Spying on Pacifists...Impeachment...Something old

Good Morning...

Senator Feingold's censure motion may have failed...but the domestic spying goes on and on. Remember, the "president" is justifying all of this under the warron terra.

PITTSBURGH -- FBI antiterrorism agents spied on a US peace group simply because it opposed the Iraq war, part of an ''unprecedented campaign" to spy on innocent citizens, the American Civil Liberties Union said yesterday.

FBI documents acquired under the Freedom of Information Act and provided to reporters show that the FBI conducted surveillance of the Pittsburgh-based Thomas Merton Center for Peace & Justice during antiwar demonstrations and leaflet distributions in 2002 and 2003.

One document said the Pittsburgh Joint Terrorism Task Force had learned that ''The Thomas Merton Center . . . has been determined to be an organization which is opposed to the United States' war with Iraq."

A separate document said, ''One female leaflet distributor who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent inquired if (confidential source's name withheld) was an FBI agent. No other TMC participants appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent."

FBI officials in Pittsburgh said that the bureau was engaged in legitimate investigations and that in one case dropped the probe upon determining that someone photographed at one demonstration was not the person they were looking for. ''We had a legitimate purpose for being there," FBI special agent Bill Crowley said, referring to a November 2002 protest.

The ACLU said the spying fit a pattern of federal abuse following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. ''From the FBI to the Pentagon to the National Security Agency, this administration has embarked on an unprecedented campaign to spy on innocent Americans," Ann Beeson, associate legal director of the ACLU, said in a statement.

A November 2002 FBI memo said the Merton Center ''holds daily leaflet distribution activities in downtown Pittsburgh and is currently focused on its opposition to the potential war in Iraq." The war began in March 2003.

The memo called the Merton Center ''a left-wing organization advocating, among many political causes, pacifism."

The FBI acknowledged that the report sounded as if it were reporting on the activities of an antiwar group, but said ''such a characterization would be factually misleading."

The agent was pursuing leads ''from another source possibly establishing a link between an ongoing investigation and the group engaging in antiwar protests. Finding no such link, he terminated his surveillance," the FBI said in a statement.

Previously disclosed documents showed that the FBI was retaining files on antiwar groups, but the ACLU said the most recent documents were the first to show conclusively that the FBI targeted the Merton Center because of its pacifism.

''We know that this surveillance is about the political views of the Thomas Merton Center because that's what the documents say," said Mary Catherine Roper, a lawyer with the Pittsburgh ACLU.

And speaking of Censure...apparently John Conyer's (D-MI) old impeachment bill hasn't been killed yet. It's starting to pick up a little bit of support locally. Remember these gentlemen, as they are all up for re-election this fall.

WASHINGTON -- Three of the 10 US House members from Massachusetts have signed a resolution calling for an investigation and the possible impeachment of President Bush, placing them among a small minority within the Democratic Party who are supporting the long shot effort.

Representative Michael E. Capuano, a Somerville Democrat, last week joined Representative John F. Tierney, Democrat of Salem, and Representative John W. Olver, Democrat of Amherst, to cosponsor the resolution.

Capuano acknowledged that the bill has ''no chance" of succeeding as long as Republicans control Congress and a majority of Democrats -- including party leaders -- have serious reservations about the idea, fearing a backlash at the polls this fall. But Capuano said it's important to show that the president is not above reproach.

''If all my suspicions are held up, then, yeah, impeach him in a heartbeat," Capuano said. ''If we were lied to to go to war -- if that's an established fact -- that is an impeachable offense. I can't think of a higher crime or misdemeanor."

The resolution has been quietly gaining support since Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, filed it last year. Conyers's bill demands a special committee to probe the Bush administration's ''manipulation of prewar intelligence," ''retaliating against critics," and ''encouraging and countenancing" of torture. The committee would subsequently advise whether there are ''grounds for possible impeachment."

Still, only 29 of the House's 201 Democrats have signed on, along with Representative Bernard Sanders a Vermont independent. No one in the House's Democratic leadership has endorsed the resolution, and Bush's toughest critics within the Massachusetts delegation have pointedly avoided it.

The lack of significant support for the resolution reflects Democrats' worries about how to attack the president and avoid angering voters in a year where they have high hopes for electoral gains. Most Democrats want investigations of the administration's drive for war, but they stop short of using the word ''impeachment."

''The first thing that we need to do is to effect appropriate oversight so we know the facts, then decide what the facts lead us to do," said the House minority whip, Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland. ''This Congress has been a complicit, complacent, cover-up Congress."

In the Senate, the resolution by Senator Russell Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, to censure Bush -- a step short of impeachment that has no legal ramifications -- has not found a single cosponsor since it was introduced two days ago.

Lastly, in a story that has absolutely nothing to do with politics...Doctors are worried that today's teens are doing immeasurable harm to their hearing with their Ipods and other music devices. Remember back in the 80s when the Walkman first came out, they were worried about the same thing? Only this time, the nanny state has to get involved. You'll note in the story that my congressman has called for an investigation, and he's already got a co-sponsor!

WASHINGTON -- More research is needed to determine whether popular portable music players like Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod increase the risk of hearing loss, the National Institutes of Health said in response to a lawmaker's request for a review of the issue.

Earbud headphones, like the ones typically used with iPods, project sound directly into the ear canal, while traditional earmuff-style headphones allow the sound to diffuse, the NIH said in a Feb. 14 letter made available yesterday.

The proximity of the source of the sound to the ears can contribute to hearing loss, but ''more research is required to determine whether a particular type [of earphone] increases the risk," wrote James Battey, director of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, in the NIH letter.

Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, sent a letter on Jan. 26 asking NIH to review research to determine whether portable music players are contributing to premature hearing loss. He asked the NIH to recommend what people can do to prevent it from happening.

Markey said at a panel discussion yesterday that he plans to work with Representative Mike Ferguson, a New Jersey Republican, to encourage more research.

''Sales of the devices have shattered all expectations," Markey said. ''There is a very real need for research."

Ferguson said he is concerned about the potential risk because many users of portable music devices are children. ''Kids are often more familiar with these products than parents, but they don't realize how harmful these products can be to hearing," he said. ''It can lead to a lifelong ailment."

Apple, which dominates the market for the devices, sold 14 million iPods during the Christmas holiday quarter and said in January that it had sold 42 million devices since October 2001, when the iPod was introduced.

Sony Corp. and Thomson's RCA sell portable music players, and Cingular Wireless, the largest US wireless carrier, offers Apple's music software in a cellphone.

Research into the phenomenon began in the early 1980s, soon after the 1979 introduction of portable radio and cassette players with headphones.

Battey said research on the subject surged following the introduction of portable MP3 players, which have maximum sound-output levels comparable to the sound level of a jet engine.

So there you have it. It's hump day, and it's all downhill to the weekend from here! And turn down that radio!