29 July 2005
when good religion goes bad
Good Equals Conservative Today, it's hard to be considered a good Catholic unless you're a conservative who supports the Bush agenda down the line, being for the president's judicial nominees, as well as pro-life, pro-death penalty, pro-war and pro-tax cuts. How do tax cuts get into it? Easy. Families should spend their tax dollars as they see fit. It makes for better family values. Roberts is definitely a good Catholic. He belongs to the Church of the Little Flower, a conservative parish in suburban Maryland, has worked only for Republicans whose line he has toed, and has a wife who directed a pro-life group. So who are the bad Catholics? The easiest way to describe them is that they are liberal Democrats. To get an idea of the currency of that formula, consider Wolf Blitzer's introduction of two CNN political analysts for a segment on the new Pope: Blitzer welcomed the ``conservative Robert Novak, the liberal Paul Begala, both good Catholics -- I don't know if good Catholics -- but both Catholics. I am sure Bob is a good Catholic. I am not sure about Paul Begala.''
that's one way to do it
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says all foreign students at madrassas, or religious schools, some 1,400 pupils, must leave the country. "Any [foreigners] in the madrassas - even dual nationality holders - will leave Pakistan," Gen Musharraf said.[From the BBC: Madrassa foreigners 'must leave']
Maryland - where baseball hall of famers go to die
"Twelve baseball Hall of Famers are interred in Maryland. One graveyard in Baltimore holds four, most of any site in the nation" [from The Baltimore Sun]
are we safer now?
The Rising Tide of Suicide Bombings
"Suicide bombings have increased in recent years, both in frequency and in the number of countries in which they occur. Since the early 1980s, the phenomenon has spread from Lebanon and Israel to more than 25 other countries. Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, more suicide attacks have occurred in that country than in all other countries combined over the previous three decades. Since the Jan. 30 elections alone, at least 140 suicide attacks have occurred.
Military occupation of a homeland is one contributing factor in the creation of a suicide bomber -- as evidenced by the Palestinian bombers in Israel and the occupied territories, Chechen militants and Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Suicide bombers also operate outside their home countries. Most of the suicide bombers in Iraq come from other countries, and of those, the majority are from Saudi Arabia. "
28 July 2005
progress
Stunned by terror attacks in a Red Sea resort, Egyptians are in a remarkably frank debate about whether mosques and schools — and the government itself — should be blamed for promoting Islamic extremism. Even pro-government media say authorities have created a climate where young people are turning into radicals and suicide bombers.
yeow
A former city commissioner recently indicted on corruption charges fatally shot himself in the lobby of The Miami Herald building the same day another newspaper published lurid accusations against him. [more from CNN.com: Ex-commissioner kills self in newspaper lobby - Jul 28, 2005]
significant precedent set
for those of you who use wireless networks owned by someone else... from BBC.com: Wireless hijacking under scrutiny
"There are a lot of implications and this could open the floodgates to many more such cases," said Phil Cracknell, chief technology officer of security firm NetSurity. Details in this particular case are sketchy, although it is known that Gregory Straszkiewicz had "piggybacked" on a wireless broadband network of a local Ealing resident, using a laptop while sitting in his car. He had been seen in the area on several previous occasions over the past three months and is believed to have been reported to police by a neighbour concerned that he was acting suspiciously
when the death penalty is appropriate
jurors in the case of a gruesome multiple murder and near decapitation of 3 young children were shown video footage of the crime scene yesterday... the Baltimore Sun reports on their reaction.
'citizen journalists'
As the news world copes with the slow (but consistent) loss of readers to the new wave of blogs and "citizen journalist" websites, those who produce and distribute material at these outlets are dealing with the issue of appropriate editing. In this edition of Stop the Presses, Steve Outing discusses that issue, as well as legal implications and emerging precedents, and wraps it up with 8 recommendations for content managers.
27 July 2005
whoops!
"Harlow, the former CIA spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that he testified last year before a grand jury about conversations he had with Novak at least three days before the column was published. He said he warned Novak, in the strongest terms he was permitted to use without revealing classified information, that Wilson's wife had not authorized the mission and that if he did write about it, her name should not be revealed." ~ Harlow said that after Novak's call, he checked Plame's status and confirmed that she was an undercover operative. He said he called Novak back to repeat that the story Novak had related to him was wrong and that Plame's name should not be used. ~ People familiar with this part of the probe provided new details about the memo, including that it was then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage who requested it the day Wilson went public and asked that a copy be sent to then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to take with him on a trip to Africa the next day.
plame leak apologists should not read this
In defending White House political adviser Karl Rove, American conservatives have adopted an argument used by U.S. leftists three decades ago to rebut accusations that CounterSpy magazine's naming of CIA station chief Richard Welch in Greece contributed to his murder. [full article at: Consortiumnews.com]
21 July 2005
unreal
this is the sort of shit that makes me not mind if we f'ing invaded Iran. Lord I hope the young generation of Iranians find a way to topple this f'ing government, before we get a good reason to go do it for them.
