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2002 Government Archive:

20021220

- TIA: Total Information Awareness - "Bush Administration to Propose System for Monitoring Internet." ... "The Bush administration is planning to propose requiring Internet service providers to help build a centralized system to enable broad monitoring of the Internet and, potentially, surveillance of its users." ... "The proposal is part of a final version of a report, "The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace," set for release early next year, according to several people who have been briefed on the report. It is a component of the effort to increase national security after the Sept. 11 attacks." ... "The President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board is preparing the report, and it is intended to create public and private cooperation to regulate and defend the national computer networks, not only from everyday hazards like viruses but also from terrorist attack. Ultimately the report is intended to provide an Internet strategy for the new Department of Homeland Security." -By John Markoff and John Schwartz -NYTimes via -Google-News
Search Google:

<National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace-[News]>
<Critical Infrastructure Protection Board-[News]>
WhiteHouse.gov/pcipb - "Draft National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace." - [PDF] - Version: "Draft National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace."
CIAO.gov - "Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office."

20021218

OPINION- - - TIA: Total Information Awareness - "Snooping in All the Wrong Places: Not only would the Administration's plan to centralize every American's records destroy privacy, the security payoff would be minimal." ... "The 2002 elections proved one thing: The promise of security wins votes. The GOP campaigned on a pledge to make the country safer, and it brought home one of the biggest midterm victories in decades. That huge win may have emboldened the Bush Administration to ignore widespread criticism of the Defense Dept.'s $240 million effort to develop a Total Information Awareness system (TIA)." ... "The outrage over TIA doesn't seem to have reached the President's ear, but it should. It's not too late for him to realize the folly of such a plan. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the project would combine every American's bank records, tax filings, driver's license information, credit-card purchases, medical data, and phone and e-mail records into one giant centralized database. This would then be combed through for evidence of suspicious activity." -By Jane Black -BusinessWeek/Daily

20021217

Enron News - "Panel seeks Andersen attorney probe: House committee asks DOJ to look at whether Nancy Temple committed perjury in Enron trial." ... "The House Energy and Commerce Committee ended its probe of Andersen's role in the collapse of energy trader Enron by asking the Justice Department Tuesday to look at whether Andersen in-house lawyer Nancy Temple was truthful during congressional testimony." -Reuters via -CNN /fn
- "C.I.A. Chief Prospers From Bond With Bush." ... "When George W. Bush was president-elect, he got some fateful advice about his daily C.I.A. briefing from a man who would know." ... "Mr. Bush's father, the only president to have served as C.I.A. director, was in the unique position of having both given and received the secret morning updates, and often told friends that his time in the 1970's at the C.I.A. headquarters in Langley, Va., was one of the best jobs he ever had." ... "He unequivocally instructed his son, said Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff, to develop a close relationship with the person who ran the spy organization and oversaw the other intelligence agencies that make up America's covert empire." (1, 2) -By Elisabeth Bumiller -NYTimes via -AltaVista-News

20021215

Smallpox News - "Smallpox vaccine costs raise questions." ... "Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, in a press briefing Saturday, said most states are expected to pay workers' compensation for lost work time for medical or emergency personnel sickened by the vaccine. Modest death benefits are also available. Unions, however, say those amounts are likely to be inadequate." ... "Thompson also said that health care workers and private citizens who seek the vaccine would need their own health insurance to pay for any care needed to treat side effects." -By Julie Appleby -USATODAY

20021214

- TIA: Total Information Awareness - "Keeping Track of John Poindexter." ... "The head of the government's Total Information Awareness project, which aims to root out potential terrorists by aggregating credit-card, travel, medical, school and other records of everyone in the United States, has himself become a target of personal data profiling." ... "Online pranksters, taking their lead from a San Francisco journalist, are publishing John Poindexter's home phone number, photos of his house and other personal information to protest the TIA program." -By Paul Boutin -Wired

20021213

- "Bush orders smallpox vaccine for military, himself." ... "The vaccine will be administered to about 500,000 troops deployed in high-risk parts of the world in the first phase of the vaccination plan. The inoculations began Friday, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease." ... "The second phase will be to vaccinate about 440,000 public health-care workers, emergency room doctors, disease detectives and other hospital officials. It will also be made available to up to 10 million police, firefighters and other first responders on a voluntary basis." -Contributed to by Frank Buckley and Elizabeth Cohen -CNN /Health
- - "US cash for Middle East democracy." ... "America's answer is what it calls the US-Middle East Partnership Initiative." ... "An initial sum of $29m will initially be spent on education, projects to expand political participation and to encourage small businesses." ... "Mr Powell said the administration would ask Congress for more money next year - which will come in addition to the more than $1bn the US already provides in economic aid to Arab countries." -BBC/News

Search Google:

<US-Middle East Partnership Initiative-[News]>

20021210

Accounting News - "Donaldson to head SEC: Co-founder of DLJ and ex-NYSE chief would succeed Pitt as top market watchdog." ... "Wall Street veteran William Donaldson, the founder of the former firm Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, is the Bush administration's choice to be the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission." ... "Donaldson, whose firm was sold to Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000, was introduced by President Bush at a news conference Tuesday." ... "The SEC has been under greater scrutiny due to the attention given to accounting and corporate misdeeds that resulted in the nation's two largest bankruptcies, at WorldCom and Enron, and shook investors' confidence in the market." -CNN /fn

