary McKinnon, the Briton whom US authorities wish to extradite on
charges of hacking into Nasa's computer systems, has been given leave
to appeal to the House of Lords

Gary McKinnon, the Briton who has admitted hacking into Nasa's computer
systems, has been given leave to appeal against extradition to the US.

McKinnon was granted leave on Thursday to appeal to the Law Lords, a
group of senior UK judges, on the grounds of the nature of plea
agreement discussions with representatives of the US authorities.

His appeal will be heard "sometime in the New Year", according to his
solicitors, Kaim Todner.

The US government wishes to try McKinnon on charges of unauthorised
access to Nasa's systems.

According to Kaim Todner, during the plea bargaining process between
November 2002 and April 2003, US government representatives attempted
to coerce McKinnon so he would not oppose extradition proceedings.

"The US representatives promised [McKinnon] a greatly reduced sentence
and that they would facilitate repatriation [if McKinnon co-operated],
but that if he opposes they would throw the book at him," said Jeff
Anderson, assistant to McKinnon's solicitor. "They said that were he
found guilty, he would be put in a super-maximum security facility in
Colorado, and spend much of his time in solitary confinement. They told
him he would fry."

Anderson said that the US authorities had later denied this claim.
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Mukasey and the Constitution: Another Loyal Bushie

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Counterpunch - Oct 22, 2007
http://www.counterpunch.org/cohn10222007.html


Another Loyal Bushie

Michael Mukasey and the Constitution

By MARJORIE COHN

The Michael Mukasey Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing has
demonstrated that Mukasey cannot be relied upon to function
independently as U.S. Attorney General. Nevertheless, Senators on the
Senate Judiciary Committee seem so thrilled that Mukasey is not Alberto
Gonzales that they're willing to vote for him even though he's another
loyal Bushie. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, backed down on his promise to hold up the confirmation
hearing until the administration turned over material his committee had
requested regarding several investigations. Leahy said of Mukasey after
the hearing, "He's at least answered the questions, which is better
than his predecessor. He's going to be different than Gonzales on all
the issues, I think. He will certainly be better than Gonzales on
morale."

But saying that Mukasey compares favorably to Alberto Gonzales is faint
praise for the nominee. The former Attorney General resigned during a
firestorm of criticism about his U.S. Attorney purges, and his repeated
claims of memory loss when he testified before the Senate Judiciary
Committee.

Mukasey doesn't seem to have a memory problem; he relied on a different
excuse for dodging the Senators' hard questions: he hasn't been "read
in on" the details of Bush policies, such as interrogation techniques,
or the "Terrorist Surveillance Program." Mukasey claims he doesn't know
what water boarding is, so he can't say if it constitutes torture. Say
what? Mukasey's claimed ignorance of water boarding is about as
credible as his predecessor's convenient claims of amnesia. Rear Adm.
John Hutson (USN Ret.) testified at the confirmation hearing, "Other
than, perhaps the rack and thumbscrews, water boarding is the most
iconic example of torture in history. It was devised, I believe, in the
Spanish inquisition. It has been repudiated for centuries."

Mukasey made the incredible assertions that "we do not torture" and "I
don't think people are mistreated" at Guant!namo. The main problem he
sees with Guant!namo is that "nobody owns it," that is, there is
jurisdictional overlap between the Justice and Defense Departments.
Mukasey callously told Sen. Dick Durbin before the hearings that
Guant!namo was used as a "fright wig," and after all, detainees receive
"three hots and a cot, health care better than many Americans, and
taxpayer-funded Korans."

The rest of us haven't been "read in on" the classified details either.
But we know that torture and inhuman treatment is Bush policy in spite
of the fact it's illegal. The 2005 Department of Justice memos recently
leaked to the New York Times say the government is engaging in water
boarding, head slapping and exposing people to frigid temperatures, the
International Committee of the Red Cross said the treatment of
prisoners in U.S. custody is tantamount to torture, and the U.N. Human
Rights Commission concluded that force feeding Guant!namo prisoners
amounts to torture. We also know that Bush spied on Americans without
warrants in spite of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
because he and Gonzales admitted it. And we know what water boarding is.

Some of Mukasey's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee
should have raised red flags in the minds of Democratic Senators.
Mukasey refused to reject the notion that the President can
constitutionally violate FISA. He misread the Supreme Court's recent
decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which clearly rejected Bush's claim
that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions doesn't protect
al-Qaeda prisoners. Common Article 3 prohibits torture and cruel or
inhuman treatment of all prisoners. In fact, the Hamdan Court referred
to possible liability under the U.S. War Crimes Act for those who
violate Common Article 3. And when asked about contempt charges against
witnesses who refuse to respond to congressional subpoenas, Mukasey
said he would refuse to follow the statute that requires a U.S.
attorney to refer contempt citations to a grand jury.

Nonetheless, Mukasey appears to be a shoo-in, with the Senate
proceedings resembling a charade. One month before Mukasey was tapped
by Bush for AG, the former federal judge penned an op-ed in the Wall
Street Journal complaining about too much due process in terrorism
prosecutions and advocating special courts where the Constitution
wouldn't get in the way of catching the bad guys.

