Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Indefinite detention................

The White House is preparing an Executive Order on indefinite detention that will provide periodic reviews of evidence against dozens of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, according to several administration officials. The draft order, a version of which was first considered nearly 18 months ago, is expected to be signed by President Obama early in the New Year. The order allows for the possibility that detainees from countries like Yemen might be released if circumstances there change. But the order establishes indefinite detention as a long-term Obama administration policy and makes clear that the White House alone will manage a review process for those it chooses to hold without charge or trial.Link
 

Thursday, December 16, 2010

A nearly $1.3T spending bill.

WASHINGTON – Democrats controlling the Senate abandoned on Thursday a huge catchall spending measure combining nearly $1.3 trillion worth of unfinished budget work, including $158 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Facing a midnight Saturday deadline when a stopgap funding measure expires, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would work with Republican leader Mitch McConnell to produce a bill to keep the federal government running into early next year. The 1,924-page bill collapsed of its own weight after an outcry from conservatives who complained it was stuffed with more than $8 billion in homestate pet projects known as earmarks.Link

Julian Assange freed on bail.......

Julian Assange, founder of secrets website WikiLeaks, was released on bail in London Thursday evening. Authorities had held the former hacker in Wandsworth prison since Dec. 7 when he was detained on sex assault charges. "It's great to smell the fresh air of London again," he told reporters as he left the jail. Assange thanked his supporters around the world, his lawyers and members of the press who were not "all taken in and considered to look deeper in their work.".Link