The Intelligence Community

Ancient aboriginal curse put on Australian Prime Minister Howard

Aborigines invoked an ancient curse on Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Tuesday by "pointing the bone" at the conservative politician to protest against his decision to scrap a top aboriginal body.
Aborigines believe that to point a kangaroo bone at someone is to bring that person ill fortune, and the black magic is strong enough to cause death.
An aboriginal woman dressed in possum skin and traditional tribal makeup confronted Howard on Tuesday after he made a speech in a rural town and pointed a 2,5cm bone at the politician to place a silent curse on him.
IOL

Bush says West Bank belongs to Israel

In a historic policy shift, President Bush on Thursday endorsed Israel's plan to hold on to part of the West Bank in any final peace settlement with the Palestinians. Bush also ruled out Palestinian refugees returning to Israel, bringing strong criticism from the Palestinians.
AP News

Scalia Apologizes for Seizure of Reporters' Audio

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has apologized to the two reporters whose audio recorders were seized during a speech that the Justice gave last week at a high school in Hattiesburg, Miss.
In a letter to Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Executive Director Lucy Dalglish, Scalia said he didn't approve of the actions by a U.S. Marshal, who seized the recorders and ordered the recordings erased. "You were correct that the action was not taken at my direction; I was upset as you were," Scalia wrote. "I have written to the reporters involved, extending my apology."
Editor and Publisher

Court Opens Door To Searches Without Warrants

It's a groundbreaking court decision that legal experts say will affect everyone: Police officers in Louisiana no longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief search of your home or business.
New Orleans Police Department spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo said the new search power, which is effective immediately, will be used judiciously. "We have to have a legitimate problem to be there in the first place, and if we don't, we can't conduct the search," Defillo said.
WDSU, New Orleans

TIC exclusive; TheIntelligenceCommunity.com presents "The Most Controversial Peace Rally of the Year"

Everybody come to see "The Most Controversial Peace Rally of the Year" with hero's Ralph Nader and Alex Jones this Saturday in Crawford Texas, March 20th, the 1st Anniversary of "The War" aka "The War on Iraq", aka "Operation Iraqi Freedom, (which is all part of a larger "War on Terror" which began with the Invasion of Afganistan, which was officially called "Operation Ending Freedom"....er, oops, sorry, that's "Operation Enduring Freedom"). Festivities begin 4 pm with Ralph Nader and Alex Jones at 7 pm. Also there will be musical guests Shanghai 5 and a performance by The Intelligence Community. That's March 20, 2004, in Crawford Texas, 4 pm to 9 pm!
MAP

Karl Rove leaked Valerie Plame's Name

President Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, told the FBI in an interview last October that he circulated and discussed damaging information regarding CIA operative Valerie Plame with others in the White House, outside political consultants, and journalists, according to a government official and an attorney familiar with the ongoing special counsel's investigation of the matter.
The American Prospect

Ashcroft in Intensive Care

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is in the intensive care unit of a Washington hospital after being admitted Thursday night for gallstone pancreatitis, the Justice Department said Friday.CNN

Subpoenas for White House

The federal grand jury probing the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity has subpoenaed records of Air Force One telephone calls in the week before the officer's name was published in a column in July, according to documents obtained by Newsday.
AP

Report: No legal basis for war in Iraq

Legal advisers to the British cabinet said a U.N. resolution did not authorize the government to wage war in Iraq, The Independent said Thursday.
U.N. Resolution 1441 was passed in 2002 by the Security Council, giving Saddam Hussein a final opportunity to disarm. Prime Minister Tony Blair used it as grounds for joining the United States in war in Iraq.
Blair is under pressure to fully disclose his legal advice -- a move he is resisting.
But the newspaper said a Foreign Office memorandum came to light saying there was no automatic justification for the use of force based on Resolution 1441.The Washington Times

Bush to Limit Interview with 9/11 Panel to an Hour

The panel investigating the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States will get one hour to ask President Bush what he knew about events leading up to the suicide airline hijackings, the White House said on Friday.
"They are looking at an hour as you pointed out," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said when asked by a reporter whether he could confirm reports that Bush was limiting the meeting to an hour.
Rather than sitting down with all 10 members of the so-called 9/11 commission, Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have only agreed to meet privately with its chairman, Thomas Kean, and the vice chairman, Lee Hamilton.
The panel would prefer that Bush meet with all of the members.
Created by the U.S. Congress, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States is charged with examining lapses in intelligence and national security in the months before the attacks. Strikes by hijacked airplanes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon killed about 3,000 people.
The White House initially opposed setting up the commission and until recently openly resisted its extension.Reuters