Should the U.S. rethink its military strategy?
WASHINGTON — For the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the United States is contemplating a Russia that has used military force against a neighbor and wondering what, if anything, it must do to counter it.

Army Official Who Revealed Deplorable Conditions At Veterans Treatment Facility Is Forced To Resign (Think Progress by Ryan)
On Monday, USA Today reported that barracks for wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan at the Army’s Fort Sill were infested with mold. In addition, soldiers living in the units said that “their complaints about mold and other problems” have been ignored for months and that they were told to keep quiet about the problems.

FEMA phones hacked; calls made to Mideast, Asia
A hacker broke into a Homeland Security Department telephone system over the weekend and racked up about $12,000 in calls to the Middle East and Asia.

Military halts shipment of deadly toxins
WASHINGTON – Military leaders have suspended some activities at biological research laboratories to review safety rules for some of the world’s deadliest germs and toxins, including how they are shipped through FedEx and other civilian carriers.

White House missing as many as 225 days of e-mail
WASHINGTON – The White House is missing as many as 225 days of e-mail dating back to 2003 and there is little if any likelihood a recovery effort will be completed by the time the Bush administration leaves office, according to an internal White House draft document obtained by The Associated Press.

Immigration agency scraps self-deportation program
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A pilot program allowing illegal immigrants to surrender to authorities and have more control over their deportation has been dubbed a failure.

Citizens’ U.S. Border Crossings Tracked
The federal government has been using its system of border checkpoints to greatly expand a database on travelers entering the country by collecting information on all U.S. citizens crossing by land, compiling data that will be stored for 15 years and may be used in criminal and intelligence investigations.

How RFID Tags Could Be Used to Track Unsuspecting People
If you live in a state bordering Canada or Mexico, you may soon be given an opportunity to carry a very high tech item: a remotely readable driver’s license. Designed to identify U.S. citizens as they approach the nation’s borders, the cards are being promoted by the Department of Homeland Security as a way to save time and simplify border crossings. But if you care about your safety and privacy as much as convenience, you might want to think twice before signing up… [A]nyone with a readily available reader device—unscrupulous marketers, government agents, stalkers, thieves and just plain snoops—can also access the data on the licenses to remotely track people without their knowledge or consent.
However, there’s this to consider: “Satellites track Mexico kidnap victims with chips”.

FDA approves radiation for use on spinach, iceberg lettuce
WASHINGTON — Federal food-safety regulators now will allow producers to irradiate spinach and iceberg lettuce to protect consumers from disease.
The New York Times quotes some experts who are critical of this decision.

FCC proposes ban on some wireless microphones
WASHINGTON – The Federal Communications Commission is proposing a ban on certain types of wireless microphones and has begun an investigation into how the industry markets its products.

Medicare hid fraud, report says
Medicare officials may have manipulated their 2006 audit to mislead Congress about the agency’s fight against fraud in the medical equipment industry, according to a damning inspector general report expected to be released early next week.

Insurance gap leads some elderly to forgo medicine
WASHINGTON – Many people in Medicare with diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions stop taking their medicine when faced with picking up the entire cost of their prescriptions, researchers say.

HHS: Doctors can refuse to provide abortions
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration on Thursday proposed stronger job protections for doctors and other health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions because of religious or moral objections.

Investigators find no wrongdoing in Giant Sequoia tree cutting
WASHINGTON — Federal investigators have concluded the Forest Service acted properly in felling hazardous trees in the Giant Sequoia National Monument, bringing to a quiet end a probe loudly sought by congressional Democrats.

Feds: Fire took down building next to twin towers
GAITHERSBURG, Md. – Federal investigators said Thursday they have solved a mystery of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks: the collapse of World Trade Center building 7, a source of long-running conspiracy theories.

House Committee Report Criticizes Bush’s Signing Statements (American Constitution Society)
A new report from the U.S. House Armed Services Committee blasted President George W. Bush’s use of presidential signing statements as infringing on congressional oversight of national defense policy… The committee’s report concluded that the president’s signing statements have too often failed to provide specific objections to legislation. “The functionality of a signing statement is greatly reduced if it is too vague to identify the concerns of the President and the interpretation of the law that the President is trying to convey to the executive branch,” the committee report stated. The report noted that presidential signing statements can be used to proper effect, but that “signing statements may be a mechanism to expand executive authority at the expense of the legislature.”
Not to mention that they’re UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

US Rep. Tubbs Jones of Ohio dies after hemorrhage
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio – Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and a strong critic of the Iraq war, died Wednesday after a brain hemorrhage, a hospital spokeswoman said.

CREW APPLAUDS FEC DECISION ON LIMITING USE OF SEN. VITTER’S CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR LEGAL FEES (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington)
CREW applauds the FEC’s decision [Thursday] to reject Sen. David Vitter’s (R-LA) request to use campaign funds to pay for legal fees he incurred in quashing a subpoena to testify in the trial of the so-called D.C. Madam, Deborah Jean Palfrey.

Appeals Court Sides With School’s Ban On Confederate Flag Clothing (American Constitution Society)
In a narrowly crafted opinion, a federal appeals court upheld a Tennessee public school’s ban on students wearing clothing with the Confederate flag. The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Barr v. Lafon concluded that school officials were justified in banning the divisive symbol. The appeals court said it found that the “school’s dress code as applied to ban the Confederate flag is constitutional because of the disruptive potential of the flag in a school where racial tension is high and serious racially motivated incidents, such as physical altercations or threats of violence, have occurred.”

Economy & Finance

Bernanke: Financial crisis taking toll on economy
JACKSON, Wyo. – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday the financial crisis that has pounded the country — coupled with higher inflation — is taking a toll on the economy and poses a major challenge to Fed policymakers as they try to restore stability.

Lehman prospects, Buffett, Bernanke lift Wall St
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Friday on hopes that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc , the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, will attract a major investor, fueling gains in the battered financial sector.

Leading economic indicators fell sharply in July
NEW YORK – A private business group’s measure of the economy’s health showed the largest drop in one year as stocks fell, new building permits declined and unemployment rose.

Cost of home heat to spike; utilities warn consumers to caulk, insulate now
Your wallet is about to take another hit.

A Few Speculators Dominate Vast Market for Oil Trading
Regulators had long classified a private Swiss energy conglomerate called Vitol as a trader that primarily helped industrial firms that needed oil to run their businesses. But when the Commodity Futures Trading Commission examined Vitol’s books last month, it found that the firm was in fact more of a speculator, holding oil contracts as a profit-making investment rather than a means of lining up the actual delivery of fuel… The discovery revealed how an individual financial player had gained enormous sway over the oil market without the knowledge of regulators. Other CFTC data showed that a significant amount of trading activity was concentrated in the hands of just a few speculators.

Fannie and Freddie shares hit 18-year low
Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dove to their lowest levels in more than 18 years on mounting fears of a government bailout that would wipe out shareholders of the two U.S. housing finance giants.

2 noted economists outline ways to avoid another housing crisis
WASHINGTON — Timed for this month’s one-year anniversary of the housing-spawned crisis in financial markets, two new books from respected economists are offering provocative solutions to prevent similar meltdowns.