This is becoming a chore, and I am seriously allergic to chores.
I don't know where YWA will eventually end up, but I'll figure something out.
In case you weren't around last evening, tblog went on the fritz big time. Nobody's posts who uses this host were available; tbloggers thought they'd lost all their work; I went crawling back to blogger. The sad news is there.
Since the tblog administrator seems to be MIA, I wasn't sure anyone would be here to get the site up and running again. And since I had been considering dealing with the annoying problems of blogger again, just to be able to access my archives (tblog suddenly seems to have them filed in an inaccessible black hole somewhere), I figure yesterday's scare is a signal to get out while the getting's good.
Although tblog is much easier on my nerves for blogging, blogger always seems to be available to the reader. I'll keep this account open as a backup. And I'll try to think of this as a good thing, and not a problem. Two homes for YWA - like having a summer home on Cape Cod. Or something.
Apologies and thanks for hanging out with me. It would be more fun in the islands.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Prince Harry redux
Is he crying out for attention, or what? He couldn't have timed his ignorant, thoughtless party dress any better.
The gaffe comes as Queen Elizabeth is due to host a reception for survivors of the Holocaust on January 27 before representing the nation at the Holocaust Memorial Day National Event, marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.
[...]
His prior 'scandals' include allegations of drug use, alcohol abuse and cheating on tests.
[...]
Prince Harry is due to train at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst later this year.
And then off to Iraq?[...]
His prior 'scandals' include allegations of drug use, alcohol abuse and cheating on tests.
[...]
Prince Harry is due to train at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst later this year.
Iraq crumbling
Minister of State Adnan Janabi, a key aide of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, has resigned to protest being detained and handcuffed by US troops at a checkpoint outside the Green Zone, where government offices and the US embassy are barricaded. It was revealed last week that Janabi was giving envelopes with $100 in them to journalists who covered the press conferences of the Iraqi National Accord, a party mainly made up of ex-Baathists that probably has little popularity in Iraq.
Juan Cole postHey, just Armstronging it.
According to the Al Furat newspaper, 53 political parties and organizations as well as 30 individuals have asked their names to be dropped from the election lists in a bid to show their rejection of elections under US occupation.
Xinhuanet article
Two aides to Iraq's top Shi'ite leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani have been killed in separate attacks apparently aimed at inflaming sectarian conflict among Iraqis already divided on whether Jan. 30 polls should go ahead.
Reuters article
Gunmen killed the director of a Baghdad election center Thursday, another in a series of attacks targeting election officials and candidates as the vote set for January 30 approaches.
[...]
Also on Thursday, the Democratic Islamic Party announced Iraqi presidential candidate Mithal al-Alousi was targeted for the second time in two weeks.
CNN article
[...]
Also on Thursday, the Democratic Islamic Party announced Iraqi presidential candidate Mithal al-Alousi was targeted for the second time in two weeks.
FBI just can't catch a break
A new FBI computer program designed to help agents share information to ward off terrorist attacks may have to be scrapped, the agency has concluded, forcing a further delay in a four-year, half-billion-dollar overhaul of its antiquated computer system. Since the attacks, Congress has given the FBI a blank check, allocating billions of dollars in additional funding. So far the overhaul has cost $581 million, and the software problems are expected to set off a debate over how well the bureau has been spending those dollars.
[...]
The bureau recently commissioned a series of independent studies to determine whether any part of the Virtual Case File software could be salvaged. Any decision to proceed with new software would add tens of millions of dollars to the development costs and render worthless much of a current $170-million contract.
Requests for proposals for new software could be sought this spring, the officials said. The bureau is no longer saying when the project, originally scheduled for completion by the end of 2003, might be finished.
article[...]
The bureau recently commissioned a series of independent studies to determine whether any part of the Virtual Case File software could be salvaged. Any decision to proceed with new software would add tens of millions of dollars to the development costs and render worthless much of a current $170-million contract.