SEC.gov
Search <SEC> in: <Google-[News]>

"CSX chief named to run Treasury: Bush also vows tax breaks to spur business revival." ... "President Bush moved on two fronts yesterday to demonstrate his concern about the flagging economy: nominating John W. Snow, chairman of railway conglomerate CSX Corp., as his Treasury secretary and promising a new package of tax breaks and other incentives to spur more vigorous business activity." ... "Snow has been chief executive and chairman of Richmond-based CSX Corp. since 1989 The firm, which runs one of the largest rail networks in the eastern half of the United States, and other transportation-related services, has been a major source of campaign donations to the Republican Party. Snow has been an advocate of more rigorous financial reporting for executives." -By Sue Kirchhoff -Boston/Globe
"Bush taps an economic salesman: Bush names John Snow as new Treasury chief with task of selling tax cuts and buoying confidence." ... "By appointing John Snow, a railroad executive, as Treasury secretary Sunday, and probably Stephen Friedman, a Wall Street executive, as White House economic counselor Monday, Mr. Bush will be getting two people who are, by all accounts, consensus builders and "listeners."" ... "That will help the administration speak more with one voice on the economy, but not necessarily result in new initiatives. "I think the president is looking for a new messenger, not a new message," says Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo Banks, of Mr. Snow's appointment. "So he would be a good messenger."" -By David R. Francis and Ron Scherer -CSMonitor

20021209

Eliot Spitzer - - OPINION - "Eliot Spitzer vs. the Chicago Boys: Corporate crooks, dirty air, pricey drugs -- they're all the doing of the University of Chicago's free-marketeers, says N.Y.'s Attorney General." ... "As a voice of laissez-faire economics, the University of Chicago has shaped much of the dialogue over market regulation in recent years, starting with Ronald Reagan's Administration in 1980. Free markets, the theory goes, will correct most excesses by making it impossible for those guilty of bad behavior to survive. "They've said that intervention by...government is wrong," Spitzer said. "But they haven't taken into account that markets can have structural flaws."" ... "For example, environmental polluters are not being punished by the market, he charged, and that means all of society pays the price for pollution. Relying on the market to fairly price prescription drugs has also failed, he insisted, since some severely ill people rely so much on one particular drug that they will pay anything to get it." -By Heather Timmons -BusinessWeek/Daily
- - "Soldier Pleads in Classified Photo Case: Soldier Pleads Guilty in Attempted Sale of Photos of Top-Secret Military Facility." ... "A soldier has pleaded guilty to trying to sell a newspaper photographs of a top-secret bunker where U.S. government leaders would be taken in a nuclear attack." -AP via -ABCNEWS.com
Law Enforcement News - "Congress probes irregularities at Los Alamos: UC asked to turn over records relating to cases of theft, fraud." ... "Congressional investigators, following up on a criminal probe launched by the FBI, have asked the University of California for dozens of records relating to allegations of illegal procurement practices, theft and misuse of government funds at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico." -Dan Morgan -WashingtonPost via -SFGate.com

20021208

"Sources: 9/11 inquiry recommends intelligence changes." ... "A draft report of the congressional inquiry into September 11-related intelligence failures recommends clipping the CIA director's authority over all U.S. spy programs and investigating whether a domestic spy agency like Britain's MI5 was needed, government sources said." ... "The congressional inquiry's draft recommendations propose separating the positions of Director of Central Intelligence, who oversees 14 intelligence agencies, and the CIA director who runs the spy agency. Currently one person wears both hats." ... "The report recommends instead creating a Director of National Intelligence to oversee coordination of all U.S. spy agencies, including the CIA and intelligence components of the Defense Department, FBI, State Department, Energy Department and other government agencies." -Reuters via -CNN

20021206

OPINION - - "Digital Robber Barons?" ... "... the wide-open, competitive world of the dial-up Internet depended on the very government regulation so many Internet enthusiasts decried. Local phone service is a natural monopoly, and in an unregulated world local phone monopolies would probably insist that you use their dial-up service. The reason you have a choice is that they are required to act as common carriers, allowing independent service providers to use their lines." ... "Last March the F.C.C. used linguistic trickery — defining cable Internet access as an "information service" rather than as telecommunications — to exempt cable companies from the requirement to act as common carriers. The commission will probably make a similar ruling on DSL service, which runs over lines owned by your local phone company. The result will be a system in which most families and businesses will have no more choice about how to reach cyberspace than a typical 19th-century farmer had about which railroad would carry his grain." -By Paul Krugman -NYTimes via -Google-News
- "Update: Bush Creates ".Kids" Domain." ... "President Bush signed into law on Wednesday a bill that would create a ".kids" domain name, and certify that the domain was "safe" for minors." ... "The .kids domain will actually be a subdomain of the ".us" suffix, and so will only apply to web sites based in the U.S, such as "www.example.kids.us". Since the domain is under the purview of the U.S. country code, it will be overseen by the Department of Commerce." -By Mark Hachman -ExtremeTech
Law Enforcement News - "Feds Raid Software Firm." ... "Federal agents who raided a Quincy, Mass., software firm Thursday night continue to look for monetary connections to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, but sources say the firm's software appears safe." ... "Ptech Inc., a developer of business-process modeling software, was raided late Thursday night by U.S. Customs Service agents, according to law enforcement officials. But initial concerns that the company's technology may have compromised the security of its customers, which include the FBI, the Department of Energy, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Navy, the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. House of Representatives, now appear unfounded, according to authorities." (1, 2) -By Renee Boucher Ferguson, Dennis Fisher and Chris Gonsalves -eWEEK
"Bush Shakes Up Economic Team With Ouster of 2 Advisers." ... "Wrestling with a shaky economy and criticism that his administration projects a muddled message on how to respond, President Bush today dismissed his Treasury secretary, Paul H. O'Neill, and the director of his National Economic Council, Lawrence B. Lindsey." ... "The president's move also demonstrates that the White House has grown increasingly concerned that Mr. Bush, like his father, could pay a political price if the country's economic woes are not addressed more forcefully." ... "The dismissals also come when business confidence is stubbornly low, investment is weak and joblessness is rising. Less than two hours before Mr. O'Neill surprised Washington with his resignation, the Commerce Department reported that unemployment last month surged at an unexpectedly fast rate last month, to 6 percent from 5.7." (1, 2) -By Edmund L. Anderews -NYTimes via -Google-News