The Intelligence Challenge: Can We Trust Our President?
via NO QUARTER, a repost of Larry Johnson's letter....which ends with this paragraph:
bad news for Karl Rove
on the front page of today's Washington Post... Plame's Identity Marked As Secret
20 July 2005
bad news for Pataki
High approval ratings considering, a Siena Research Institute poll shows him losing to Super-AG Eliot Spitzer in 2006 race for Governor.
11 former intelligence officers
addressed this letter to the leadership of both the House and the Senate regarding the vindictive leak of a CIA agent's name, and the subsequent efforts by Republicans to minimize the impact. Definitely read it. (thanks, as always, to Josh Marshall for his work). [update: CNN has this: Ex-officers: CIA leak may have harmed U.S. ]
do you swear to tell the truth...
put your right hand on this Koran... actually, you can't do that... has to be a Bible. CSM has more.
memo shows St. Dept.'s disagreement with Bush administration
19 July 2005
most blatantly obvious headline of the day
ouch: larry johnson rips bush administration
audio via Crooks and Liars here. For more on this, see johnson's post at TPM Cafe: The Big Lie About Valerie Plame
that about covers it
E&P breaks down Plame and charges Judith Miller w/ reporter malpractice... also, love the Texas Hold-em analogy.
God help us all
Heath Shuler, horrific 1st round draft pick (15 TDs, 33 INTs) and top notch crybaby, plans to run for Congress... ... as a Democrat. What the F^@K is happening to my Party?
18 July 2005
terrible story on Balt. Sun's Sunday front page
for Oriole fans, no, not the same Chuck Thompson... an awful story though: A grandpa's bond unbroken in death
16 July 2005
wapo: Miller's source was Libby
Criminal Contempt Could Lengthen Reporter's Jail Stay
15 July 2005
Homeland insecurity
“The principal cause of this violence,” he wrote in The Guardian, “is the violence being inflicted on the people of the Muslim world.” And the “real solution lies in immediately ending the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine”
10 July 2005
Newsweek offers up more on Rove and Plame
Well, David Corn was right. "It was 11:07 on a Friday morning, July 11, 2003, and Time magazine correspondent Matt Cooper was tapping out an e-mail to his bureau chief, Michael Duffy. 'Subject: Rove/P&C,' (for personal and confidential), Cooper began. " [link] Novak's story ran July 14, 2003.
judge in Plame case says crime was committed
[Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F.] Hogan said Miller was mistaken in her belief that she was defending a free press. He stressed that the government source she "alleges she is protecting" had already waived her promise of confidentiality. He said her source may have been providing information not to shed light on government secrets but to try to discredit an administration critic. "This is not a case of a whistle-blower" revealing secret information to Miller about "dangers at a nuclear power plant," Hogan said. "It's a case in which the information she was given and her potential use of it was a crime.... This is very different than a whistle-blower outing government misconduct." full WashingtonPost article here.
George Washington on congressional consent for judicial nominations
via Think Progress "Just as the President has a right to nominate without assigning reasons, so has the Senate a right to dissent without giving theirs."
on whistleblowers and your right to know
via Romenesko the Cleveland Plain Dealer holds back 2 (apparently) important stories that are based on leaked documents, fearing the possibility of a fate similar to Miller and Cooper.
As I write this, two stories of profound importance languish in our hands. The public would be well served to know them, but both are based on documents leaked to us by people who would face deep trouble for having leaked them. Publishing the stories would almost certainly lead to a leak investigation and the ultimate choice: talk or go to jail. Because talking isn't an option and jail is too high a price to pay, these two stories will go untold for now. How many more are out there?
fear
Counterterrorism expert Juval Aviv spoke with FOX Fan Central about what Americans can do to protect themselves in case of a terror attack.Meanwhile, CNN offers up this:Do you believe another terrorist attack is likely on American soil?
I predict, based primarily on information that is floating in Europe and the Middle East, that an event is imminent and around the corner here in the United States. It could happen as soon as tomorrow, or it could happen in the next few months. Ninety days at the most. [link]
some things you can't "unsee"
From Dr. Johnson's Cat... a fun blog to check out on occasion. This time I kinda wish I hadn't...
On Plame and Rove
David Corn jumps the gun on Newsweek's expose tomorrow apparently 'nailing' Rove as Miller's source. Though this much we already knew. As for new information... ? Per Corn, Newsweek's piece will make the claim that "Rove--prior to the publication of the Bob Novak column that first publicly disclosed Valerie Wilson/Plame as a CIA official--told Cooper that former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife apparently worked at the CIA and was involved in Joseph Wilson's now-controversial trip to Niger."
not a quagmire
Lt. Gen. John Vines, who oversees military operations in Iraq, says as long as ordinary Iraqis can be recruited for $150 to lay a roadside bomb, it does no good to count how many insurgents have been killed.
04 July 2005
Happy 4th of July
I'm backlogged like hell over here... been way too busy to blog for a few weeks. If you read nothing else today, then check out the annotated Declaration of Independence from Julia at Sisyphus Shrugged.