"Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says his government could request the extradition of the Rev. Pat Robertson for suggesting that American agents should kill him. Speaking to delegations at a meeting of the Organization of American States in Caracas, Chavez said Venezuela will take 'legal action in the United States' against Robertson and 'could even request his extradition'."
29 August 2005
should Chavez request Robertson's extradition?
Take him! We don't need him anyway
Greta's sister officially enters Md Senate race
good luck
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - Another candidate is about to enter the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Paul Sarbanes. Psychiatrist Lise Van Susteren, the sister of Fox News personality Greta Van Susteren, is expected to announce her candidacy this week."
He Said It: life, liberty and the pursuit of lapdances
"'The state may not limit persons of majority age from engaging in lawful expressive conduct protected by the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution without a substantial and direct connection to adverse secondary effects, a showing that has not been made"
growing pains
The Iraqi Constitution divide has progressed from predictibly bad to preventably worse.
Wes Clark Week kicks off at TPMCafe
Changing course in Iraq requires leadership
Much can be done to succeed in Iraq with the power of American leadership. But at some point, if the Administration remains on its simple "stay the course" and "show resolve" vector, our position may become untenable. We're not there yet and no timeline can predict or prevent it. But one thing is absolutely clear: we need action from the President, right now, while we still have the opportunity to bring peace and lasting stability to the Iraqi people. Only the man in charge, the Commander in Chief, can make it happen, though, and it is up to all of us to make our options heard and clearly articulate our ideas.
Katrina donations begin
- Office Depot (my favorite office supply store) which has already pledged $1 million to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
- Anheiser-Busch is shipping 300,000 cans of water.
[via TalkLeft]
"the impacts are going to be devastating"
says National Hurricane Center forecaster Richard Knapp.
TalkLeft: Devastation from Katrina Will Be Catastrophic CNN.com: Katrina may be 'our Asian tsunami' WBAL: Experts: Direct Hit Could Produce Nightmare Scenario ABC News: Katrina Targeting U.S. Oil OperationsThis one's no joke. Good luck New Orleans.
"A" for effort
On Saturday, RAND released the results of a long-awaited study of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and proposed several recommendations for a successful Palestinian State. One could only hope our we plan to implement any of these.
The proposals — including a landmark rail, highway and infrastructure link between the West Bank and Gaza that would open the door to dramatic new development in Palestine — would give Palestinians new access to jobs, food, water, education, health care, housing and public services.
Many of the actions proposed by RAND can get underway now to begin improving the lives of Palestinians and begin laying the groundwork to sustain long-term development in a future state.
A report produced under the oversight of RAND Health titled “Building a Successful Palestinian State” describes many of the proposals. A companion volume by the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy titled “The Arc: A Formal Structure for a Palestinian State” proposes a new corridor from the northern West Bank to Gaza that would help achieve the goals of the first report, enabling Palestinians to build a more prosperous future and cope with rapid population growth.
~
“We hope RAND's two years of rigorous and objective problem-solving research will point the way to a better future for the people of the region,” said RAND Executive Vice President Michael Rich.
in other news...
not Katrina related...
The Washington Post reports that Halliburton whistleblower Bunnatine Greenhouse lost her job
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The Boston Globe clobbers Karl Rove: Rove's role
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According to Reporters Without Borders, 56 journalists have been killed in Iraq, just 7 fewer than 20 years worth of fighting in Vietnam. CNN has more.
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Access transcripts of the Congressional Record here. (thanks to the law librarian blog)
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Take a trip in the Wayback Machine
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Mikulski and Sarbanes want to know why the BRAC is taking C-130s from the Maryland Air National Guard, citing homeland security impacts and need for airlift support capabilities for the National Capital Region. Several Governors are none too pleased as well.
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Click here to put the President's original $87,000,000,000.00 into perspective.
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DHS tries again for approval of their labor plan
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With all the Katrina/disaster/FEMA talk, what's Joe Allbaugh been up to?
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From the Baltimore Sun: Passengers take control of bus after driver loses consciousness
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Federal agents raid Potomac, Md home of Nigerian Vice President
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Ever wonder what's in George Bush's inbox?
28 August 2005
He Said It - 18th century wisdom edition
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty" - John Adams
26 August 2005
newsflash: Grover Norquist is a bad man
Who Will Craddock Serve? August 25, 2005 To the Editor: Last week Mr. Jenkins criticized my concern that Chris Craddock was being supported with contributions from the cigarette and alcohol industries. I am sorry that Mr. Craddock did not see fit to respond. I had specifically asked how he could accept such contributions, and the endorsement of Grover Norquist, who is in the pockets of these industries and the gambling industry as well, while he counsels students to be on the “straight and narrow.” The issue, Mr. Jenkins, is not that these contributors sell legal goods, but whose interests Craddock will side with when it’s time to vote on a budget bill. And when it comes to cutting taxes, I want families' taxes cut first, not corporations selling whiskey and cigarettes. Norquist is not such a good person to have as a political mentor and string puller. Norquist has been urging legislators in Texas and Kansas, two states under court order because they’ve been not providing enough financing for public education, not to cave. I’ve read in several newspaper articles that those states, long opposed to casino gambling, are now considering it. What a nice deal for Mr. Norquist – you get to add to your anti-tax reputation at the expense of public education, and help your casino friends at the same time! And while Mr. Craddock may have good intentions, Mr. Norquist has been quoted numerous times that he sets out to ruin the careers of those who don’t follow his wishes. I believe Mr. Craddock has made a Faustian bargain. The Weekly Standard is a very conservative publication. Its current (June 27, 2005) opinion of Mr. Norquist? “Those connected to Abramoff—[list omitted] antitax activist Grover Norquist, and others--have become symbols as well: symbols of how onetime anti-Washington political insurgents traded in their idealism for gobs of corporate cash.” And Grover Norquist certainly doesn’t care about whether public education suffers as a result of inadequate funding. When asked last month about the teaching of evolution in public schools, he said, "The real problem here is that you shouldn't have government-run schools." I don’t want Grover Norquist 's finger in our district, and I don't trust Chris Craddock. Even though I am a Republican, I am supporting Chuck Caputo’s campaign. Laura Miller Chantillyouch
Wes Clark live, 2pm today
will be taking reader's questions on the President's current policy in Iraq. Here's the link: General Wesley Clark on Iraq Strategy. Submit questions you'd like Clark to discuss here.
new study: Brits tend to kill themselves on Mondays
"Monday is the most common day for committing suicide, according to new research on deaths from suicide and drug-related poisoning by day of the week in England and Wales between 1993 – 2002, published today* by the Office for National Statistics. However the single day on which the largest number of suicides occurred was 1 January 2000, a Saturday. Both these findings suggest that suicide is related to the effect of beginning a new time period. The study also found that, among males, accidental drug-related poisoning deaths and those due to drug abuse and dependence increased over the week and peaked on Saturday." [from: ResourceShelf's DocuTicker]
25 August 2005
memo to TIME Magazine
close up shop and go home, you are not suited to inform the American public on matters of any importance. You blew it. This one's worse than the Newsweek scandal.