20021205

"Appointee bonus got quiet OK from White House in March: 2,100 are eligible for up to $15,000." ... "The Bush administration has quietly approved a plan giving large cash bonuses to its political appointees, a practice abandoned during the Clinton administration to prevent officials from using taxpayer funds to reward loyal partisans." -By Anne E. Kornblut -Boston/Globe
"Appointees' Bonuses Stir Anger: Critics Say Bush Plan Slights Career Employees; Agencies Move Cautiously." ... "The Bush administration's decision to revive cash bonuses for political appointees touched off a fury of criticism yesterday from Democrats, unions and some policy experts who said the move slighted ordinary federal employees and raised the specter of cronyism." ... "The Clinton administration ended the practice of doling out bonuses to most political appointees in 1994 after questionable payments to some outgoing aides in the final days of the administration of President George H.W. Bush, the president's father." ... "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), the former first lady, called it "a decision that beggars the imagination." She noted that Bush cited a "national emergency" and the need to conserve money for the fight against terrorism last week when he froze one part of a federal pay raise for 1.8 million civilian employees." -By Christopher Lee and Mike Allen-WashingtonPost
"Intelligence: Learning How to Share: Is this a new era of closeness for the CIA and FBI?" -By Tamara Lipper and Mark Hosenball 20021209 -MSNBC /-Newsweek

20021204

"Bush Reinstates Appointee Cash Bonuses -N.Y. Times." ... "The policy shift means appointees could receive annual cash bonuses of up to $10,000 with the approval of Cabinet-level officials and agency chiefs, or more than $25,000 with the approval of the White House, the newspaper said." -Reuters via -ABCNEWS.com

20021203

- "Ricochet's Comeback Means Free Wireless Internet Access for Cities: Municipal governments striking new deals to get free wireless access." ... "Denver-based Ricochet Networks offered Internet access to 51,000 subscribers in 21 cities until its owner, Metricom, went bankrupt last year." ... "Aerie Networks has resurrected Ricochet, spending $8.25 million for technology and equipment that Metricom spent $1.3 billion developing." ... "Technological Quid Pro Quo." ... "Now, Ricochet is offering cities free service and giving their public employees modems to use on the job. In return, Ricochet gets to use transmitters that fell into cities' control after Metricom went bankrupt." -By Catherine Tsai -AP via -GovTech.net/news

"Ex-Bush Aide Apologizes for Criticism." ... "A former senior aide to President Bush apologized yesterday after being quoted as saying a band of "Mayberry Machiavellis" is running a White House in which politics trumps policy." -Reuters via -WashingtonPost
- - "CIA Target: Americans: Officials: U.S. Citizens Working for Al Qaeda Can Be Killed in CIA Actions." ... "American citizens working for al Qaeda overseas can legally be targeted and killed by the CIA under President Bush's rules for the war on terrorism, U.S. officials say." ... "The authority to kill U.S. citizens is granted under a secret finding signed by the president after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that directs the CIA to covertly attack al Qaeda anywhere in the world. The authority makes no exception for Americans, so permission to strike them is understood rather than specifically described, officials said." ... "Previously, the government's authority to kill a citizen outside of the judicial process has been generally restricted to when the American is directly threatening the lives of other Americans or their allies." -By John J. Lumpkin -APvia -ABCNEWS.com

20021202

"Why Are These Men Laughing? Excerpts from our newsmaking story on Karl Rove, politics, and policy in the Bush administration." ... "" -By Ron Suskind -Esquire

OPINION - "The DiIulio Letter." -To: Ron Suskind From: John DiIulio - 20021024 - Via: Esquire.com

"Ex-Official Blasts White House." ... "The former head of President Bush's faith-based office charged in a magazine article released yesterday that the administration's domestic policies are determined entirely by political considerations, with "everything" being run by the office of senior adviser Karl C. Rove." ... "John J. DiIulio Jr., a Democrat who resigned last year as the first director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, is one of only a few officials who have left Bush's senior staff since his inauguration, and the only one who has publicly attacked his colleagues." -By Mike Allen-WashingtonPost

