Patriot Act extension fails

While U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said he supports the Patriot Act, he said on Wednesday there is a “very delicate balance between pursuing sufficiently national security and personal security and too much government.” The House on Tuesday voted down an extension of surveillance provisions to the Patriot Act, 277-148. The measure has been backed by most Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., but was seven votes short of passing by a two-thirds majority. Twenty-six Republicans voted against the bill.
The legislation would have extended provisions set to expire on Feb. 8, including roving wiretaps, access to FBI records and surveillance of “lone wolf” terror suspects. The Patriot Act is post-9/11 legislation passed by Congress because of concerns about terrorist attacks on the United States. Nelson said it is important to continue to have the safeguards provided by the Patriot Act, but the sticking point has always been how far the Patriot Act should intrude into people’s privacy.

“There are different flash points for different people on what is intrusive and what isn’t,” he said.

For example, Nelson said the government’s decision to have body-scan imaging machines at U.S. airports or in federal buildings may not trouble some people, but many people have expressed outrage about that procedure, especially when learning that some of those images have been illegally distributed.

Source : Theindependent.

Jude Law And Sienna Miller Are Back On The Market

Sienna Miller - Actress Sienna Miller who resumed dating ex-fiance Jude Law after nearly four years apart, is officially single again. Jude Law's rep confirmed the news saying, "I can confirm that Jude Law and Sienna Miller are no longer in a relationship". Sienna and Jude began dating in 2003 and were engaged in 2004, the engagement however came to an abrupt end when news broke that Jude was shagging his children's nanny. Jude later confessed.

The couple reunited in 2009 and even lived together in London, according to AP.

New smuggling ploy – catapults

Two alleged narcotics traffickers aligned with a right-wing paramilitary terrorist organization in Colombia have been convicted of conspiring to import multi-ton quantities of cocaine into the United States.

Christian Fernando Borda and Alvaro Alvaran-Velez were extradited from Colombia a year ago and were convicted by a federal jury Thursday.

The Justice Department said Borda led an organization that obtained cocaine from paramilitary groups and smuggled in more than 1,500 tons in drums of palm oil from Colombia in 2005, with additional shipments in 2005 and 2006. The department said Alvaran-Velez, an associate of Borda, facilitated cocaine shipments.

They were allied with Autodefenses Unidas de Colombia, an umbrella group for far-right paramilitary groups that has been designated by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/09/colombians-convicted-cocaine-smuggling-plot/#ixzz1CQSRV2p5