The article details conversations involving Karl Rove, "Scooter" Libby, Matt Cooper and Robert Novak. But near its conclusion it raises an emerging issue, promoted by Michael Wolff of Vanity Fair, among others: If Time magazine had gone public about Rove's conversations with Cooper, it might have had some impact on the Bush-Kerry race for the White House last year. Not until this summer did Cooper ask Rove for a waiver to talk to the grand jury, and ultimately the public, about their conversation. The L.A. Times article today notes that he did not do this before “because his lawyer advised against it.” But the reporters add that in addition, “Time editors were concerned about becoming part of such an explosive story in an election year.” The story concludes: "The result was that Cooper's testimony was delayed nearly a year, well after Bush's reelection."
iraq still not a quagmire
Sunnis won't agree, Shiites vs Shiites, "killing squads" roam the night in Baghdad, mass graves with a couple dozen dead Iraqis are found every week or so, US servicemen killed or wounded at an alarmingly predictible pace, we can't identify who our enemy is versus who we've liberated, and now... Iraqi Leaders Again Put Off Meeting on New Constitution.
How the fuck is this not a quagmire?
Super AG Eliot Spitzer would crush Weld
so says the latest Rasmussen Report.
August 25, 2005--New York's Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has a huge lead over two potential Republican challengers in the race to become Governor of the Empire State. Spitzer leads William Weld 55% to 20%. Weld, a former Governor of Massachusetts, moved back to New York five years ago and recently announced his intention to enter the race.
1st hand account of yesterday's bombings in Baghdad
[from Defense Tech]
I just strolled back in to the safety net of my surroundings and have been dragged through chaos the past couple of hours. My brain is still spinning and I am not sure where to even start.
We received a request to conduct a post-blast investigation of a VBIED (Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device) that detonated near the base camp. The initial report indicated that the target was an Iraqi Police (IP) car. We responded to the incident site and found the smoldering remains of a couple of vehicles in the middle of the road. It appeared at first glance that the only fatalities resulted from the suicide bomber in the car and perhaps the occupants of the IP car. As we walked from our vehicles to the incident site, we heard another car bomb detonating near an IP station approximately 2 kilometers away.
We soon received a request to respond. We quickly finished up with the first incident site, but not before we found additional casualties - persons in the near vicinity. While we prepared for movement to the second site, we heard on the radio that the second site was now getting hit - people were driving past the IP station, and firing RPG's [rocket propelled grenades] at IP's in their vehicles. We conducted movement to the IP station and when we arrived, the scene was full of chaos.
IP's were frantically running down the streets helping injured persons. IP vehicles were speeding up and down the streets looking for the culprits. Vehicles were burning. Gun fire erupted in the background and we just pulled our vehicles into a formation to provide a good tactical posture and prepared to unleash a heavy volley of steel. After everything settled down, we continued to do our work. We found an IED nearby that was meant to add to the attack.
I don't usually write home and talk about the details of specific incidents because I feel compelled to keep the chaos out of the homes of family and friends. But today felt different. I don't know why I had the need or desire to talk about today's events -- other than the fact that perhaps it was time to vent some fumes. All of my soldiers deal with the reality of what we face everyday in different ways. Some have made pacts to not write home and possibly worry family. Perhaps I am wrong in doing so, but I thought I would provide some insight to what you might not see on the news tonight. You will not be able to smell the burnt remains of the suicide bombers or the IP's. You probably won't see the charred remains of persons in the vehicles. And you won't be able to see the full effects of a carefully placed VBIED with a follow-up attack with RPG's and small arms fire.
While writing, I decided to comb through my pictures and add one. But I'll adhere to my promise to not send anything too graphic. Perhaps, if you catch the news, you might just see that suicide bombers once again rocked Baghdad.
larry johnson on the current situation in Iraq
Staying the course and enduring further casualties while the insurgency grows stronger is an insane policy. If we persist on that front we will end up strengthening the hand of Islamic extremists and their role within the Iraqi insurgency. Our choice is simple--either we invest in the military resources and personnel required to defeat the Sunni insurgents and allow the Shia and Kurds to consolidate power or we withdraw and let the Shia, Sunni, and Kurds find their own solution. We cannot ask our soldiers and Marines to give their lives and sacrifice their bodies for a new Islamic state.
so true
Steven Vincent's last post on his Red Zone blog was not entirely in keeping with the optimistic Bushite party line. He tells of the cluelessness of an American contract officer about Basran corruption, and adds:
I felt I was living in a Graham Greene novel, this about about a U.S. soldier--call it The Naive American--who finds what works so well in Power Point presentations has unpredictable results when applied to realities of Iraq. Or is that the story of our whole attempt to liberate this nation?
pictures are worth 1000 words
from Ben Venzke at IntelCenter. Hardly requires a narrative to deliver the point. Tell me again, how exactly is George W. Bush keeping any of us 'safer'?
IntelCenter has just released the "Jihadi Ops Tempo Statistics (JOTS) v1.1". The report provides a statistical breakout of the frequency of al-Qaeda and affiliate operations from 1998 to 24 Aug. 2005. It places the London and Sharm el-Sheikh attacks of Jul. 2005 and the 19 Aug. attacks in Aqaba, Jordan and Eilat, Israel in their proper operational tempo context. [direct link here (.pdf file)]
24 August 2005
excellent piece by Steve Outing
on Modernizing the Newspaper Editorial Page. Good from top to bottom... here's a snippet:
"blogs by staff editorial writers can serve as idea generators -- helping them identify community issues that are bubbling up, and taking the pulse of the community on various issues. Maintaining a blog is a way for an editorial writer to step up the level of interaction with the public, and keep it high. It's yet another way to turn the editorial page away from lecture mode and into a conversation."
lol
"Saudi Arabia is continuing to fight terrorism. The Kingdom is also enacting reforms and working to stabilize oil prices. Learn how through regular updates from the Saudi Embassy." I believe you, even if nobody else on the planet does.
Roger Ailes makes himself comfortable
First Roger Ailes took over part of Lachlan Murdoch’s old job. Now, according to a News Corp. staffer, Mr. Ailes is taking Lachlan’s old office—on the eighth floor of company headquarters, one door down from Rupert Murdoch himself.[more at New York Observer]
bounce
how low will they go?
[from WSJ.com: Poll Shows Bush Approval Ratings
Sink to Lowest Point in Presidency]
Britain draws up rules for deporting extremists
The British government Wednesday unveiled a list of "unacceptable behaviors" [press release] that would qualify foreigners inciting hatred to be deported or barred from entry into the UK. Home Office Minister Charles Clarke [official profile] said the measure, designed to crack down on radical Islamic preachers, is a way to counter "those who seek to foster hatred or promote terrorism." [more from JURIST here]
"some of the heaviest street fighting in months"
why does it seem like we hear this every single month? Gunfights erupt in Iraqi capital
suppress undesireable information in official reports
or risk being fired and/or demoted. An overriding principle of the Bush administration. If they don't like the truth then you're expected to alter it. If you don't, you face the consequences.
