Judge rules warrantless wiretaps unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled today that warrantless wiretaps were unconstitutional. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the government does not have the right to tap phone lines unless there is court order. The government argued that this tool is a necessary and legal tool. Pres. Bush said that he disagreed with the ruling and that those who believe this do not understand the nature of the threat that terrorism poses to the United States. Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless wiretaps on international phone calls in which there were individuals connected with known terrorist organizations. He also made sure that there were regular inspections to make sure that civil liberties were protected. It was a program that was considered to have the most monitoring of any program to minimize the likelyhood of abuse. The Justice Department is expected to appeal the decision to the US Court of Appeals.

Bankruptcy judge rules on strike

A bankruptcy judge has ruled that NWA flight attendants do have a right to strike against Northwest Airlines despite the fact that the airline was in bankruptcy. The airline had contended that a strike while a company was in bankruptcy was illegal a judge ruled otherwise. Flight attendants plan to implment a plan called CHAOS (Creating Havoc Around Our System) This would mean that only a select few people would know when the strike would occur and a disruption in one part of the system would lead to delays in other parts of the system.

British authorities still on high terror alert

The British have not lowered their terror alert because they believe an attack is still imment. Authorities believe that other terror cells could be ready to strike. US officials still have flights from the UK to the US on high alert. However US officials have eased restriction of carry-on items for domestic flights.

Authorities arrest suspects who bought prepaid cellphones

Federal authorities arrested several students after they bought multiple cellphones. Prepaid cellphones are thought to be used for international phone calls which make them harder to trace and to detonate bombs from a remote locations. Authorities found that they had as many as a thousand prepaid cellphones. The suspects said they bought them to resell them at a profit. The suspects are being charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization.

UN Security Council approves cease-fire resolution

The UN Security Council approved a plan that would end the violence between Hezbollah and Israel. An international force will be sent to maintain a buffer zone between south Lebanon and Israel. The Israelis will be allowed to continue military attacks until the international forces arrive. They are not expected to end military plans until Sunday. Hezbollah is expected to be disarmed. Most observers hope that the UN will have much more success with this resolution than the previous resolution that were not enforced.

British authorities foil plot for planes bound for United States

British authorities earlier today foiled a plot to blow up planes bound for the United States. The terror alert in the United States has been raised to orange and flights bound from the UK to the US have been raised to red. The threat is considered ongoing.

Lieberman and McKinney lose primaries

Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) lost his primary to democrat millionaire Ned Lamont in Tuesdays primary. Lieberman is expected to run as an independent now that he no longer has the support of his party. Connecticut has more registered voters of independents than republicans and democrats. Lieberman was criticised by democrats for supporting the president on the War in Iraq.
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia lost her primary bid to win re-election in Georgia. McKinney has been a controversial figure on Capitol Hill recently she was accused of striking a Capitol Hill police officer after failing to yield to an officer. Members of congress are encourage to wear their lapel pins that identify them as members of congress so that officers can easily identify them and bypass security. McKinney also missed a number of scheduled debates.

Mexican Court not likely to recommend recount

The Federal Elections Tribunal which has final authority on elections has said that it will not recommend a recount of a closely contested presidential election. The conservative Calderon narrowly won election by less than 1% over his liberal counterpart Obrador. The court also said that if a recount is authorized that each lawsuit must be brought individually and not by class action suit which the Obrador campaign had sought. The Tribunal has until September to issue a a final ruling on the matter.

Castro transfers power

Fidel Castro temporarily transferred presidential power to his brother Raul. Castro is currently recovering from surger and this transfer was done for cautionery reason Cuban officials said. Cuban exiles in Florida were seen rejoicing over the news of Castro.

Court says DeLays name must remain on ballot

A federal appeals court ruled today that former Rep. Tom DeLay's name must remain on the ballot. Despite the fact that he no longer resides in Texas but moved to Virginia. The Texas GOP attempted to replace DeLay with another republican since DeLay resigned from the US House on June 9th. The democrats opposed the filing because they want to use DeLay as a way to campaign on the culture of corruption since republicans are in the majority. This will be interesting to reconcile since the federal constitution requires that a candidate reside in the state that he or she intends to represent. DeLay won the republican primary back in March.

US Surgeon General resigns

UN Secuity Council gives Iran deadline

The UN Security Council voted today to give Iran until the end of August to end its nuclear program.

Israeli Security Cabinet says airstrikes will continue

The Israeli Security Cabinet voted to continue the airstrikes after the 48 hour cease-fire expires. Ground troops are expected to assist in the battle to root out Hezbollah.

Twin Cities reaches high of 101 degrees

Heat wave grips much of US

A blast of summer heat has gripped much of the United States. Droughts in the Midwest and rolling blackouts on the East and West Coasts. There were over 130 fatalities related to the triple digit temperatures in CA. Much of the nation is dealing with temperatures in the 90's to well over 100 degrees in some parts of the country activating heat watches and warnings. Some cool Canadien air is expected to give some relief in the next few days.

Sec. of State struggling to bring cease-fire

Sec. of State Rice has been traveling throughout the Middle East this week to try and bring an end to the conflict between the Israelis and Hezbollah. Lebanon has been bearing the brunt of the missiles as Israeli attempts to root out Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Rice is expected to meet with the UN Security Council on Monday and draft a resolution that would end the violence. That will prove to be difficult because the Israelis are not in direct talks with Hezbollah and the US State Department recognizes Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Israelis call up 30,000 reservists

US refuses to call for immediate cease-fire

The United States has refused to call on an immediate cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Secretary Rice stated that it would be pointless to call for a cease-fire that would not be sustained. Some have suggested that a cease-fire would only allow Hezbollah to reload its arsenal and get financial and military support from Iran and Syria. Some have suggested that the Bush administration is privately supporting the Israelis to battle Hezbollah which the State Department has classified as a terrorist organization.

US State Department orders all non-essential personnel to leave Lebanon

Congress reauthorizes VRA

The US House and Senate approved the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. One provision that southern members tried to remove from the bill were monitors by the Justice Department for southern states. The Justice Department has authority to monitor elections that have had a history of fraud and voter intimidation.