Secrecy

Rendition Lawsuit Against Boeing Subsidiary Grows

by Bob Burton — August 14, 2007 - 4:06am

A lawsuit against airservices company Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., has been re-filed to include two more victims of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's extraordinary rendition program. In December 2002, Bisher al-Rawi was kidnapped from Gambia and flown to a secret U.S. prison in Afghanistan and then the Bagram airbase.

Main Source: 
Chicago Tribune, August 2, 2007

A Little Ray of Sunshine

by Bob Burton — August 13, 2007 - 3:38am

Rick Snell, the editor of the Freedom of Information Review and lecturer in law at the University of Tasmania, has welcomed reforms proposed by the Victorian government for its freedom of information (FOI) laws.

Main Source: 
The Australian, August 11, 2007

PR Firms Booming

by Bob Burton — July 30, 2007 - 2:42am

Based on the survey results of 300 public relations firms around the world, The Holmes Report estimates that the industry is "generating at least $7 billion in fee income annually, employing in excess of 50,000 people, and growing by at least 8.5 percent a year." The newsletter notes that 1,500 firms did not respond to the survey, which makes their estimate a "best guess." "The way in which most large communications holding companies have chosen to interpret Sarbanes-Oxley regulations makes it almost impo

Main Source: 
The Holmes Report (not online), July 23, 2007

Blocking the Sunshine

by Sheldon Rampton — July 23, 2007 - 11:01pm

A recent study by the National Security Archive of George Washington University finds that U.S. government agencies are stalling on public requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act. Five U.S. agencies — the State Department, the C.I.A., the criminal division of the Justice Department, the Air Force and the F.B.I.

Main Source: 
National Security Archive

Future Freedom

by Bob Burton — July 9, 2007 - 6:06pm

An Australian government agency has refused to release the results of market research on controversial labor de-regulation laws until after the next federal election.

Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, July 3, 2007

How to Cool Down Global Warming

by Diane Farsetta — July 3, 2007 - 10:29am

Drawing on documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Rolling Stone details the Bush administration's "ongoing strategy to block federal action on global warming." In 2002, the administration's Climate Action Report was reported on as a "stark shift" in U.S. policy.

Main Source: 
Rolling Stone, June 20, 2007

No Slammer for Scooter

by Sheldon Rampton — July 2, 2007 - 11:05pm

Following the news that President Bush has commuted the 2 1/2-year prison sentence of I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Brad DeLong is highlighting a column written two weeks ago by Jeff Lomonaco, which predicted this outcome.

Main Source: 
Brad DeLong's Semi-daily Journal, July 3, 2007

Disclosure May Derail Doctors' Gravy Train

by Bob Burton — June 28, 2007 - 3:54am

Medicines Australia, the drug industry's peak lobby group, has lost a legal bid to protect member companies from being required to disclose details of hospitality they provide at "educational" events for doctors.

Main Source: 
The Age (Melbourne), June 28, 2007

The "Family Jewels" Show: The More Things Change...

by Diane Farsetta — June 22, 2007 - 3:40pm

On June 25, the Central Intelligence Agency will declassify its "full 693-page file amassed on CIA's illegal activities by order of then-CIA director James Schlesinger in 1973 -- the so-called 'family jewels.'" The non-governmental research institute National Security Archive "separately obtained ...

Main Source: 
National Security Archive, June 21, 2007
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