Hacks of the highest order.
helluva precedent
Frank Robinson suggests MLB should erase Palmeiro's records. That's nice and all, but let's face reality. If we scrub Raffy's, what happens when it becomes known that ALL several of baseball's biggest stars are popping (or have recently stopped popping) performance enhancing drugs? It may be unspoken, but I think everyone can agree that steroids in baseball aren't limited to Palmeiro.
US' trophy Iraqi vacating Iraq
uncool:
"'This is the future of the new Iraqi government - it will be in the hands of the clerics,' said Dr. Raja Kuzai, a secular Shiite member of the Assembly. 'I wanted Iraqi women to be free, to be able to talk freely and to able to move around.' 'I am not going to stay here,' said Dr. Kuzai, an obstetrician and women's leader who met President Bush in the White House in November 2003."
why does he do this?
War Stories: America 1787 vs. Iraq 2005
Madeleine Brand speaks with Fred Kaplan about President George Bush's inaccurate comparison of the establishment of an Iraqi constitution to the 'growing pains' of the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries. Listen to the segment. [from Slate.com: Party Like It's 1787]
fattening up your children
Study Finds More Fast Food Near Schools
"Near" schools? How 'bout in schools? Pizza Hut, McDonalds and Taco Bell are in the food court of my wife's old high school (yes, the school has a 'food court'). It doesn't get any 'nearer' than that.
brain power
"Sometimes, just thinking you are receiving treatment is enough to make you feel better, a phenomenon known as the placebo effect. Scientists have long wondered what causes this outcome, the magnitude of which is not the same for all people. A new brain imaging study suggests that the body's natural painkillers, endorphins, play a significant role."[more here: Scientific American.com: Brain's Own Pain Relievers At Work in Placebo Effect, Study Suggests]
he said it
"There's a common element between the Abramoff/Noe/Norquist/ Cunningham/Delay/Rove scandals and incidents like this one: dishonesty. The dominant faction of the GOP has converted lying, cheating, and stealing into a set of governing principles."[from: Mark Kleiman: The Republicans versus the truth]
Google vs the World
Georges Harik, director of product management, said that, by basing its network on open technology standards, Google aimed to encourage other internet companies from operators of online games networks to internet service providers and operators of large-scale websites to build their own services on top of Google Talk. “We aim to create an ecosystem around [an open communications platform] so that it’s in everyone’s interest to be open,” he said. [source: FT.com:Google diversifies to challenge telecoms rivals ]
23 August 2005
ha... some showing by Pataki
even Gingrich scored higher.
From the Victory Enterprises poll in Iowa:
14. And if you were voting today in the Iowa caucuses for the Republican nomination for President, who would you vote for if the following candidates were running? Bill Frist 8.0% George Pataki 2.8% Rudy Giuliani 21.7% John McCain 21.7% George Allen 1.5% Mitt Romney 2.2% Newt Gingrich 13.8% Undecided [do not read] 28.3%
[source: The Politicker: "Nice" in Iowa]
backlogged link dump
Ok, time to break the logjam and empty out the drafts folder. Here's a rundown of everything I wish I had posted in more detail, but haven't had the time:
Matthew Yglesias thinks Michael Ledeen doesn't know what he's talking about:[The All-Knowing Michael Ledeen]. I can't imagine why.
The US Attorney's Office, based on a report last week by the State Department, is warning that terrorists could be posing as vagrants. Think twice next time you see that tattered homeless guy hanging outside your apartment complex. If he's not drunk, asking you for change or offering to clean your car windshield then something must be up.
How 'able' was Able Danger? Kevin Drum is becoming more and more skeptical, and links to Laura Rozen for more. AP reports on the Pentagon's inability to verify that Able Danger actually identified Mohammed Atta prior to 9/11. Considering the nature of data mining and 20/20 hindsight, it's not inconceivable that AD did 'identify' Atta, but never put the picture together until 9/11 developed it for them. [related: how many Attas were there, anyway?]
Our Saudi friends are outraged about the use of Israeli-made paper cups.
Time runs a disturbing story about the killing squads intimidating Iraqis in Baghdad and edging the country closer to civil war here: [Killers in the Neighborhood]. Slate follows up with this.
Democracy Arsenal lists the top 10 consequences of an Iraqi failed state.
By the way, in the category of big news you've probably not heard, this weekend's Washington Post reports that the CIA Report on 9/11 Is Complete, though not yet distributed to wider audiences (including Congress) until Porter Goss determines an appropriate response.
Bush thinks he's speaking to a bunch of old people, playing the up-is-down card to a crowd of veterans. Cliffs Notes version: My policy in Iraq makes you safer. Save for a few of the Altzheimer's patients, I doubt they're buying what he's selling.
Here's a shocker... KBR employee takes kickbacks and bribes in Iraq!?! No way.
General Wesley Clark is running up the score in the early straw polls for the 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate.
In Maryland, the General Assembly's investigation into Governor Erlich's hiring and firing practices begins, despite opposition from the Governor's office about the group's makeup.
In New York, Governor Pataki wants a Federal investigation into how the NY Post obtained transcripts of potentially explosive yet personal phone conversations.
ABC News reports on the growing trend of municipal-wide public wireless access points.
From docuticker.com, AEI has published this report: Public Opinion on the War with Iraq. Let me save you some time... the public doesn't much care for the war anymore. But, read it anyway, despite the source. Also from docuticker, Cato's latest on Federal government pork here: Pork: A Microcosm of the Overspending Problem
Zurich-based Cosmopolis ran this a couple of months ago, worth the read for an outsider's perspective on current US politics. Ends with this: "If the decisions and actions of the administration and the GOP dominated parliament do not yield positive results, American voters may react strongly, since the responsibility is clear."
Suburban Guerilla on Rep. Curt Weldon's dubious claims about Able Danger and a potential conflict of interest/ethical breech/transparent influence peddling with uber-contractor SAIC.
TalkLeft keeps putting together the Rove+Plame+Fitzgerald puzzle and wants to know: Is Rove Facing an Obstruction of Justice Charge?
Professor Bainbridge is one pissed off conservative. He lashes out at the Bush administration here: [What Might Have Been] with an all out temper tantrum... flailing arms and legs including... nice to see, though 3 years too late.
USNews&WorldReport has a not too flattering profile of Jack Abramoff. What a bad man.
Grover Norquist says: "If Iraq is in the rearview mirror in the '06 election, the Republicans will do fine," What a f'ing genius.
Weird: Urine Battery Turns Pee Into Power
Despite blatant cronyism and a crippling fiasco with his state pension fund Ohio's Governor Vows to Stay in Office. Speaking of Ohio, Paul Krugman (NYTimes) vents about last year's stolen elections [What They Did Last Fall]. Thanks Diebold... we all owe you!
and last but not least... what's the worst thing that can happen when you combine a Power Ranger with an irrational child actor? How 'bout a vicious double murder where the accused ties a weathy businessman and his wife to their own achor and throws them off the deck of their own yacht? And that's not all, read more here.