20021130

"Bush Trims Federal Pay Hikes." ... "Federal workers will get a smaller raise next month because President Bush is freezing part of the increase, citing a national emergency because of the fight against terrorism." ... "In a letter sent Friday to congressional leaders, Mr. Bush announced he was using his authority to change workers' pay structure in times of "national emergency or serious economic conditions" to limit raises to 3.1 percent." ... "Most federal employees also were to receive a second pay hike based on private-sector wages earned in metropolitan areas. But Mr. Bush said that increase would be too expensive and "inappropriate" at this time." -CBSNews
"Bankruptcy 'inevitable' for United: Mechanics reject pay concessions; airline, union in last-minute talks." ... "Securing an agreement with District 141-M, which represents 13,000 mechanics and other employees, coupled with similar pacts with pilots, flight attendants, nonunionized workers and others, is a key part of a projected $5.2 billion in wage concessions that United hopes will allow it to avoid filing for Chapter 11." ... "Reducing labor costs is considered to be a crucial part of United's application for a $1.8 billion federal loan guarantee from the Air Transportation Stabilization Board. The board's ruling is expected any day, perhaps as early as Monday, the due date for United to repay $375 million in debt. UAL has up to 10 additional working days to repay the debt, which could push the payment deadline back to Dec. 16 and give the company more room to maneuver." -David Armstrong -SFGate.com

UStreas.gov/atsb -Press
Google Search: <Air Transportation Stabilization Board>

20021128

Thanksgiving - "Thanksgiving travel puts new security to the test: Thanksgiving holiday travelers took to the skies Wednesday in the biggest test of airport security since the federal government took it over last week, while drivers in the Northeast faced heavy, wet snow." ... "Around the country, only a handful of flights were delayed. Travelers were waiting an average of less than 10 minutes at major airports' checkpoints, said Robert Johnson, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration." ... "Just last week, the government finished placing more than 47,000 security workers at 424 airports nationwide. The TSA was created after the [September 11] attacks prompted concern about inefficient and inattentive private security workers." -AP via -CNN

TSA.gov
Google Search: <Transportation Security Administration- [News]>

20021125

- "Bush hails military's private sector "outsourcing"." ... "President Bush on Monday praised an Air Force base with a history of outsourcing work to the private sector, something he wants to do with nearly half the nation's federal civilian jobs." ... "Bush saluted saluted Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, where he stopped during his zigzagging odyssey back to Washington on Sept. 11, 2001." -By Scott Lindlaw -AP via -Salon

20021120

- "Security overhaul OK'd: Reorganization to be the largest in 50 years." ... "The Senate overwhelming approved the creation of a new Department of Homeland Security yesterday, paving the way for the biggest federal government reorganization in a half century and putting to rest a contentious political issue." ... "By a 90-to-9 vote during the final hours of an unusual lame-duck session, senators agreed to move 170,000 employees from 22 existing government agencies into a single department dedicated to domestic security." ... "It will be the largest governmental reorganization since 1947, when the United States realigned its military under the Department of Defense and created the National Security Council and the CIA." -By Susan Milligan -Boston/Globe

20021119

- "Court Overturns Limits on Wiretaps to Combat Terror." ... "A special federal appeals court ruled today [20021118] that the Justice Department has broad new powers under the antiterrorism bill enacted last year to use wiretaps obtained for intelligence operations to prosecute terrorists." ... "The immediate effect of the ruling by the three-member panel is that criminal prosecutors may now take an active role in deciding how to use wiretaps authorized by a special intelligence court and should have greater access to information obtained from them. For more than 20 years, prosecutors have been prohibited from making decisions on which intelligence wiretaps to apply for because the standards of proof are widely believed to be lower than for regular criminal wiretaps." ... "But the judges today said that the passage of the legislation, the USA Patriot Act, ensured that there is no wall between officials from the intelligence and criminal arms of the Justice Department. In fact, the judges asserted that the 20-year-old practice of keeping the two largely separate was never required and was never intended by Congress." (1, 2) -By Neil A. Lewis -NYTimes via -AltaVista-News

<Search-[News Search]>: Google:
<Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act-[News]>
<Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review-[News]>
<Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court-[News]>
<Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court-[News]>
<FISA Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act-[News]>
<USA Patriot Act-[News]>
See also: FAS.org's: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -Via: FAS.org/irp/agency/doj/fisa

20021118

- - - "Military trial plans nearly done: Bush to decide which detainees will be tried by tribunals." ... "The government is nearly ready to go forward with military tribunals for suspected al Qaeda operatives in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan, pending completion of final details and approval from President Bush, according to federal officials." ... "Pentagon General Counsel William J. Haynes II has met in recent weeks with senior officials in other agencies, including the Justice Department, to outline the plans that have been put in place for the tribunals, also known as military commissions." -By Susan Schmidt and Bradley Graham-WashingtonPost via -MSNBC

20021114

"Bush to Allow Private Sector Bids." ... "Up to half of the nation's 1.8 million federal civilian workers eventually could find they have a new boss or, worse, no job." ... "The Bush administration is taking steps to privatize federal jobs at an unprecedented level, and officials proposed rules Thursday to make it easier for companies to compete with the government for maintenance, construction, secretarial and other work." ... "Employee unions raised strong objections, contending the administration was trying to help its business allies at the expense of workers' rights. Bush officials said it was just a question of saving money." -AP via -Guardian.co.uk
- - "USDA Orders Prodigene Biocorn Destroyed in Iowa." ... "A small biotech company experimenting with a corn variety engineered to produce insulin was ordered to destroy 155 acres of the crop in Iowa because it may have contaminated nearby fields, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday." ... "A growing number of U.S. companies are experimenting with biotech corn to produce cheaper proteins and compounds for use in pharmaceuticals. ProdiGene's biotech corn grown for pharmaceutical use is not federally approved for human or livestock feed." ... "The USDA, along with the Food and Drug Administration, is trying to determine if the Texas-based company violated any federal regulations. ProdiGene could face fines of up to $500,000 for each violation." -By Randy Fabi -Reuters/Politics
Accounting News Page added.

