Curious News Items: 5 Stories You May Have Missed

Permanent Able Danger silence (Super Cover UP)?
From the AP Today: Pentagon Nixes Hearing Testimony :
The Department of Defense has prohibited military intelligence officers from testifying about the secret military unit that had identified 9/11 hijackers a year prior to Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, according to the officer's attorney.

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Spector, must be feeling collegial, again. Another attempted concession to Democrat Lawyers? Frist, Bush don't buy dumb idea.

Wow! Hat Tip to Lone Ranger, who asks:
"Another first for the Republicans. Where were the Democrats?"
This Day in Republican History 09/21/05
September 21, 1872 Nominated by African-American U.S. Rep. Robert B. Elliott (R-SC), South Carolina’s James Conyers becomes first African-American midshipman at U.S. Naval Academy

The KGB considered releasing radioactive material in Tokyo Bay in the late 1960s, to be blamed on American submarines and damaging U.S.-Japanese relations, according to a new book co-authored by a former KGB archivist. Salute to The Sub Report for finding this one.

Saddam lawyer, Abdel Haq ("Ad Hoc") Alani, tells the Associated Press that defense lawyers "must be served notice stating a trial date, and that hasn't happened." Saddam and seven members of his toppled regime are due to stand trial Oct. 19th. They are charged with ordering the massacre of 143 people in Dujail, in 1982. If convicted, Saddam could face the noose. .