22 August 2005
ouch... billmon on weldon
priceless
"After following his antics over the years, I wouldn't be surprised if Curt claimed the Iranians were secretly using trained fruit bats to sneak miniature atomic bombs into his wife's underwear. "
21 August 2005
yeah, we know
because it was all about the power to begin with... USNews.com: In Iraq, seething anger and looming new doubts (8/29/05)
"Yet despite all the problems, Bush seems more assured and serene than ever. 'The re-election really freed him up,' says a confidant. 'He had felt weighted down because he felt the burden of winning a second term because his father couldn't do it. Now that he's won, he's less concerned about the political ramifications of things.'"
19 August 2005
Merck must pay up
"Merck, the embattled US pharmaceutical group, was on Friday facing prolonged legal action over its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, after a jury found it negligent in the death of a Texas man and awarded more than $253m to his family."[more at FT.com. ury finds Merck negligent in Vioxx case]
some threat
GOP legislators threaten to miss hearings on personnel policies
i'm sure they're very concerned.
18 August 2005
17 August 2005
unsettling news on the Cypriot crash
Coroners also said a 5-year-old boy was alive for a second after the plane went down. An autopsy on his burned body revealed he inhaled soot from a fire sparked by the crash; later tests showed he inhaled only a small amount of soot, consistent with drawing his last breath. [full story here: Last-minute effort may have been made to land jet
emotions high in Gaza: part III
Jewish Settlers Lash Out Against Gaza Pullout Several hundred settlers broke out of one settlement Wednesday and tried to torch a nearby Arab house. Earlier, an Israeli settler allegedly killed three Palestinian workers in the West Bank. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the settler committed "Jewish terror." He said the man "aimed against innocent Palestinians, out of twisted thinking." Sharon said the killings were intended to disrupt the Gaza pullout.when did Sharon become so rational?
tell it like it is Denny
"Should I tell my college j-students today that the Mighty Media Corporations that own the newspapers they will work for don't worry about journalism but rather fear company stock prices that go down instead of up? ...Should I teach them how disheartening it became for me at the end? Or should I teach them about, as a friend recently said, 'the Great Mission and Moral Imperative' of the newspaper culture?" [from the invaluable Romenesko]
google still taking over the world
Aussie croc attack: man missing, feared dead
an elderly man and wife fishing out of a canoe in "saltwater croc country", croc hits canoe knocking both into the water, drags husband underwater, wife swims to shore. [from BBC News]
'not exactly'
Q: what's worse than mistakening a man for a terrorist and subsequently shooting him 7 times in the head before being sure of his identity?
A: lying about the details to make it acceptible
[update: BBC reports Menezes' family wants "shoot to kill" policy suspended "The family of a man shot dead by police who mistakenly suspected him of being a suicide bomber are calling for a public inquiry into the killing.
The dead man's cousin has said those responsible should be jailed for life."]
short term: GREAT! Long term: unchanged
WashPost editorial from today: Don't Count on It
The point, though, isn't the precise number of trillions being added to the debt; it's that deficits aren't going to somehow magically evaporate. This week's good news doesn't mean tomorrow's problems aren't real, large and fiscally menacing.
salon report on Gaza
Steven Clemons has more on Ledeen
here
Ledeen made very clear during his lunch commentary that he supported Bush's invasion of Iraq only to get to Iran, which was in his view America's and Israel's real enemy. Iraq was a stepping stone to greater things. I have no doubt that Ledeen and many who supported the invasion of Iraq thought it would indeed be a "cake-walk" because they never expected the resource constraints -- manpower and financial -- in following up Iraq with military action against Iran. While Michael Ledeen sharing with a small number of people his real intentions on Iran does not make an action plan or conspiracy, we do need to be aware that like-minded neoconservatives have been thinking about both Iraq and Iran over lunch and dinner salon sessions for years. They have been very good at recruiting like-minded thinkers and strategists, and opportunistically coaxing parts of the administration to push their agenda around the President. As a friend told me this weekend, George Bush did not go to war because of Judy Miller. But in my view, Miller's reporting shaped the "public" environment so that Bush could better get away with the sleight-of-hand regarding their intentions and rationale for the Iraq War.
emotions high in Gaza: part deux
Israeli settlers dragged out in Gaza evacuation
Thousands of unarmed soldiers marched door to door in six Jewish enclaves, ordering people out and in some cases breaking down doors when they refused. Police grabbed protesters off the streets and pushed them into waiting buses. ~ But elsewhere there were increasing signs of settlers resigning themselves to evacuation as they tearfully hugged soldiers before filing quietly onto buses taking them to Israel.
thank God for the war on drugs
locking up honor students is fun. The kid was sentenced, based on Federal sentencing guidelines, to a 2 year mandatory minimum for selling (almost) 6 joints worth of marijuana close to a school. School was closed for summer vacation.
marshall's latest tidbit on Abramoff
You know how Jack Abramoff was hired to protect sweatshop owners in Saipan from having to comply with American labor laws. And you remember how he helped Indian gambling interests get out of paying taxes. But did you know that right after 9/11 he was hired by a Saudi petro-billionaire to help him deal with US government claims that his banks handled money for and funded various terrorist groups including al Qaida?link
16 August 2005
highly likely
So....Did SOCOM or other military command block dissemination of Able Danger's findings because.....they didn't want it to be uncovered that the US military had been given US person data to mine? "[laura rozen on able danger]
?
Switzerland Freezes Armored Vehicle Deal with Iraq until they're assured they won't be used in combat... Wtf?
weldon's hackery
runs deep...
[and kudos (again) to FAS.... ]
ABLE DANGER: WELDON UNLEASHED Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) caused a stir lately by alleging that a classified military intelligence data mining program codenamed ABLE DANGER had identified September 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta as a threat as early as summer of 2000 and that the 9/11 Commission had been so informed but had chosen to suppress the information. In an official statement on the matter, former Commission Chair and Vice Chair Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton disputed Weldon's account, and Weldon himself has begun to backtrack, stating that he is no longer certain that a chart he obtained from the military in 2001 actually named Atta. A copy of the August 12 Kean-Hamilton statement is here: http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2005/08/pdp081205.pdf Rep. Weldon has a history of making inflammatory allegations that later proved to be unfounded. On June 7, 1999 he stood on the House floor and accused the Clinton Administration of leaking the design of the W87 nuclear warhead to U.S. News and World Report. It was a charge he repeated several times, referring to an artist's rendering of the W87 warhead which appeared in the magazine's July 31, 1995 edition. "This administration leaked this document to U.S. News & World Report, giving the entire populace of the world... access to the design of the W87 nuclear warhead," he alleged. "I have been told... that it was [Secretary of Energy] Hazel O'Leary herself who gave U.S. News & World Report the actual diagram of the W87 nuclear warhead in 1995," he said. On June 8, 1999 he stated flatly: "Hazel O'Leary leaked the plans, which are in this magazine, for the W87 nuclear warhead." None of this was true. No government diagram of the W87 warhead was given to U.S. News. The artist's rendering of the weapon was a conceptual drawing, not a design. It was explicitly credited by the magazine to the Natural Resources Defense Council. An NRDC analyst confirmed that he had supplied the information to the graphic artist, and that it was based on informed speculation, not classified information. In accordance with the political tactics used to attack the Clinton-Gore Administration throughout much of the 1990s, Rep. Weldon never retracted or apologized for his unfounded accusations. See: http://www.fas.org/sgp/bulletin/sec80.html#weldon
if you can stomach FOX News
apparently tonight one of the Able Danger guys will be on. Watch at your own risk.
steven aftergood nails it (again)
posting the whole thing (sorry Steve), but it's too right not to
"To attack [America's electrical] grid, a terrorist need only study publicly available trade journals, which explain where new facilities are constructed," according to an op-ed in the New York Times on August 13. "A terrorist could then disable a particular system by destroying the computers and relays housed in the poorly protected building."