20021113

"Webster leaves board in turmoil." ... "Although Biggs still has the support of two SEC commissioners Harvey Goldschmid and Roel Campos he probably won't get the nod, given the acrimony surrounding Webster's appointment. Following the disclosure of Webster's involvement with U.S. Technologies CEO Greg Earls, a man with a long trail of fraud accusations in his past, Biggs called on SEC Chairman Pitt to resign." ... "The new board has until April to launch its operations in earnest." ... ""You're going to need at least 100 people. You're setting up a real operation in the next few months," says Charles Bowsher, who headed the Public Oversight Board, an accounting-industry body that was disbanded this year and will be replaced by the SEC-appointed panel." -By Greg Farrell -USATODAY
Microsoft News - - - "Briton Indicted as Hacker: Entry to U.S. Military Systems Called Biggest Ever Detected." ... "An unemployed British computer system administrator was indicted yesterday in Alexandria and New Jersey on eight counts of computer fraud for alleging [sic] penetrating about 100 U.S. government computers, shutting down networks and corrupting data in what U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty called "the biggest hack of military computers ever detected."" ... "From February 2001 to March 2002, two federal grand juries alleged, Gary McKinnon, 36, of London, exploited a known security problem with Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 to break into 92 computers at NASA, the Pentagon, and more than a dozen military installations in 14 states." -By Brooke A. Masters-WashingtonPost >TechNews

20021112

Accounting News - "White House narrows SEC chief hunt: Quick decision needed to restore investor confidence, experts say." ... "Even as high-profile cases against companies like WorldCom and Enron continue to be investigated by SEC lawyers, the political fallout surrounding Pitt is affecting the overall mission and charge of the agency." ... "Among those most closely keeping an eye on who Pitt’s replacement will be are those in the accounting industry. Accounting lobbyists furiously lobbied against the nomination of reformist John Biggs to head the independent accounting oversight board and instead pressed Pitt to nominate William Webster, former head of the F.B.I. instead." ... "Now Webster is also resigning amid allegations about his role as the head of the audit board of U.S. Technologies, a company that later discovered to be racked with accounting problems that Webster himself acknowledges he was made aware of at the time." -By Brock N. Meeks -MSNBC
"Webster resigns from accounting oversight position: After controversial appointment, ex-FBI director held position for 18 days." ... "Former FBI Director William Webster resigned Tuesday as head of a special accounting oversight board, saying he wanted to avert “new distractions” as the congressionally created agency seeks to rebuild public confidence after a series of business scandals." ... "Webster, who also once headed the CIA, announced his resignation in a letter to Pitt, who has remained in office pending the naming of a replacement. Pitt quit earlier following a flap over his apparent failure to inform fellow SEC commissioners that Webster had headed the audit committee of a company under investigation for fraud." -AP via -MSNBC

20021106

- WorldCom News - "SEC Case Against WorldCom Grows: Agency Says Fraud May Exceed $9 Billion." ... "The Securities and Exchange Commission expanded its fraud case against WorldCom Inc. yesterday, saying the improper bookkeeping at the telecommunications company stretches back to at least 1999 and the total amount of fraudulent accounting may exceed $9 billion." -By Christopher Stern-WashingtonPost >TechNews
"Harvey Pitt resigns as SEC chief." ... "Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Harvey Pitt stepped down late Tuesday, bringing a stunning end to his tumultuous 15-month reign as the nation's top securities regulator amid still-unfolding financial scandals." ... "Although Pitt got caught in numerous public-relations flaps during his tenure, his resignation stems directly from his handling of the appointment of former FBI director William Webster to head a new five-member panel charged with overseeing the accounting industry." ... "Webster's selection was controversial because he was chosen over a candidate opposed by the accounting industry. At a contentious Oct. 25 hearing, Pitt and the two other Republican commissioners voted for Webster and the two Democrats voted against him." -By Greg Farrell -USATODAY
"Resignation letter from Harvey Pitt: Text of the resignation letter from Harvey Pitt, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to President Bush." -Via -USATODAY

