Bloomberg: “Osama bin Laden’s former driver had his conviction by a military tribunal thrown out as a U.S. appeals court found he was wrongly charged for committing acts that weren’t crimes at the time. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington vacated the 2008 conviction of Salim Hamdan by the military tribunal at a U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 didn’t authorize retroactive prosecution of acts that hadn’t been classified as war crimes.”
CNN: “The United States believes that Iran is behind cyberattacks on American banks and the oil industry in the Middle East, officials said. Although officials have not made such an assertion publicly, they have characterized the attacks that occurred in recent months as initiated by a “state actor.” The U.S. intelligence apparatus observed and tracked the attacks as coming out of Iran, a third official said Monday. The official would not describe further what was observed but said the belief is the perpetrators were surrogates working with the Iranian government.”
ThinkProgress: “A candidate for State Senate in Kansas believes that Catholics, and Christians more broadly, who support Democrats cannot be true believers in Christ. Republican Steve Fitzgerald, challenging incumbent Catholic Democrat Kelly Kultala, told the left-leaning Polish American Club that the Democratic Party had become un-Christian.”
Mother Jones: “”[Anti-gay activists] focused their attention on programs designed to combat bullying in schools, which they see as a dangerous movement to bring impressionable youth into the gay lifestyle. As Bryan Fischer, the director of issues analysis at the American Family Association (AFA), one of the leading opponents of anti-bullying programs, has explained, ‘[H]omosexuals cannot reproduce, so they have to recruit; it’s the only way to swell their numbers.’”
Salon: Christopher Jenderseck has become the second person to testify against anti-government militia FEAR, pleading guilty to “violating the state’s gang act and to destroying evidence.” Ten members of the group have so far been charged in connection with the murder of a teenage couple in Georgia.
WFTV: “A 22-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to paramilitary training that allegedly involved the white supremacy group American Front at an Osceola County compound.”
Daily Beast: Following some controversial tweets that have led to accusations of anti-Semitism within the Free Gaza movement, “a group of more than 100 Palestinian activists signed a statement in opposition to any anti-Semitism among their ranks.” Acknowledging recent controversies, the activists issued a statement that read:
“The struggle for our inalienable rights is one opposed to all forms of racism and bigotry, including, but not limited to, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Zionism, and other forms of bigotry directed at anyone.”