The New York Times op-ed editor has an affinity for such claims about the simplicity of perpetrating a disastrous act of terrorism. On May 30, the Times published an op-ed article asserting that "a terrorist," using a 27 page manual found online, could manufacture gram quantities of botulinum toxin and cause tens or hundreds of thousands of casualties. No lab scientist familiar with the procedures involved would endorse that scenario, presented by a Stanford business professor. The notion of a hyper-competent terrorist who can easily overcome the physical and technical obstacles that perplex and detain ordinary mortals has become a common rhetorical trope in public discussions of terrorism. George Smith of GlobalSecurity.org conducted a Nexis search for the phrase "easy for a terrorist" (and similar formulations) and found about one hundred mainstream media citations over the past two years. Judging from press reports, nearly everything comes "easy" to terrorists:"From food terror, to manipulating the flu virus, to blowing up chemical plants, to getting driver's licenses, to coming across the Mexican border, to buying large caliber guns, to shooting down planes with ground-to-air missiles, to spreading hoof-and-mouth disease and destroying the cattle industry, to paralyzing Los Angeles by attacking power stations, to causing major blackouts, to putting anthrax in bagged rice," Smith found. "There really is no end to it. It's stupefying in its universality."Such glib assessments of terrorist capabilities are worse than simply wrong. They spread fear and a sense of helplessness, doing the work of the terrorists, and they threaten to dissipate limited security and financial resources in a hundred different directions.
never enough power
Shaping the court in their image: A right-wing telecast spreads misinformation about federal judges and shows a desire to weaken Supreme Court. The Oregonian is running this editorial today about Justice Sunday II. Thanks to Howard Bashman at How Appealing
fake press alert
Pantagraph.com (Central Illinois) offers weak rationale in this editorial, where, seemingly... they're just playing Devil's Advocate. Even Bob Dole agrees we need a Federal Shield law... here we have a nutless pseudo press outlet arguing against it.
Now isn't the time to be passing federal shield law
Don't bother looking for a strong argument... I looked already... it isn't there.
in today's NY Times
Bob Dole has this editorial on the Lugar-Pence Bill (Federal reporter shield law) currently before Congress... expresses his disappointment with Judith Miller's incarceration... and offers his interpretation of the intent behind the passage of Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, a topic he is certainly qualified to discuss, considering he was a co-sponsor.
a few lines:
The incarceration of Ms. Miller is all the more baffling because she has never written a word about the C.I.A. flap. --- As someone with a long record of government service, I must admit that I did not always appreciate the inquisitive nature of the press. But I do understand that the purpose of a reporter's privilege is not to somehow elevate journalists above other segments of society. Instead, it is designed to help guarantee that the public continues to be well informed.
re: Iran's nuclear negotiator
Iran, which says its nuclear program will only be used to generate electricity, rejected a resolution adopted by the U.N. atomic watchdog last week calling on it to halt all nuclear fuel work. But Larijani said a solution to the dispute could be found. "We can reach a conclusion with a win-win situation defined for both sides ... We should try to solve the problem in a friendly way and our objective is still preserving the fuel cycle," he said.more here.
15 August 2005
rather disturbing
Intel Dump has this: [Exiting the American Sector of Baghdad…Entering the Iranian?] on the long term outlook in Iraq and an increasingly apparent Iranian influence... worth reading from top to bottom, including the links.
update: Next week's issue of Newsweek has this advice from Fareed Zacharia: Don't Make Hollow Threats
WashPost regretting decision to sponsor Freedom Walk
[from: Poynter Online - Forums]The headlining act of this upcoming affair is a faded country star who got himself back into the news with a song called "I Raq and Roll." The song manages, in one fell swoop, to deride anti-war protesters, glorify the use of smart bombs in Iraq, and make Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The U.S.A." actually seem complex. So much for the no-connection-to-the-war argument and so much for a dignified tribute to the victims of 9/11."
also, this from E&P: 'Wash Post' Guild Leaders Want Paper Out Of Sept. 11 'Freedom Walk'
Howard Kurtz: " I wish The Washington Post were not co-sponsoring this event."
from a live Q&A session in today's Washington Post
Arlington, Va.: Why is The Washington Post sponsoring a pro-war rally? Please spare us the corporate side v. the newsroom side memo. The rally is being "officially sponsored" by the Department of Defense. And, to top it off, participants must register with their name, address and telephone number. Sounds to me like the Pentagon is trolling for bodies to send off to Iraq.
Howard Kurtz: I wouldn't call it a "pro-war rally"; that's your characterization. It is supposed to be about remembering the victims of 9/11. But I wish The Washington Post were not co-sponsoring this event. It is an operation by the Pentagon -- a place that we devote substantial resources to covering -- and therefore subject to all kinds of interpretations. It is not the same, in my view, as the corporate side of The Post handing out awards to the best teachers or other kinds of nonpartisan civic activities.
come to the trough
developers drool over the revitalization of the Southeast waterfront... for those of you who flip houses for a living, you missed out on your chance. High end investors now rule SE. The Washington Post has more [A Transformed Neighborhood Awaits Stadium]
price of gas taking a toll on your wallet?
How does 250 mpg sound?
CORTE MADERA, California (AP) -- Politicians and automakers say a car that can both reduce greenhouse gases and free America from its reliance on foreign oil is years or even decades away. Ron Gremban says such a car is parked in his garage. It looks like a typical Toyota Prius hybrid, but in the trunk sits an 80-miles-per-gallon secret -- a stack of 18 brick-sized batteries that boosts the car's high mileage with an extra electrical charge so it can burn even less fuel. Gremban, an electrical engineer and committed environmentalist, spent several months and $3,000 tinkering with his car. Like all hybrids, his Prius increases fuel efficiency by harnessing small amounts of electricity generated during braking and coasting. The extra batteries let him store extra power by plugging the car into a wall outlet at his home in this San Francisco suburb -- all for about a quarter. He's part of a small but growing movement. "Plug-in" hybrids aren't yet cost-efficient, but some of the dozen known experimental models have gotten up to 250 mpg. [more at CNN.com]
lowering expectations
a predictible admission of incompetence from the Bush administration. I'm sure later they'll just ask for forgiveness when the entire sweater unravels. A very wise man once told me "it's far smarter to walk now, so that you can run later". Sorta like: 'an ounce of planning is worth a pound of prevention'. Not to adequately plan for post-war Iraq is a crime against humanity. I don't need to hear rhetoric about the 'scores of innocents' that Saddam would have killed by now. Their blood wasn't on our hands.