20021101

"SEC Chief Is Subject Of Probe: Pitt Failed To Disclose Past Of Board Nominee." ... "The Securities and Exchange Commission ordered an investigation into the actions of its own chairman yesterday, after the agency's commissioners learned that Chairman Harvey L. Pitt failed to tell them that his choice to head a new accounting oversight board chaired the audit committee of a company being questioned about possible fraud." ... "Former FBI and CIA director William H. Webster told Pitt about his association with Washington-based U.S. Technologies Inc. more than a week before the SEC approved Webster by a 3 to 2 party-line vote last Friday. The new board, intended to restore investor confidence, was created by legislation passed after accounting scandals at Enron Corp., WorldCom Inc. and several other major companies cost investors and employees billions of dollars." -By Kathleen Day, David S. Hilzenrath and Shannon Henry-WashingtonPost
"SEC investigates choice of Webster for board." ... "The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday opened an investigation into the selection of former FBI director William Webster to run a new five-member board to oversee the embattled accounting industry, amid escalating calls for SEC chairman Harvey Pitt to resign. The White House said it stood by Pitt, but also said it did not have all the facts in the matter." ... "Pitt requested the probe under pressure from fellow SEC commissioners, some of whom have publicly complained that he bowed to pressure from the accounting industry last month when he selected Webster to run the new board instead of another, more experienced candidate." -By Sue Kirchhoff -Boston/Globe

20021031

"Audit Overseer Cited Problems in Previous Post." ... "Shortly before William H. Webster was appointed to head a new board overseeing the accounting profession by the Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday, he told the commission's chairman, Harvey L. Pitt, that he had until recently headed the auditing committee of a company that was facing fraud accusations, Mr. Webster recounted today." ... "Mr. Pitt chose not to tell the other four commissioners who voted on Mr. Webster's nomination that day, according to S.E.C. officials. White House officials said they, too, were not informed about the details of Mr. Webster's work for the company." (1, 2) -By Stephen Labaton -NYTimes via -AltaVista-News

20021030

"Board was told of risks before Bush stock sale: Harken memo went to SEC after probe." ... "One week before George W. Bush's now-famous sale of stock in Harken Energy Corp. in 1990, Harken was warned by its lawyers that Bush and other members of the troubled oil company's board faced possible insider trading risks if they unloaded their shares." ... "The warning from Harken's lawyers came in a legal memorandum whose existence has been little noted until now, despite the many years of scrutiny of the Bush transaction. The memo was not received by the Securities and Exchange Commission until the day after the agency decided not to bring insider-trading charges against Bush, documents show." -By Michael Kranish and Beth Healy -Boston/Globe

20021025

- Paul Wellstone - "Sen. Wellstone's Legacy: Mark Shields, David Brooks, and the Washington Post's Dan Balz share personal and political reflections on the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), who died in a plane crash in Minnesota Friday." ... "DAVID BROOKS: ... One of the things that really impressed me, and this as a senator, he wasn't a particularly good senator when he started; made a lot of unnecessary enemies, didn't really play the game. But he decided pretty quickly that he didn't want to just be a noble loser. He wanted to actually get some things done and he made some allies; he worked with people like Jesse Helms, who he earlier said he despised; worked with John Ashcroft, won support from veterans groups, not automatic. So he really improved as a senator and was always a man of conviction, always very popular with conservatives." -PBS.org / newshour / index

20021019

"Bush Seeks to Cut Back on Raise for S.E.C.'s Corporate Cleanup." ... "Less than three months ago, President Bush signed with great fanfare sweeping corporate antifraud legislation that called for a huge increase in the budget of the Securities and Exchange Commission to police corporate America and clean up Wall Street." ... "Now the White House is backing off the budget provision and urging Congress to provide the agency with 27 percent less money than the new law authorized. Administration officials say their proposed increase is enough and that other budgetary needs, like the military and security against terrorism, make it impossible to afford more." ... "Harvey L. Pitt, the commission's chairman, has acknowledged through a spokesman that the administration's level of financing will not allow it to undertake important initiatives." (1, 2) -By Stephen Labaton-NYTimes via -AltaVista-News

SEC.gov - "Securities and Exchange Commission."
Google [news] Search: Securities and Exchange Commission

2002118

"JudgeOrders White House Papers' Release: Cheney Lawyers to Ask Appeals Court to Keep Energy Task Force Records Secret." ... "The Sierra Club and Judicial Watch, the plaintiffs in this case, are two of several groups that have alleged that the administration improperly met with private officials from the energy industry last year while shaping its energy policy. Environmental groups say they were largely excluded from the meetings." ... "The Bush administration has said repeatedly that the separation of powers doctrine shields those documents from outside review because they might show the administration's internal, deliberative process." -By Neely Tucker -WashingtonPost

20021009

"ATF Online - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms." ... "Through its National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) Program, ATF deploys Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS) equipment into State and local law enforcement agencies for their use in imaging and comparing crime gun evidence. This equipment allows firearms technicians to acquire digital images of the markings made by a firearm on bullets and cartridge casings; the images then undergo automated initial comparison. Go to the NIBIN.gov site - Photo Link."
"[NEW] Read the new NIBIN publication - [PDF:]ATF P 3315.2 - Bullets, Casings and You" - http://www.atf.treas.gov

20021008

-West Coast Port Lockout - "Bush seeks to halt port lockout." ... "A cooling-off period would keep the ports open during the crucial Christmas season, in which retailers are relying on imported goods to stock their shelves." ... "The trade-off for the Bush administration is that a court-ordered truce could energize organized labor — traditionally a Democratic ally — just four weeks before midterm elections. Democratic candidates rely on heavy turnout from union workers, and some presidential advisers fear Bush's intervention will drive angry labor voters to the polls." -By Leigh Strope -AP via -OregonLive.com/Oregonian