Requests for proposals for new software could be sought this spring, the officials said. The bureau is no longer saying when the project, originally scheduled for completion by the end of 2003, might be finished.
Probably a wise decision.
Apparently the program was also considered by the Justice Department, which deemed it unusable for them as well.
The designer of the program is Science Applications International Corp (whose programs are used by Halliburton and the U.S. Navy), which has gotten a number of government contracts in Iraq, including one to "rebuild Iraq's mass media".
So, the FBI is having problems with the SAIC program, the Justice Department nixed it, and lo and behold, the Defense Department also had some problems with another program SAIC was to develop.
March 25th, 2004
Defense contractor Science Applications International Corp. has agreed to pay $484,500 to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act when designing a computer system program for the U.S. Department of Defense.
[...]
The federal government alleged that SAIC repeatedly misrepresented its progress on the project.
[...]
The government also alleged it overpaid for SAIC's services and that SAIC's actions delayed the government's implementation of the system.
Corp Watch articleDefense contractor Science Applications International Corp. has agreed to pay $484,500 to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act when designing a computer system program for the U.S. Department of Defense.
[...]
The federal government alleged that SAIC repeatedly misrepresented its progress on the project.
[...]
The government also alleged it overpaid for SAIC's services and that SAIC's actions delayed the government's implementation of the system.
March 25th, 2004
In a scathing report yesterday, the Pentagon's inspector general sharply criticized contracts issued last year to San Diego's SAIC for reconstruction and humanitarian work in Iraq.
[...]
In particular, defense auditors highlighted problems with SAIC's work to create a free and independent Iraqi Media Network, or IMN, that was ostensibly to be modeled on Britain's BBC.
The Defense Contracting Command awarded the $15 million contract to SAIC on March 11, 2003, without an acquisition plan or competitive bidding. By the end of September, however, SAIC's costs under the contract had escalated to $82.3 million.
Sign on San Diego articleIn a scathing report yesterday, the Pentagon's inspector general sharply criticized contracts issued last year to San Diego's SAIC for reconstruction and humanitarian work in Iraq.
[...]
In particular, defense auditors highlighted problems with SAIC's work to create a free and independent Iraqi Media Network, or IMN, that was ostensibly to be modeled on Britain's BBC.
The Defense Contracting Command awarded the $15 million contract to SAIC on March 11, 2003, without an acquisition plan or competitive bidding. By the end of September, however, SAIC's costs under the contract had escalated to $82.3 million.
Read that last article. There are some real humdingers in it.
I wonder how this company keeps getting contracts.
SAIC has been awarded seven contracts by the Defense Department to provide experts and advisers on development of representative government in Iraq; restore and upgrade the country's broadcast media; and provide a group of Iraqi expatriates to assist coalition officials working in the country. The value of the contracts, which were obtained by the Center for Public Integrity under the Freedom of Information Act, was blacked out in copies provided by the Defense Department. A Pentagon FOIA officer said keeping the information secret "was an appropriate way to avoid substantial competitive harm to the contractor" and was "due to the sensitive nature of the Iraqi contracts."
[...]
The Pentagon has steadfastly refused to release any specific information on SAIC's media reconstruction work, which has been dubbed the Iraqi Media Network. What little information that has leaked out about the SAIC effort has come mainly from disgruntled employees and press freedom advocates, who have charged the company has bungled the job badly. One report said SAIC had ordered equipment that was incompatible with existing systems in Iraq. [...] There have also been widespread complaints from press freedom organizations about the SAIC effort, including charges of military censorship and cronyism.
[...]
David Kay, the former U.N. weapons inspector who was hired by the CIA to track down weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is a former vice president of SAIC. Kay left SAIC, where he oversaw homeland security and counterterrorism work, in October 2002.
Christopher "Ryan" Henry left a senior position at SAIC in February 2003 to become principal deputy undersecretary of Defense for policy.
[...]
