the following bombshell - kaboom - item

* Joe Darby (whistleblower, hero) of AbuG fame was on 60mins.

* larisa @ atlargely:

"What could possibly explain the following bombshell - kaboom - item on the late Princess Di being bugged by the US on the night of her death?
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I'm sorry, I still don't quite understand this. US intelligence was spying on a princess of another nation long dead, but to release the report would be "exceptionally grave damage to national security?" My, my, the UK is having a hard time of it lately. First they get a nuke assassination of a British citizen, allegedly sponsored by the Russians and then they find out that the Americans are bugging their pretty ladies. I am curious, why would anyone bug Diana for any other purpose outside of blackmail? I mean really, what could she be talking about? Her bulimia, her cheating husband, her boyfriend, what? What could possibly be a threat to national security? If anything, this is going to fuel the nuts who think Diana was assassinated by the Monarchy.

I think the report NEEDS to be released if anyone wants this conspiracy allegation to go away, no matter how embarrassing."

* larisa at Raw:

"Alexander Litvinenko, the ex-KGB/FBS officer who was recently murdered in London, was working for a British security firm at the time of his death, two well placed British sources who wish to remain unidentified tell RAW STORY.

One of the 12 to 24 polonium contamination sites in the Piccadilly area of London identified by British authorities was the office of the security and risk management company Erinys International Ltd.

Erinys has been a player in international relations since it was founded in 2002 by Sean Cleary, a South African Apartheid-era official with ties to Angolan right wing extremist Jonas Savimbi, and Jonathan Garratt, a former British Guards officer. Cleary left the firm in October 2003. Garratt, for his part, has strong ties to Ahmed Chalabi, the notorious source of Iraq pre-war WMD fabrications, and managed to land Erinys an $86 million dollar contract to guard Iraqi oil pipelines after US-led forces began war with Iraq.

Two separate British sources who, given the security risk, asked to not be identified in any specific way, have confirmed that Litvinenko was working on contract for Erinys. Given the focal point of the company, Litvinenko’s employment has proven to be an interesting development.
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European journalists, including British, Polish, and Russian writers with whom RAW STORY has been communicating, find it surprising that US interest in the Litvinenko case is so minimal. In addition, some of these journalists find what they call "conspiracy theories" of a "Putin is being framed" variety rather odd, given the "sordid activities" of the FSB under Putin.
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What most authorities in Britain and elsewhere have told RAW STORY is that Litvinenko's assassination involves an overlay of several possible criminal activities, making the waters quite muddy. What those activities are and who they involve is not elaborated on, nor are details provided.

When asked if this was a rogue group of agents within the FSB and/or SVR, the source scoffed at the idea. "The FSB is tightly controlled by the Kremlin. This nonsense about a rogue group of operatives is just that, nonsense," said the source."