20021007

-West Coast Port Lockout - "Bush to Intervene in Port Lockout." ... "President Bush will take the first step toward ending a labor dispute between West Coast port workers and shipping lines Monday by forming a board of inquiry to make a quick assessment of the economic damage and determine whether the two sides are negotiating in good faith." ... "Bush is forming the board under the Taft-Hartley Act, hours after talks broke down between the union and management Sunday night." -By Leigh Strope -AP via -Seattle-PI.com.NWsource

20020929

"Document Misclassification Gives Terrorism Defendant Classified Intelligence Secrets." - from the Slow-Reader? dept. -By -Hermit !-( -Posted @ LISNews.com

20020926

- "Côte d'Ivoire - Travel Warning." ... "This Travel Warning replaces the Travel Warning for Côte d'Ivoire dated September 24, 2002, to reflect continued fighting between rebel elements and Ivoirian government forces and the Department's authorization of the departure of family members of Embassy staff and non-emergency Embassy personnel." ... "The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to defer travel to Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) at this time, and recommends that Americans in the country depart. On September 26, 2002, the Department authorized the departure of family members of Embassy staff and non-emergency Embassy personnel. Fighting has occurred between rebel elements of the Ivoirian security forces and government forces in the cities of Abidjan, Bouake and Korhogo. While government forces have reasserted control in the capital, Abidjan and the south, the situation in all three cities remains fluid. Rebels remain in control of Korhogo and parts of Bouake, where the situation is volatile." -Travel-State.gov
- "U.S. Has 'Solid Evidence' of Al Qaeda Operating in Iraq." ... "The United States has "solid evidence" senior al Qaeda operatives have been in Baghdad, Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today. He could not confirm whether such individuals are still in Iraq." ... "The secretary said intelligence shared among Coalition members about the al Qaeda relationship with Iraq is "evolving" and of "varying degrees of reliability." Some intelligence was culled from interviews with high-ranking al Qaeda detainees in U.S. custody, Rumsfeld said during an afternoon Pentagon media briefing." ... "Intelligence agencies have confirmed contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda's leaders. Rumsfeld said the two entities have discussed "safe- haven opportunities in Iraq (and) reciprocal nonaggression" agreements, among other issues." ... ""The reports of these contacts have been increasing since 1998," Rumsfeld said, and have expanded to include "credible evidence" that al Qaeda leaders sought contacts in Iraq for assistance in acquiring weapons of mass destruction capabilities." ... "One report, in particular, indicates that Iraq provided training in chemical and biological weapons to al Qaeda." ... "Rumsfeld again reminded that the U.S. goal in dealing with Iraq isn't finding absolute proof, but preventing attacks on America and her allies." ... ""It is a puzzle," he said about drawing conclusions from scraps of intelligence from various sources. "It is the task of taking these disparate pieces and putting them together so that people can make their own judgment."" ... -By Kathleen T. Rhem -DefenseLINK.mil/news

20020919

"Media future: Risk of monopoly? Rewriting ownership rules could affect the balance between commercial and public interests." ... "The American media could be poised to undergo another round of massive consolidation, and consumer activists are incensed." ... "The Bush administration has begun the most extensive review ever of the rules that govern the nation's networks, television stations, and cable systems. The rules were originally designed to ensure that no single Citizen Kane got a lock on the nation's marketplace of ideas. They restrict such things as one company owning two major TV stations in the same town." -By Alexandra Marks -CSMonitor/buy

20020918

"Judge holds top US aides in contempt: Interior officials cited on trust fund." ... "US District Court Judge Royce Lamberth.... found four instances in which [Interior Secretary Gale] Norton and Neal McCaleb, assistant secretary for Indian affairs, had committed fraud on the court, and the judge also held them in contempt for failing to abide by a three-year-old court order to begin major reform of the trust." ... "Lamberth's rulings are the only ones in modern history to hold Cabinet-level officials in contempt of court. President Clinton's treasury secretary, Robert Rubin, and interior secretary, Bruce Babbitt, were held in contempt in 1999." -By Helen Rumbelow and Neely Tucker-WashingtonPost via -Boston/Globe

20020917

"Federal judge holds Norton in contempt for failing to fix Indian trust." ... "Interior Secretary Gale Norton said she may appeal a judge's decision holding her in contempt of court for failing to fix her department's mismanagement of hundreds of millions of dollars of royalties from Indian land." ... "U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled Tuesday that Norton not only failed to comply with his order to account for the money in the Indian accounts but committed fraud by misrepresenting the department's efforts to repair the trust and protect Indian money." -By Robert Gehrke -AP via -Boston/Globe
"Interior Secretary Norton Ruled in Contempt." ... "An angry federal judge on Tuesday found Interior Secretary Gale Norton in contempt for failing to comply with his orders to fix oversight problems with and produce records of American Indian trust funds." ... "He also ordered the Interior Department to pay the attorneys' fees incurred in the contempt trials by the group of Indians who sued the department in 1996." -By Deborah Charles -Reuters via /Politics

DOI.gov / indiantrust

20020913

"IRS Shifts Focus To Pursuit of Rich Scofflaws: Confidence in System Said to Be at Stake." ... "The Internal Revenue Service is shifting its audit and enforcement forces to focus more resources on tracking down high-income cheaters who fail to report income, hide it offshore -- or, in some cases, don't file tax returns at all." ... "This shift in priorities comes as Congress and regulators throughout the government have found that cheating and dishonesty are more widespread among individuals and corporations than they thought. There is a real risk, officials say, that honest Americans who pay all their taxes may decide they are chumps for playing by the rules." -By Albert B. Crenshaw-WashingtonPost

20020906

"Parents, Especially Moms, Can Strongly Influence Teen's Choice to Delay Sex, Study Shows." A source link webliography. -HavenWorks.com
"Youth Risk Behavior Trends." - "Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System." - "Adolescent and School Health Program." - "National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion." -CDC.gov

20020902

Labor_Day

DOL.gov: - "The History of Labor Day. Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means."