Mukasey's excessive zeal for Bush's war on terror was evident right
after 9/11. In an October 2, 2001 hearing in his court, then-Judge
Mukasey dismissed attorney Randall Hamud's claim that his client,
21-year-old Jordanian Osama Awadallah, had been physically beaten while
in custody and had the marks to prove it. Mukasey retorted, "As far as
the claim he was beaten, I will tell you he looks fine to me." The
judge then refused to direct that Awadallah be examined by a doctor,
and ordered that he be held indefinitely. The marks were under
Awadallah's clothing. He was one of the more than 1,000 men of Arab
descent rounded up after 9/11, and later exonerated. Many suffered
similar abuse while in U.S. custody. Ronald Kuby was a defense attorney
in the 1995 Omar Abdel Rahman case, over which Mukasey presided.
Mukasey "was violating the rights of Arabs before it was popular," Kuby
said. "It was very much like trying a case with two prosecutors, one of
whom was wearing a black robe."

After librarians complained about the USA Patriot Act's provision that
required them to tell the government what books we read, Mukasey mocked
them in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. He described civil liberties
concerns as "recreational hysteria."

Although former Judge Mukasey ruled Jose Padilla had the right to
consult with counsel, he held that the President has the power to
detain U.S. citizens caught on U.S. soil without charging them with a
crime. When Sen. Dianne Feinstein questioned him, Mukasey incorrectly
cited Hamdi v. Rumsfeld to support his position. Hamdi, unlike Padilla,
was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan, and the high court held
that even Hamdi was entitled to some basic due process. In response to
Feinstein's question about whether Congress has the right to set
boundaries on military action under Article I of the Constitution,
Mukasey demurred, arguing his "learning curve" was "steep."

Mukasey ducked the question of whether he would advise the President to
allow unlawful enemy combatants habeas corpus rights at Guant!namo Bay.
"I would not advise the President to grant rights beyond those that
they already have," he told Sen. Lindsey Graham. In spite of the
Military Commissions Act, which purports to deny these people statutory
habeas rights, the Supreme Court will likely decide this term that they
still have the constitutional right to habeas corpus.

At the committee hearing on Wednesday, Mukasey was introduced by his
dear friend and law school buddy Joe Lieberman. No one is fanning the
flames of war against Iran more than Lieberman. Bush/Cheney likely see
Mukasey as a reliable ally who will help "legitimize" their impending
illegal attack on Iran.

When Bush nominated Mukasey for attorney general, he declared Mukasey
would "ensure that our law enforcement and intelligence officers have
the tools they need to protect the United States and our citizens."
Mukasey, who refused to call water boarding torture, will likely
support that "tool" in the war on terror. Mukasey told senators in
advance of his hearing that he supports enhanced interrogation
techniques, according to Newsweek's Michael Isikoff.

Michael Mukasey cannot be counted on to independently investigate the
crimes of the White House. Elizabeth Holtzman, a former congresswoman
who served on the House Judiciary Committee during the Nixon
impeachment, advocated in a recent op-ed in the Progressive that the
Senate should confirm Muksey only if he pledges to appoint a special
prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration. That's what the
Democratically-controlled Congress did in 1973 after Nixon nominated
Elliot Richardson for attorney general. Richardson agreed, he was
confirmed, and then appointed Archibald Cox as special prosecutor.
Cox's investigations and summary dismissal resulted in the issuance of
articles of impeachment against Nixon in the House Judiciary Committee
followed by Nixon's resignation. It would be wonderful to have a
Congress that once again stood up to the President when he breaks the
law.

[Marjorie Cohn is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and
president of the National Lawyers Guild. She is the author of Cowboy
Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied the Law ]


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Teens' Favorite Authors Face Book Bans

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Womens eNews - Oct 22, 2007
http://www.womensenews.org

Teens' Favorite Authors Face Book Bans

By Andrea Bronson
WeNews correspondent

NEW YORK (WOMENSENEWS)--Author Carolyn Mackler will meet her fans Oct.
23 in an online chat forum that connects young-adult book authors with
their teen readers. Mackler is just one of the writers featured during
October's "31 Flavorite Authors for Teens" event, sponsored by the
Young Adult Library Services Association and the ReaderGirlz Web site.

Mackler got this chance to talk directly to her readers after 3,495
friends on MySpace picked her as a favorite. However, Mackler's
popularity among young adults has also put her in the spotlight for
negative criticism and even censorship.

Of the 31 authors in this month's online event, 10 have had their books
banned and two have had their books challenged in censorship attempts.

When Mackler received an invitation from the Chicago-based American
Library Association to participate in a "read out" event during Banned
Books Week, Sept. 29 through Oct. 6, she was nonetheless surprised to
learn that she placed fourth on their 2006 list of most challenged
books, released last April.

One of her novels set off a censorship scuffle in a school district in
Carroll County, Md. "The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things,"
features a central character who is a larger-than-average 15-year-old
girl from a family of perfectionists. In January 2006, 350 students
there signed a petition to put the book back in their schools. They won
and enjoyed a notable triumph for anti-censorship.