"What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground," said a senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion. "We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning." ~
"We set out to establish a democracy, but we're slowly realizing we will have some form of Islamic republic," said another U.S. official familiar with policymaking from the beginning, who like some others interviewed would speak candidly only on the condition of anonymity. "That process is being repeated all over." ~ "We are definitely cutting corners and lowering our ambitions in democracy building," said Larry Diamond, a Stanford University democracy expert who worked with the U.S. occupation government and wrote the book "Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq." ~
U.S. officials now acknowledge that they misread the strength of the sentiment among Kurds and Shiites to create a special status. The Shiites' request this month for autonomy to be guaranteed in the constitution stunned the Bush administration, even after more than two years of intense intervention in Iraq's political process, they said.
Last week was the fourth-worst week of the whole war for U.S. military deaths in combat, and August already is the worst month for deaths of members of the National Guard and Reserve.
Attacks on U.S. convoys by insurgents using roadside bombs have doubled over the past year, Army Brig. Gen. Yves Fontaine said Friday. Convoys ferrying food, fuel, water, arms and equipment from Kuwait, Jordan and Turkey are attacked about 30 times a week, Fontaine said.
who forged the Italian uranium documents?
In the middle of a strong piece which puts the Plame scandal into looking-glass perspective, Gary Leupp reports , according to Vincent Cannistraro, possibly most likely Michael Ledeen. Cannistraro couldn't have implicated a more deserving classified intelligence-leaking asshole.
By revealing that Iraq had not sought uranium from Niger, Wilson helped discredit documents which appeared to prove that Iraq had done so. Documents that had for some reason surfaced in Italy, made their way to the CIA, and are now universally recognized as crude forgeries. Who forged them? Who would go to the trouble to break into Niger Embassy in Rome, rip off official letterhead, and then fabricate documents supposed to show that Iraq was seeking that uranium? Might the official or officials who exposed Plame have been involved in that forgery project? Might they have had particular malice against Wilson? I'd think this line of inquiry would be part of the Fitzgerald investigation. Vincent Cannistraro, formerly National Security Council intelligence director, hence someone who probably knows what he's talking about in connection with this matter, suggests that Michael Ledeen arranged the forgeries. Ledeen is a leading neocon. He has Italian ties (has written scholarly works on Machiavelli and Mussolini). He strongly urged the Iraq attack for years. He has had lots of ties with Iran, has written about "America's Failure in Iran." He was a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration. Now he advocates an attack on Iran and his views reportedly deeply influence the neocons in the administration.imagine that.
Ledeen was once fired from his job as a Middle East specialist with the National Security Council because he came under FBI investigation for passing classified information to the Israeli embassy in Washington. But then he was hired in 2001 by fellow neocon Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith (now under scrutiny in the Franklin/AIPAC Affair) to work for the Office of Special Plans (known to some as the "Lie Factory") which stovepiped "intelligence" supporting war to the White House. If he were to go on trial, this Plame Affair would draw to the masses' attention the existence of that Office of Special Plans, and its various violations of law. Given the OSP's reported ties to a comparable body in Israel, it might somehow connect with the Franklin investigation too.
Imagine if it were to become generally understood that the Bush administration, wanting to attack Iraq but unable to get the intelligence apparatus to give them justification, deliberately created and disseminated disinformation to get the people to support a war against Iraq. Everyone with a brain already knows the war is not going well. There seems general understanding that the war is "damaging America's reputation" in the world. It's not creating jobs or reducing gas prices. The general sentiment as revealed by the polls is, "It just wasn't a good idea." Imagine if that were to change to, "It was a crime."
14 August 2005
So, it looks like John F. Kennedy was right
about the Bay of Pigs. This has to drive those wingnuts crazy.
"Indeed, historians have documented individuals expressing doubts at various times before the ill-fated mission. But the document, a 300-page internal CIA history, reveals for the first time that the architects themselves foresaw failure during a Nov. 15, 1960, meeting to prepare a briefing for President-elect John F. Kennedy and that they recorded it in a memo. ''There will not be the internal unrest earlier believed possible, nor will [Castro's] defense permit the type [of] strike first planned,'' say notes of the meeting, according to the official CIA historian, Jack Pfeiffer. "Our second concept (1,500-3,000) man force to secure a beach with airstrip is also now seen to be unachievable, except as a joint Agency/DOD [CIA/Pentagon] action."
12 August 2005
online resources
Ever had the urge to read any of these, but were too lazy to go buy them?
Nineteen-Eighty-Four - George Orwell
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Federalist Papers - various
Common Sense - Thomas Paine
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Well, now you're in luck, because now all of the above are available (in various formats) here. Along with others.
ha... so true
Mark Kleiman nails it at the end of his post about uber-crook Jack Abramoff
"The thing I hate fourth-worst about the Bush regime -- after the way they're screwing up the country, dishonoring the flag, and making the world a more dangerous place -- is all the ammunition they supply the tin-hat brigade. How am I supposed to convince my students not to believe in elaborate wicked conspiracies when we've got an elaborate wicked conspiracy running the damned country?"
weekend warriors bear brunt of Iraq casualties
Aug. Death Toll for Reserves in Iraq Soars
WASHINGTON Aug 12, 2005 — The National Guard and Reserve suffered more combat deaths in Iraq during the first 10 days of August at least 32, according to a Pentagon count than in any full month of the entire war.