...

"Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."

...

"The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the [New York] Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883."

...

"In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country."

...

"The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories."

...

-Read more at:"The History of Labor Day." -DOL.gov

20020820

FBI.gov is Seeking Information about Saud A.S. al-Rasheed:
"The FBI has issued a BOLO (Be On The Lookout) for an individual by the name of Saud A.S. Al-Rasheed." ... "On August 15, 2002, materials previously recovered during the war on terrorism were found to be related to several of the September 11th hijackers. These same materials contained an image of a Saudi Arabian passport #C161433 issued to Saud A.S. Al-Rasheed, Date of Birth: 01/30/1981; Place of Birth: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The passport was issued at Riyadh on May 29, 2000. Al-Rasheed's current whereabouts are unknown." ... "Law enforcement agencies are requested to stop and detain Al-Rasheed and to contact their local FBI office. He is considered armed and dangerous." -FBI.gov

20020810

Operation_TIPS - "U.S. Overhauls Operation TIPS Plan: U.S. Modifies Operation TIPS Program Following Criticism From Civil Liberties Groups." ... "... on Friday, officials said it will not be put into effect until Congress returns in September. The idea is to allow time for consultation with lawmakers, they said." ... "The Justice Department has not decided who will operate the hot line, but a likely choice is the National White Collar Crime Center. The organization is a nonprofit corporation of law enforcement agencies and state and local prosecution offices." -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20020809

Operation_TIPS- "Gov't Modifies Operation TIPS Plan." ... "A proposed government network of anti-terrorism tipsters has been modified to exclude people from industries and government agencies that often have access to people's homes, law enforcement officials said Friday." -By Christopher Newton -WashingtonPost

20020808

"Microsoft settles privacy complaint with U.S. over 'Passport' Internet service." ... "Responding to a formal complaint filed last year by privacy groups, the FTC determined that Microsoft made deceptive claims and misrepresented the security surrounding the design and use of Passport, which promises consumers a single, convenient method for identifying themselves across different Web sites." -By Ted Bridis -AP via -Boston/Globe

20020802

"FBI Leak Probe Irks Lawmakers: Many Spurn Polygraph Requests On Issue of NSA's 9/11 Intercept." ... "FBI agents have questioned nearly all 37 members of the Senate and House intelligence committees and have asked many if they would be willing to submit to lie detector tests as part of a broad investigation into leaks of classified information related to the Sept. 11 attacks, according to officials involved in the inquiry." ... "Most of the lawmakers have told the FBI they would refuse a polygraph, citing the constitutional separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government and the unreliability of the exam, those involved in the inquiry said." -By Dana Priest-WashingtonPost

20020726

Operation_TIPS - "Ashcroft offers TIPS assurances." ... "Amid growing concern over Operation TIPS, Ashcroft sought to assure members of the Senate Judiciary Committee July 25 that reports of suspicious activity will not be retained in a central database, but he said some reports may be kept in databases maintained by various law enforcement agencies." ... "Ashcroft said he advised against creating a database that would be maintained by Operation TIPS, and "I have been given assurances that TIPS will not maintain a database." But the FBI and other agencies might preserve TIPS reports in databases, he said." -By William Matthews -FCW.com

20020725

Senate's: Public Accounting Reform and Investor Protection bill.
House of Representatives': Accounting Industry Reform bill.

-THOMAS -LOC.gov

20020723

"Selling Privacy: Lines of Health Care Confidentiality May Get Even Blurrier." ... "Privacy advocates say medical privacy is more vulnerable than many people think and may become more so when new federal regulations take effect next year." ... "From what has already been released ... consumer groups and privacy advocates say the Bush rules will likely make it more difficult to protect patient privacy." ... "Under the proposed regulations, health-care companies, pharmacies, doctors and hospitals will not have to ask patients for consent before transferring their health-related information. Instead, providers would have to notify patients about their privacy practices, giving them the option to switch providers." -By Geraldine Sealey -ABCNEWS.com
"Feds Free Up [90 MHz of] Wireless Spectrum." ... "Under the plan, 45 MHz of the 90 MHz will come from a band the U.S. Defense Department currently uses." -By Carmen Nobel -eWEEK

20020722

"More Say Yes to Foreign Service, but Not to Hardship Assignments." ... "Despite a record number of people applying to join the Foreign Service since Sept. 11, the State Department is having a difficult time filling hardship posts overseas, as American diplomats shun jobs over security and lifestyle concerns." ... "The overall result is that American diplomacy is compromised at a time when it most needs to be effective, as Washington presses for progress toward peace in the Middle East, seeks to thwart terrorist attacks around the globe, and plans for an invasion of Iraq." -By Christopher Marquis -NYTimes via -AltaVista-News

20020719

"Harken Energy Corporation Internal Doc