However, schools and libraries in many other parts of the United States
have silently removed the best-selling, award-winning novel from their
shelves.

The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom is
responsible for developing, recommending and maintaining an
anti-censorship program. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director, says
that locations where challenges occur must be kept confidential to
protect the librarians and others who report them from losing their
jobs or being ostracized from their communities.

Across the nation, libraries and schools are facing budget pressures
and at least 15 municipalities have privatized or outsourced their
public libraries, raising fears among some local library advocates that
they will lose influence in deciding which books are offered to the
public when book selection decisions are left in the hands of private
companies.

Censored as Unsuitable

Those who criticize the novel claim it is unsuitable for this target
age group because of its "sexual content, anti-family, offensive
language," the American Library Association reports.

"The book is about self-esteem, feeling good about yourself as you
are," says Mackler. "I write about normal teenage girls who have many
facets to their personalities and lives. I really try to reflect the
teenage world as it is. I don't gloss over things; I don't ignore the
ugly stuff."

Four other books on the 2006 most challenged list, released last April,
were also censored for female sexual content: Cecily Von Ziegesar's
"Gossip Girl" series, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's "Alice" series, and
"The Bluest Eye" and "Beloved," by Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison.

The book market for female teens is booming, says Paula Brehm-Heeger,
president of the 50-year-old Young Adult Library Services Association,
the fastest growing division of the American Library Association.
"There's an explosion of publishing for teens now, especially books for
teenage girls because it's a market that really responds."

But as the number of published books for female teens has risen so has
the number of bans targeting those that delve into young women's
lifestyles and sexuality. Although there is no official tally for how
many teen books have been censored, out of 3,019 reported challenges
between 2000 and 2005 to the Office for Intellectual Freedom, 1,824
were initiated by parents and 2,289 of the institutions dealing with
demands for censorship were schools or school libraries.

Challenges Unreported

For every challenge reported, four or five remain unreported, says
Judith Krug, director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom.

A challenge is an attempt to censor books, while a ban is the actual
removal of the book from a school or library. In the United States, a
complaint from a single parent can sometimes restrict an entire school
district's access to a book, says Mackler.

"We want to encourage students to speak out," says Judy Blume, who has
seen most of her books--from those penned for teens such as "Forever"
to books for children such as "Tales From a Fourth Grade
Nothing"--challenged.

Blume, a friend and mentor to Mackler, is the second-most challenged
author from 1990 to 2004, according to the American Library
Association, after Alvin Schwartz, a children's horror writer whose
books have been challenged for cannibalism, murder and occult subjects.

Blume wonders at Mackler's ranking. "To me, Carolyn's book has nothing
in it that could possibly offend anyone."

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, author of the third most challenged book of
2006, remembers when a group of "grinning, 12-year-old boys" came to a
bookstore to buy "Alice" books.

"'You must really like these,' I said as I signed my name, and one guy
leaned over and whispered, 'We learn about girls this way,'" Naylor
recounts.

The majority of fans of Naylor, Blume and Mackler, however, are female
teens and "tweens," ranging between the ages of 10 and 17.

Teen Reads, a Web site founded in 1997 to encourage teens to develop a
lifelong love for reading, features the "Ultimate Teen Reading List,"
250 books selected by teens for teens. Carol Fitzgerald, president and
founder, says the site is predominantly for girls because they read
more fiction, while boys read more nonfiction.

Censorship Magnets

Fitzgerald suggests that female teens' books attract more censors
because more exist and they contain more sexual content.

Naylor believes that gender-based sexual expectations play a role. "As
long as girls are taught to say no, I suppose it's assumed that male
sexuality can be reined in. But if girls are described as getting the
'hots,' why goodness gracious, who knows what will happen?"

Blume, Naylor and Mackler--the latter two participated in the Chicago
"Read Out" during Banned Books Week--say they seek to portray teen life
and sexuality realistically.

"As people who really advocate for teenage girls, we want them to be
empowered in all ways," says Mackler. "To not read about sexuality and
to not have any information on it will not make a teenager not have
sex; it will make them go into sexual situations uninformed."

Naylor laughs at how little she learned about such issues from books
she read as a child. "Are you kidding? Did Nancy Drew even have
breasts?"

Blume says masturbation is particularly taboo, remembering a caller on
a radio show who told her that she was teaching children masturbation
was healthy while they were teaching it was a sin.

"There is so much fear that if your child reads this, your child will
know it, then your child might do it, or it might happen. Where else in
the world are we so afraid of puberty?"

Authors should write the best book possible, without fear of
censorship, Blume argues, because censors can challenge any subject.

But Blume's younger counterpart feels the censor over her shoulder. "I
get publicity from censorship," Mackler says, "but how many places will
my book not be read or purchased or looked at? I write books to be
read."

[Andrea Bronson is a freelance journalist based in New York City.]

For more information:

American Library Association Banned Books Week: -
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm

Teen Reads: - http://www.teenreads.com

Reader Girlz: - http://www.readergirlz.com

Copyright 2007 Women's eNews. 
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