Gates jonesing for India 10bn arms deal

From Reuters:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates travels to India next week to strengthen diplomatic ties strained by an impasse over a landmark nuclear deal and push American bids for a lucrative $10 billion fighter contract.

After decades of a pro-Soviet tilt, India has moved closer to Washington in recent years, with new arms sales and joint military exercises. Millions of Indians also are turning to the United States for education, jobs and consumer goods.

Gates' visit comes as U.S. companies Lockheed Martin and Boeing Co. are competing with Russian and European rivals for one of India's biggest ever arms contracts, a potential $10 billion deal to sell India 126 fighter aircraft.

Burgeoning arms deals may also help pacify Washington, frustrated at India's apparent climbdown over a nuclear deal with the United States that President George W. Bush had called "historic"...

US military has new rape case to deal with in Japan

The US military said Thursday it was investigating new allegations of rape by a US serviceman in Japan amid uproar after a string of criminal cases.

The case was revealed one day after the US military imposed a sweeping curfew on troops and their family members in a bid to stem public anger in Japan, a close US ally.

A Filipina woman said she was raped by a member of the US Army on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, which is home to half of the more than 40,000 US troops in the country, officials said...

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Justices Shield Medical Devices From Lawsuits

Makers of medical devices like implantable defibrillators or breast implants are immune from liability for personal injuries as long as the Food and Drug Administration approved the device before it was marketed and it meets the agency's specifications, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

The 8-to-1 decision was a victory for the Bush administration, which for years has sought broad authority to pre-empt tougher state regulation...

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Judge pulls plug on Wikileaks

Cayman Islands Bank Gets Wikileaks Taken Offline in US

Wikileaks, the whistleblower site that recently leaked documents related to prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, was taken offline last week by its U.S. host after posting documents that implicate a Cayman Islands bank in money laundering and tax evasion activities.

In a pretty extraordinary ex-parte move, the Julius Baer Bank and Trust got Dynadot, the U.S. hosting company for Wikileaks, to agree not only to take down the Wikileaks site but also to "lock the wikileaks.org domain name to prevent transfer of the domain name to a different domain registrar." A judge in the U.S. District Court for Northern California signed off on the stipulation between the two parties last week without giving Wikileaks a chance to address the issue in court.

The Julius Baer Bank, a Swiss bank with a division in the Cayman Islands, took issue with documents that were published on Wikileaks by an unidentified whistleblower, whom the bank claims is the former vice president of its Cayman Islands operation, Rudolf Elmer. The documents purport to provide evidence that the Cayman Islands bank helps customers hide assets and wash funds...

Wikileaks Under Attack
California Court Wipes Wikileaks.org Out of Existence

One of the most important web sites in recent months has been Wikileaks.org. Created by several brave journalists committed to transparency, Wikieaks has published important leaked documents, such as the Rules of Engagement for Iraq [see my The Secret Rules of Engagement in Iraq], the 2003 and 2004 Guantanamo Camp Delta Standard Operating Procedures, and evidence of major bank fraud in Kenya [see also here] that apparently affected the Kenyan elections. Wikileaks has upset the Chinese government enough that they are attempting to censor it, as is the Thai military junta.

Now censorship has extended to the United States of America, land of the First Amendment. As of Friday, February 15, those going to Wikileaks.org have gotten Server not found messages. Today I received a message explaining that a California court has granted an injunction written and requested by lawyers for the Cayman Island's Bank Julius Baer. It seems that the bank is trying to keep the public from accessing documents that may reveal shady dealings. Wikileaks was only given a couple of hours notice "by email" and was not even represented at the hearing where a U.S. judge took such a drastic step attempting to totally shut down an important information outlet...

United Spinal Association gets sponsor with Car Culture Island in Second Life

Press release for a good cause:

Pontiac's Motorati Island is getting a second life by making a very generous donation of the the successful 7-region car culture island in Second Life to United Spinal Association, a U.S. based national 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in Jackson Heights, New York. The newly named Motorabilty Island aims to continue catering to the car culture community in Second Life with a twist, by providing an opportunity to empower the 10,000 United Spinal Association members to join Second Life and experience car culture events and activities in this very popular virtual world.

New and experienced Second Life residents will enjoy car culture related virtual events, activities, community building, educational seminars and pure racing fun on the many original venues and race tracks re-opening in early February. Event proceeds, sales of goods and services from commercial enterprise and sponsorships will contribute to raise awareness and provide funding to support United Spinal Association programs in the virtual and real world. Visit Second Life here.

Major sponsor and coordinating efforts by the car culture community on United Spinal's Motorability Island is Jody DeVere (aka Avatar Patty Streeter in Second Life), President of AskPatty.com -- Automotive Advice for Women and a member of the board of directors for United Spinal Association. DeVere's son Joseph was involved in a tragic car accident in 2005 which resulted in paraplegia. This event created a big passion in her to help provide non-traditional recreational and quality of life programs for disabled Americans...

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