A-Changin' Times (ACT)
Born in the aftermath of 9/11, ACT has become as political as the times.
Now a blog for alternative news, views and rants offered with a twist, a song and a smile. Fair and balanced.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize [sic] with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
 — Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan Copyright 1963
(1991 Special Rider)

"A-Changin' Times: taking the best from the past to make the most of the present and to create a better future."

"What marching through the streets was to the Sixties, walking through the halls of Congress is now."

 — Marianne Williamson

You're visiting a website that incorporates a blogging feature, not "just" a blog.

Blog entries follow, most recent entries at the top

Saturday, March 13, 2004

	:: Nora		3/13/2004 05:41:00 PM

Anti-government protests in Spain

Sat 13 March, 2004 22:28
MADRID (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters have taken to the streets across Spain this evening, on the eve of a general election, demanding to know "the truth" behind rail bombs that killed 200 people in Madrid two days ago.

Witnesses in Madrid and other major cities reported protesters gathering in squares on Saturday night, shouting slogans like "Don't Manipulate Our Dead!", and banging pots and pans to denounce the ruling Popular Party of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

The demonstrations followed the Spanish government's announcement that it has arrested five people, some possibly linked to Moroccan militants, for the train bombs in Madrid.

Many of the protesters slammed the government for initially saying the prime suspect was Basque separatist group ETA.

"This is a dictatorship!" protesters shouted in Madrid. "Before we vote, we want the truth." More than 5,000 crowded round the PP's headquarters in Madrid, flanked by riot police.

"It's a technical coup d'etat if a government retains information. That's not playing clean," a 32-year-old engineer, who gave his name as Rafa, said in Madrid."

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	:: DUG853		3/13/2004 05:29:00 PM

U.S. Unloading WMD in Iraq

TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) –

Over the past few days, in the wake of the bombings in Karbala and the ideological disputes that delayed the signing of Iraq's interim constitution, there have been reports that U.S. forces have unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq.

A reliable source from the Iraqi Governing Council, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Mehr News Agency that U.S. forces, with the help of British forces stationed in southern Iraq, had made extensive efforts to conceal their actions.

He added that the cargo was unloaded during the night as attention was still focused on the aftermath of the deadly bombings in Karbala and the signing of Iraq's interim constitution.

The source said that in order to avoid suspicion, ordinary cargo ships were used to download the cargo, which consisted of weapons produced in the 1980s and 1990s.

He mentioned the fact that the United States had facilitated Iraq's WMD program during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq and said that some of the weapons being downloaded are similar to those weapons, although international inspectors had announced Saddam Hussein's Baath regime had destroyed all its WMD.

The source went on to say that the rest of the weapons were probably transferred in vans to an unknown location somewhere in the vicinity of Basra overnight.

"Most of these weapons are of Eastern European origin and some parts are from the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc.

The U.S. obtained them through confiscations during sales of banned arms over the past two decades," he said.

This action comes as certain U.S. and Western officials have been pointing out the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been discovered in Iraq and the issue of Saddam's trial begins to take center stage.

In addition, former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has emphasized that the U.S. and British intelligence agencies issued false reports on Iraq leading to the U.S. attack.

Meanwhile, the suspicious death of weapons inspector David Kelly is also an unresolved issue in Britain.

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	:: Nora		3/13/2004 01:35:00 PM

Powell: No torture at hell camp

US Secretary of State Colin Powell last night denied claims by a British prisoner at Guantanamo Bay that he was badly treated.

Mr Powell insisted: "I think that's unlikely. It is not in the American tradition to treat people in that manner." Source

[Who mentioned American traditions, Colin? You and your gang have shown scant regard not only for American traditions, but international law, so pardon me if use a phrase my mother used to use, "I believe you. Thousands wouldn't". - N]

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	:: Nora		3/13/2004 01:07:00 PM

Freed detainee to sue US

A [UK] Midland man held as a suspected terrorist for more than two years at Camp Delta is to sue over his captivity and will sell his story.

The father of Ruhal Ahmed of Tipton said his son is to seek compensation from both America and Britain and will listen to media offers.

Source

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	:: Nora		3/13/2004 12:05:00 PM

Guantanamo Britons were 'chained to the floor and beaten'

Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, was last night forced to address allegations that the American military subjected British prisoners to psychological torture and beatings during their two years of detention at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Speaking for the first time since his release this week, Jamal Udeen, 37, from Manchester, outlined a brutal regime of oppression including being chained to the floor during 12-hour interrogations and having an unknown drug administered by injection ...

In interviews with ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald and The Daily Mirror, Udeen claimed prostitutes were taken to the camp and used to degrade and insult the detainees' religious beliefs.

He alleged that men who were known to be devout or were younger and unmarried were taken from their cells to a separate unit and forced to watch the women strip.

"I knew of these practices happening about 10 times," said Udeen, from Manchester. "It seemed to be those who were very young or known to be particularly religious who would be taken away. The Americans obviously knew we wouldn't be shocked by seeing Western women, so they didn't bother.

"It was a profoundly disturbing experience for these men. They would refuse to speak about what had happened."

He also described a unit in the camp known as Extreme Reaction Force - ERF - and claimed they beat him with batons, fists and feet, shouting, "Comply, comply, comply" when he refused to have an injection of an unknown drug.

He said he was then moved to the isolation cell where bright lights were kept on throughout the night to stop him sleeping.

The father of three was discovered in a Taliban prison in Kandahar after the militia retreated from the southern Afghan city following the American bombing campaign in late 2001. He said he had been travelling in Pakistan and was in Quetta when he realised war was imminent.