More broadly, Pentagon casualty reports show that the number of deaths among Guard and Reserve forces has been trending upward much of this year, totaling more than 100 since May 1. That ranks as the deadliest stretch of the war for the Guard and Reserve, whose members perform both combat and support missions. [from ABC News]
FAS on Iranian nukes; intentions and 2 CRS reports
here
IRAN'S MISSING ANTI-NUCLEAR FATWA In a defiant statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency this week, the government of Iran declared that it would resume uranium enrichment activities but denied that it was pursuing nuclear weapons. As evidence of its peaceful intentions, Iran noted that the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamanei had issued a fatwa (an Islamic religious edict) proscribing such weapons. But although it has been repeatedly referenced by Iranian officials, there does not seem to be any published text of such a fatwa, leaving its political significance and even its precise meaning in doubt. "The Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has issued the fatwa that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are forbidden under Islam and that the Islamic Republic of Iran shall never acquire these weapons," according to the August 9 statement to the IAEA. See: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iran/nuke/mehr080905.html But according to Javad Zarif, the Iranian ambassador to the UN, the decree "prohibit[s] the development and use of nuclear weapons" (Los Angeles Times, 11/05/04). Yet a religious prohibition on *development* of nuclear weapons was not mentioned in this week's statement to the IAEA. The reported fatwa was said to have been issued by the Ayatollah in September 2004 "at Friday prayers." "When the Iranian leader issues such a fatwa, then we have given a political, religious and ideological guarantee that we are not pursuing the production of nuclear weapons," said Hasan Rowhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in a February 8, 2005 interview on Iranian TV. But an Iranian legislative initiative to enact the prohibition on nuclear weapons into statute last year failed. Thus, instead of demonstrating and bolstering the credibility of the reported fatwa, the Iranian government sent sharply mixed signals. Iranian legislator Hojatoleslam Mohammad Taqi Rahbar said last November 9 that the bill to ban nuclear weapons was "not expedient," because Iran is in a region of proliferators. He added, significantly: "There are no Shari'a [religious law] or legal restrictions on having such weapons as a deterrent." See "Dr. Strangelove in Iran," RFE/RL Iran Report, November 23, 2004: http://www.rferl.org/reports/iran-report/2004/11/41-231104.asp In short, efforts by Iranian officials to publicly clarify their religious and political views on nuclear weapons have instead generated new confusion about their actual intentions. ------------------------------------------ CRS ON IRAN See, relatedly, "Iran's Nuclear Program: Recent Developments" from the Congressional Research Service, updated May 18, 2005 and "Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses" updated June 27, 2005
he said it
"[T]his is outrageous. To save one Canadian company some money, we're willing to blow a hole in our nonproliferation policies," - Mass. Rep. Edward Markey, on the Domineci provision added the recently-passed Energy bill. [from The Roanoke Times: Increasing risk of nuclear terror]
11 August 2005
ya think????
managing expectations
"it's important to calibrate expectations post-elections. I've been saying to folks: You're still going to have an insurgency, you're still going to have a dilapidated infrastructure, you're still going to have decades of developmental problems both on the economic and the political side." [from HoustonChronicle.com - U.S. foresees no letup in Iraqi violence]
quote of the day
"The lone wolf, when influenced by day-to-day events, is harder to stop, harder to know about, much more difficult to defend against." Tim Herlocker, special agent-in-charge of intelligence for counterterrorism in the NY office of the FBI
how to create a terrorist: part MDCCCXXXIX
US bomb 'kills Afghan civilians'
"The children were crying and they were very afraid. These planes killed my relatives. We are poor and innocent people. Why are they killing us?" [more here from BBC]
failed business plan
someone wake me when one of these companies turns a mentionable profit... thanks. [from Guardian Unlimited: Food fight grounds BA]
newsflash
the GOP pays legal bills of anti-American election tamperers.
James Tobin, the president's 2004 campaign chairman for New England, is charged in New Hampshire federal court with four felonies accusing him of conspiring with a state GOP official and a GOP consultant in Virginia to jam Democratic and labor union get-out-the-vote phone banks in November 2002. ~ "The object of the conspiracy was to deprive inhabitants of New Hampshire and more particularly qualified voters ... of their federally secured right to vote," states the latest indictment issued by a federal grand jury on May 18. ~ Since charges were first filed in December, the RNC has spent more than $722,000 to provide Tobin, who has pleaded innocent, a team of lawyers from the high-powered Washington law firm of Williams & Connolly. ~ "Jim is a longtime friend who has served as both an employee and an independent contractor for the RNC," a spokeswoman for the RNC, Tracey Schmitt, said Wednesday. "This support is based on his assurance and our belief that Jim has not engaged in any wrongdoing."these guys live in a dream world.
the invasion of Iraq
Revisiting the statement by CATO's Chris Preble following the onset of military operations in Iraq: Cato News Release - March 19, 2003
History Will Judge Wisdom of Iraq Invasion Cato scholar hopes for quick U.S. victory with minimum number of casualties
WASHINGTON-Upon hearing the Bush administration's announcement of the commencement of military operations in Iraq, Christopher Preble, Cato Institute director of foreign policy studies, issued the following comments:
Under the Constitution, the sole legitimate justification for the use of military force is the defense of vital U.S. security interests. This authority is vested jointly in the legislative and executive branches of government. Under international law, leaders are entitled to take military action if they believe that a threat to their nation is imminent. President Bush believes that Saddam Hussein poses such a threat. The failure to win the support of a majority of the member states on the United Nations Security Council does not necessarily mean that the United States has embarked on an unjust war; it does mean, however, that the evidence presented by the Bush administration was not sufficiently compelling to convince people around the globe that the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq justifies a preemptive war. History will judge who was right. In the meantime, we hope and pray for a swift end to this war, with a minimum of casualties on both sides, followed by a quick transition to Iraqi control over their country, and an evacuation of our forces from the Middle East, where they have already been for too long.
2 must reads
Defense Tech: "Open Source" Insurgents Rise
Walter Pincus has this in today's Washington Post: Side Issue in the Plame Case: Who Sent Her Spouse to Africa?
"They're as clueless as he is"
James Wolcott on the rotation of lackeys temporarily holding the keys to Instapundit's echo chamber.
09 August 2005
good news/bad news on wireless security
guess it depends on which side you're on... good news if you're a hacker, bad news if your main concern is security. [from Schneier on Security Wireless Interception Distance Records]
what a f'ing mess
Ten Iraqi policemen killed in five Baghdad attacks
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 10 Iraqi policemen were shot dead in five separate attacks in Baghdad on Tuesday, an Interior Ministry official said.
In one attack, four policemen on patrol were killed by insurgents with automatic weapons on a major highway in the eastern part of the capital.
The attacks all took place between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. (0330-0500 GMT).
In the southern Baghdad district of Doura a police captain and his driver were killed, and in nearby Zafaraniya an officer in the Interior Ministry's Major Crimes Unit was shot dead in his car.
Two police officers were gunned down in eastern Baghdad's Zayouna district, and gunmen shot dead one policeman and wounded three in an attack on a patrol in the poor northern suburb of al-Shu'ula.
The government expects Iraqi police and security forces to take over security from U.S. forces once they can stand up to guerrillas on their own.
But Iraqi forces can barely protect themselves against the numerous guerrilla attacks which have killed hundreds of their comrades.
FCC issues new rule expanding CALEA to apply to broadband and VoIP
[T]he Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a release announcing its new rule expanding the reach of the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). The ruling is a reinterpretation of the scope of CALEA and will force Internet broadband providers and certain voice-over-IP (VoIP) providers to build backdoors into their networks that make it easier for law enforcement to wiretap them. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has argued against this expansion of CALEA in several rounds of comments to the FCC on its proposed rule. [from the Law Librarian Blog, which has quickly become a daily read]
08 August 2005
Allen leaves WashPost for Time Magazine
He explained his decision to join Time this way: "An editor at Time told me they aim for intellectual and literary seduction. I was hooked. This is very hard, because walking into The Washington Post newsroom is like stepping onto the grass at Fenway." [from the NYTimes]
things that make Karl Rove smile
Divided to the core, by GOP design, slaying in dispute over war might be a first
Bush not fond of investigators
Inquiry Into Lobbyist Sputters After Demotion:
"The transactions were the target of a grand jury subpoena issued Nov. 18, 2002, according to a copy obtained by The Times. The subpoena demanded that Anthony Sanchez, administrative director of the Guam Superior Court, release records involving the lobbying contract, including bills and payments.
