January 3, 2013

Source: Geithner to Leave by Month's End

Source: Politico

Source: Geithner to leave by month's end

By Kate Davidson and Ben White - 1/3/13 @ 2:45 PM ET

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner plans to leave the administration by the end of the month — and he really means it this time.

Geithner intends to leave his post at the end of January, whether or not a deal is in place to raise the debt ceiling, according a source close to the Treasury secretary.

Geithner previously pushed back his departure plans to work on the resolution to the fiscal cliff at the request of President Barack Obama.

The source said Geithner will return to New York City and that he had long planned to leave Washington after the fiscal cliff fight was over.

Read more: http://m.politico.com/iphone/story/0113/85731.html

January 2, 2013

ACLU Condemns Court for Keeping Details of Obama’s Assassination Program Secret

Source: Raw Story

ACLU condemns court for keeping details of Obama’s assassination program secret

By Stephen C. Webster
Wednesday, January 2, 2013 15:58 EST

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Wednesday that it was saddened by a New York’s judge’s decision to keep secret most details pertaining to an Obama administration program that has so far assassinated three American citizens, including one who was not accused of being involved with terrorism.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the ACLU, seeking to determine the administration’s legal justification for killing American citizens without charge or trial, was shot down Wednesday (PDF) by the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. The court ruled in favor of the administration’s motion for summary judgement on the basis that deliberations over the program were privileged communications, and the ACLU failed to show why they should be exposed to the public.

The three Americans killed by the military’s anti-terrorist strikes are Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, and Al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son Abdulrahman.

“This ruling denies the public access to crucial information about the government’s extrajudicial killing of U.S. citizens and also effectively green-lights its practice of making selective and self-serving disclosures,” ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer said in an advisory.

“As the judge acknowledges, the targeted killing program raises profound questions about the appropriate limits on government power in our constitutional democracy,” Jaffer added. “The public has a right to know more about the circumstances in which the government believes it can lawfully kill people, including U.S. citizens, who are far from any battlefield and have never been charged with a crime.”


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/02/aclu-condemns-court-for-keeping-details-of-obamas-assassination-program-secret

January 2, 2013

NY Times Loses Bid to Uncover Details on Drone Strikes

Source: Reuters

NY Times loses bid to uncover details on drone strikes

NEW YORK | Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:39pm EST

By Jonathan Stempel and Jennifer Saba

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday rejected The New York Times' bid to force the U.S. government to disclose more information about its targeted killing of people, including American citizens, who it believes have ties to terrorism.

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan said the Obama administration did not violate the law by refusing the Times' request for the legal justifications for targeted killings, a strategy the Times said was first contemplated by the Bush administration soon after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

McMahon appeared reluctant to rule as she did, noting in her decision that disclosure could help the public understand the "vast and seemingly ever-growing exercise in which we have been engaged for well over a decade, at great cost in lives, treasure, and (at least in the minds of some) personal liberty."

Nonetheless, she said the government was not obligated to turn over materials the Times had sought under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), even though it had such materials in its possession. "The Alice-in-Wonderland nature of this pronouncement is not lost on me," McMahon said in her 68-page decision.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE9010OV20130102

January 2, 2013

Al Jazeera Said to Be Acquiring Current TV

Source: New York Times

January 2, 2013, 4:42 pm

Al Jazeera Said to Be Acquiring Current TV

By BRIAN STELTER

Al Jazeera is finalizing a deal to take over Current TV, the low-rated cable channel that was founded by Al Gore and his business partners seven years ago.

If the deal is completed, Current will provide the pan-Arab news giant with something it has sought for years: a pathway into American living rooms. Current is available in about 60 million of the 100 million homes in the United States with cable or satellite service.

Rather than simply use Current to distribute its existing English-language channel, called Al Jazeera English and based in Doha, Qatar, Al Jazeera will create a new channel based in New York, according to people with knowledge of the deal negotiations. Potentially called Al Jazeera America, roughly 60 percent of the programming will be produced in the United States while the remaining 40 percent will come from Al Jazeera English.

Al Jazeera may absorb some Current TV staff members, according to the people, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. But Current’s schedule of shows will most likely be dissolved in the spring.

Read more: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/al-jazeera-said-to-be-acquiring-current-tv

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@brianstelter: If deal closes (and I think it will today), Current TV will remain on the air for about 3 months. Then Al Jazeera comes on.