Heading for Europe, he hired a local driver to take him through Iran to Turkey, not realising that the route involved crossing the border into Afghanistan.

On the Kandahar road the lorry was stopped by Taliban soldiers and he was thrown into prison in the southern city and held for three months.

When the Americans arrived in the city he was moved to an airbase, interrogated and from there transferred to Guantanamo Bay in chains.

He told the programme he was chained to the floor during 40 interrogations by the CIA, FBI and MI5 that lasted up to 12 hours a time and involved them repeatedly demanding he admit to being a terrorist.

Source and full text

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	:: Nora		3/13/2004 11:41:00 AM

Millions protest - but who did it?

Up to two million people have taken part in a demonstration against terror in the Spanish capital Madrid a day after bomb attacks killed nearly 200. European leaders joined the protest to show solidarity. Millions more Spaniards joined similar rallies and vigils held across the country, which remains in mourning ...

Spanish editorial writers are demanding answers before voters go to the polls on Sunday, because the culprits' identity might influence people's choice of party.

The ruling Popular Party campaigned on a hardline stance against ETA but also defied popular opposition by supporting the US-led war against Iraq -- which may have triggered an attack by al-Qaeda.

Thursday's attack was the worst act of terrorism in modern Spanish history and the deadliest in Europe since the Lockerbie airliner bomb killed 270 in 1988.

Source: BBC

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Thursday, March 11, 2004

	:: Nora		3/11/2004 11:01:00 AM

Guantanamo five freed without charge

The four British men released from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba were freed by police without charge last night. [The fifth had already been released - N]

The men had been held under the Terrorism Act at Paddington Green station in west London after they were flown to Britain on Tuesday by the RAF.

They were freed after anti-terrorist police, working with MI5 and the Crown Prosecution Service, agreed that there were no grounds for their detention...[my emphais - N]

Dergoul's brother said M15 had flown out to Cuba three times to interview the British detainees and found nothing. "They have not got a shred of evidence against them and I know that because I received reports about it."

Steven Watt, a British lawyer with the US-based Centre for Constitutional Rights who represented Rasul and Iqbal in taking their case to the US Supreme Court, was scathing about their detention.

He said: "I think what happened in terms of them arriving at a military base in the UK and taken into custody was just window dressing for the benefit of the US government."

Full text

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Wednesday, March 10, 2004

	:: DUG853		3/10/2004 03:34:00 PM

BUSH RAISING CAMPAIGN FUNDS
FROM KERRY'S TOP CONTRIBUTORS

Presidential Fund Raising Jan '04

President Bush begins the head-to-head battle for the White House against Sen. John Kerry with a $100 million advantage in fund raising.

For that, Bush can thank his incumbent status, his network of fund-raising Pioneers and Rangers -- and several of the top contributors to the Kerry campaign.

Nearly half of Kerry's biggest financial supporters contributed more money to Bush than to Kerry himself through Jan. 30 of this year, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics' study of campaign finance reports filed this month with the Federal Election Commission.

[Of course, we don't hear about this in the so-called "mainstream" media. -DUG]

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Monday, March 08, 2004

	:: DUG853		3/08/2004 10:29:00 PM

Terrorism has not changed the U.S.
by Charles Williams, Unknown News
March 8, 2004

Who are the true terrorists?

I love that commercial showing the row of town houses -- and after 9-11 the only thing that's changed is that every house is flying an U.S. flag.

It is so good to know that terrorism has not affected my life.

The President and the government have encouraged us to not let the horrific acts of 9-11 effect our lives, because they want to change our lives for us. And I must add they are doing a very good job. It is probably the only thing the government has done well.

The U.S. form of government is the greatest in the world, because I do not have to worry about our phones being tapped without a court order, or having law enforcement breaking in to my home without a warrant, or having property and moneys seized without a judge ordering it, or being incarcerated without being charged of a crime.

I'm sorry, of course everything I just said can be done to me without any warrant or court order. All it takes is one underpaid, disgruntled law enforcement officer with a bad attitude to say I am suspected of being a terrorist.

They need no evidence any more, no proof of the accusation, no oversight of the courts; they can just do it on a whim.
This is all thanks to the PATRIOT Act, passed after Sept. 11.

My life has not been affected due to 9-11.

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	:: DUG853		3/08/2004 07:13:00 PM

International Election Monitors Take on Florida

Mon Mar 8, 3:38 PM ET

By Michael Peltier

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - An international group that usually monitors elections in developing democracies said Monday it would take up posts at Florida precincts in November in hopes of averting another debacle when voters pick the next U.S. president.

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Sunday, March 07, 2004

	:: DUG853		3/07/2004 01:13:00 AM

Attacks on "Threshold Rights" in America


Crossing the threshold
While we’re all fretting over the Patriot Act, John Ashcroft’s
Justice Department is after much bigger game
By Harvey A. Silverglate and Carl Takei

Excerpt:

Yet the hue and cry raised over the Patriot Act has distracted most of us from the Bush administration's far more dangerous assault on another class of liberties, which might be called "threshold rights."

After all, the Patriot Act can be rolled back if the people decide that the government has overreached or the emergency has receded, and some provisions of the act have automatic expiration dates.

But threshold rights — fair elections, open and publicly accountable government, judicial review of executive action, the right of the accused to a public jury trial, separation of powers among the three branches of government, and the rights to free expression and free association — are structural, and therefore changes to them are more enduring.

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