A day later, the chief prosecutor, U.S. Atty. Frederick A. Black, who had launched the investigation, was demoted. A White House news release announced that Bush was replacing Black.
The timing caught some by surprise. Despite his officially temporary status, Black had held the acting U.S. attorney assignment for more than a decade."
treason
that's right... encourage extremism and the violent overthrow of the British government, and you may be charged with treason. Why "may"?
best friends
despite the whole 15 outta 19 thing, and the Saudi government funded madrassas, Prince Saud al-Faisal says ties with U.S. 'couldn't be better'. Well, that's great news... I'm very happy for you.
this is so bad it's funny
bumped into this piece of work doing a google search for a fraud named Joseph A. Cafasso and found this vile waste of bandwidth. Funny, first for the weak assed title (You liberals are disgusting); funnier for it's reference to "well respected" [but non-existent] "Joseph A. Cafasso Institute for Military Studies at Hillsdale College"; and funniest for it's pronoucement that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were 'non-partisan'. Talk about lost.
05 August 2005
OK, time to laugh at an idiot
(you know who you are)
I have a special place in my heart for people with completely warped brains... part of me feels sorry for them, but a bigger part of me wishes there was SOME way they could learn. Unfortunately though, for an increasingly large number of die-hards, they are getting exactly what they deserve... they're dying hard. Read this, and tell me if this Gmen character isn't honestly one of the least intelligent people you've ever seen.
Who's Who In America?
confirmed... via TPM:
In a column that ran in the Sun-Times on Monday, Novak suggested he learned Plame's identity partly from reading Who's Who in America. A CNN source said a producer had placed a copy of Who's Who on the set Thursday prior to the taping, apparently so it could be consulted while Novak was asked about the issue.Novak lied. To someone, at some point, about the Plame affair. And he smelled out his own network's ambush against him. He couldn't deal, so he played up mundane comment by Carville and overreacted himself right off the set. Question is: which part of Novak's story was a lie? The first part about getting Plame's name from 2 senior administration officials? Or the second one about finding out in "Who's Who in America?" It's time for Novak to pay the piper. He's the one who started this shit... hopefully it ends with him too.
amateurish GOP tactics in play in Maryland
The Sun has the story
"'Ironically, partisan opponents of the committee's mission have accused members of predetermining their opinions on these matters,' they added. 'We would ask these antagonists to cease the character attacks and obstructions and heed their own words. Judgment of any committee member's performance, or the committee as a whole, should be reserved until the committee executes its charge.'"
this is not good
[from ABC News: Rats in the Ranks?]
Rising U.S. casualties and precision attacks have some wondering if the Iraqi police force has informants among its ranks foiling U.S. efforts. The Pentagon has admitted such infiltration exists, but experts warn it is hard to prove and the success of the attacks may have more to do with the insurgency's might than turncoats leaking inside intelligence.
Sibel Edmonds petitions Supreme Court
Justice Department claims State Secrets Privilege, Edmonds' attorneys counter this "should be used as a shield for sensitive evidence, not a sword the government can use at will to cut off argument in a case before the evidence can be presented."
Found this much more interesting though:
Edmonds told U.S. News that she and other whistle-blowers from the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency, and Department of Homeland Security are so furious with the lack of congressional oversight on intelligence and national security that they plan to launch an advertising campaign targeting government officials who have allegedly endangered national security. The newspaper ads, which could be launched as early as two months from now, would name officials, their titles, their salaries, where they work, and their alleged or documented wrongdoing, says Edmonds. The campaign would be funded by private donations and would be coordinated by the recently formed advocacy group she heads, the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition.[from USNews&World Report: FBI whistle-blower petitions high court]
ha... what a wuss
What Novak Was Running From ... - Was it ... a book? By Mickey Kaus
[update: via TPM, Crooks and Liars has much more... including the screen shots and video which clearly show a big red book, assumedly "Who's Who in America", just waiting to be opened to verify Novak's dubious backtracking that this book was where he originally obtained Plame's name.]
04 August 2005
Bishop Skylstad on nuclear terrorism
Bombing Hiroshima, Nagasaki Same As Terrorism because we "failed to discriminate between combatants and noncombatants."
does murderous past prevent one from being interred at Arlington National Cemetary?
apparently not. And... not murderous, as in 'while in uniform protecting our country'... rather, murderous, as in 'bound and stabbed an 80+ year old couple'.
Though, to be fair, had cemetary officials been aware of the arrests, they say his service would not have been approved.
travel to Baltimore!
and watch them remove partially decomposed bodies from the Inner Harbor. And in front of the Cheesecake Factory, no less. Yum.
news of the weird... no, really... very weird
[preemptive disclaimer: No, I'm not promoting these, nor do I necessarily believe them. I tend to think they are as nutty as you do, but that doesn't make them not worth reading.]
That said, this is strange... a UFO sighting from a retired Navy flight engineer: UFO sighting in Exeter - again
Some follow-up and response to the Exeter News-Letter's initial report of the sighting: UFO saga continues
From Australia: UFO files opened
Are we alone? For the first time the accounts of people who believe they have seen UFOs are being made public.
This one borders on insane, but was still my favorite of the four... on "Exopolitics" and the possibility that a race of humanoids is currently living below the surface of Mars.
Not War of the Worlds but Peace among Worlds, Futurist Says
03 August 2005
this won't stop me from drinking at the airport bar
but I guess it's nice to hear.
according to government statistics, 19 out of 20 people make it out of airliner crashes safely. [from ABC News: How to Survive a Plane Crash]
"America's Taliban"
ouch
Frist not invited to religious right confab, Justice Sunday. See what happens when you don't toe the line as dictated by America's Taliban, you get your head chopped off. There is no room for dissent or reason in America's Taliban. You hate who they hate, or you're toast.
maryland's crooked top cop
The ex-superintendent of the Maryland State Police and former Baltimore city police chief, Ed Norris... who carries the odd distinction of being aligned with both Martin O'Malley (D) and current Governor Robert Ehrlich (R) is now permitted to turn in his ankle bracelet and leave his house. Good for him. Fathers, mind your daughters... mothers, mind your wallets.
Where is Osama?
Is Pakistan's Intel Service Hiding Him?
"WASHINGTON - Some of the U.S. personnel on the front lines of the search for Osama bin Laden believe the Pakistani intelligence service is hiding him and lying about it."
"only Giuliani could beat Spitzer"
So says the most recent poll by Quinnipiac University. It's a good thing Pataki backed out... he was washed up anyway, and never was much of a Governor.
[from PoliticalWire.com: Only Giuliani Could Beat Spitzer]
If he decided to run for New York Governor next year, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) would beat Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (D), 49% to 42%, "the only one of several high visibility Republican names to top the likely Democratic candidate," according to a Quinnipiac University poll.