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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories August 15, 2008 Steve Niva David Remington Michael Winship Paul Craig Roberts August 14, 2008 Saul Landau / Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Reza Fiyouzat Ralph Nader Christopher Brauchli The Cheerleader in China Jack Bradigan Spula Patrick Irelan John Walsh Dan Bacher Website of the Day
August 13, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts David Remington Brian Cloughley Glen Ford Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Tom Lewis Stan Cox Alan Farago Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day August 12, 2008 Uri Avnery Anthony DiMaggio Bill Christison Eric Walberg Kate Connolly Diane Farsetta Peter Morici Thom Rutledge Lee Patton Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day August 11, 2008 Ishmael Reed Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Douglas Kammen William Willers Greg Moses Jeff Leys Cynthia McKinney Alan Farago Website of the Day August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts Kathy Kelly John Ross David Michael Green Bill Moyers / Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Lee Sustar Brenda Norrell Ben Terrall Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
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August 15, 2008 What If?Sharpening Occam's Razor on the Forged Intelligence DocumentsBy DAVID REMINGTON Playing the “what if” speculation game makes for great sport when applied to the machinations of politics. Unfortunately, when carried too far it can sometimes draw one down the rabbit hole of rambling conspiracy theories where ostensibly innocuous statements become secret magical code words and neighborhood organizations become evil clandestine societies. Before you know it, you are mumbling to yourself and scribbling disjointed notes on dirty scraps of paper about how Freemasons are in league with aliens planting inter-galactic super viruses in puppies in order to infect our children. It this point, the principle of Occam’s Razor becomes a useful tool. Succinctly stated, this principle (generally attributed to 14th century logician, William of Ockham), states that other things being equal, it is usually best to stick to explanations of phenomena or events that are simple and avoid postulating unnecessary entities or actors. Perhaps it is the late Medieval equivalent of the modern adage, KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid). One weakness of Occam’s Razor, however, is sometimes it is difficult, especially when dealing with the convoluted twists of political intrigue, to decide exactly what is the simplest explanation? With this in mind, I returned to a topic I recently discussed in Forgery, Fakery, and Fatigue (Scandal, that is) relating to Ron Suskand’s assertion that top White House officials directed the C.I.A. in December 2003 to concoct a forged letter to create a “link” between Saddam and the September 11th attacks. If Suskind is correct, the White House quite possibly violated a federal statute, 50 U.S.C. § 413b(f) which reads, “No covert action may be conducted which is intended to influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies, or media.” My first thought was, assuming that Ron Suskind’s reporting is accurate, that the White House, with its disdain for pesky little concepts like Separation of Powers and Congressional Oversight, simply ignored the statute entirely and went directly with their hare-brained scam to the C.I.A. This explanation raises a second issue relating to federal law. Title 50 U.S.C. § 413(b), subsections b and c provide:
This statute explicitly requires that the President submit information regarding covert intelligence activities to Congress for oversight and review. If the President did an “end run” around Congress, then he violated those provisions of the statute, not only subsection “f” relating to covert actions intended to influence the U.S. media or public opinion. If the basic story went down as Suskind details, I suspect many people assumed automatically as I did, that the President choose to totally ignore the statute. But what if…what if the President did follow the guidelines of the statute and consulted with Congress as required, and Congress did nothing? Hence my opening discussion of Occam’s Razor. This, as they say, could explain some things. The standard account is that while Congress was quietly complicit in the Administration’s fabrications and propaganda regarding the invasion and destruction of Iraq, it did not “actively” participate in it (think about the dubious excuses of many congressional leaders, especially Democrats, cycling out the line that they were “deceived” by the White House – while no serious thinking person buys that rubbish, it has been a standard). But what hypothesis more clearly and simply explains the intractable unwillingness of Congress to pursue the band of criminals currently occupying the White House and take them to task for their multitude of clear and well-documented legal transgressions? Election year political expediency? The excuse, “Investigations and hearings will only distract from what we want to accomplish”? Or just perhaps, the cleanest, simplest hypothesis is this: pure, straight forward knowledge and complicity. In terms of Occam’s Razor this theory arguably explains more with less. No contorted intellectual gymnastics. Keep it Simple Stupid. In the meantime, I’m not putting away my tinfoil hat just yet… David W. Remington, J.D., a former law professor, works as legal counsel in private industry in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. He can be reached at: drem1960@yahoo.com
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