Executive vice president for Federal Business and director Duane P. Andrews served as assistant secretary of Defense from 1989 to 1993, when he joined SAIC.
There are more.[...]
The Pentagon has steadfastly refused to release any specific information on SAIC's media reconstruction work, which has been dubbed the Iraqi Media Network. What little information that has leaked out about the SAIC effort has come mainly from disgruntled employees and press freedom advocates, who have charged the company has bungled the job badly. One report said SAIC had ordered equipment that was incompatible with existing systems in Iraq. [...] There have also been widespread complaints from press freedom organizations about the SAIC effort, including charges of military censorship and cronyism.
[...]
David Kay, the former U.N. weapons inspector who was hired by the CIA to track down weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is a former vice president of SAIC. Kay left SAIC, where he oversaw homeland security and counterterrorism work, in October 2002.
Christopher "Ryan" Henry left a senior position at SAIC in February 2003 to become principal deputy undersecretary of Defense for policy.
[...]
Executive vice president for Federal Business and director Duane P. Andrews served as assistant secretary of Defense from 1989 to 1993, when he joined SAIC.
The Associated Press describes Science Applications International Inc. (SAIC) as "the most influential company most people have never heard of." The Asia Times calls it "the most mysterious and feared of the big 10 defense giants."
[...]
SAIC might best be described as "the-company-of-what's-ha ppening-now" in defense and intelligence. If it's important and it's happening, it's likely that SAIC has piece of the action. The company's ranks overflow with former or retired government person, many from the military and intelligence agencies. Much of SAIC's work is highly classified.
At any given point in time, SAIC's board of directors represents a Who's Who of former military and intelligence officials.
[...]
Long before the shooting began SAIC was already at work on Iraq.
[...]
[William] Owens also served as president, chief operating officer and vice chair of SAIC. And, Owens is a member of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's internal think-tank, the Defense Policy Board.
Veterans for Peace article (10/03)[...]
SAIC might best be described as "the-company-of-what's-ha ppening-now" in defense and intelligence. If it's important and it's happening, it's likely that SAIC has piece of the action. The company's ranks overflow with former or retired government person, many from the military and intelligence agencies. Much of SAIC's work is highly classified.
At any given point in time, SAIC's board of directors represents a Who's Who of former military and intelligence officials.
[...]
Long before the shooting began SAIC was already at work on Iraq.
[...]
[William] Owens also served as president, chief operating officer and vice chair of SAIC. And, Owens is a member of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's internal think-tank, the Defense Policy Board.
SAIC is also a sub-contractor under Vinnell Corporation, another big defence contractor that has long been in charge of training for the Saudi National Guard, hired to reconstitute and train a new Iraqi army.
Peace Redding articleSAIC is also somehow involved in the electronic voting business.
"The American vote count is controlled by three major corporate players, Diebold, ESS, and Sequoia. There's a fourth, SAIC, Science Applications International Corporation, coming on strong. These companies, all four of them, are hard-wired into the Bush power structure and they have been given God knows how many millions of dollars by the Bush regime to complete a sweeping computerization of voting machines that were just used in the 2004 election.
Ratical article
Four main corporate entities are responsible for the proliferation and implementation of this "black box" voting technology: Diebold, ESS, Sequoia, and Science Applications International (SAIC). These ostensibly competitive businesses interconnect with one another and with major corporate sponsors, especially the famed Carlyle Group, of the Bush administration. Their people are his people, so to speak. And vice versa.
ReasonToFreedom articleSAIC was hired to investigate the reliability of Diebold machinery in Maryland.
Aviel Rubin, a professor at Johns Hopkins University's Information Security Institute, was asked to review the Diebold code accessible on the company's website and used by its machines. Rubin and his colleagues found numerous security issues with the code, including the use of a consumer version of Microsoft Access as the database in which votes were stored, a product that has few security measures. The report, which garnered front page news in a number of newspapers, was released only days after Maryland had purchased 11,000 Diebold DRE machines at a price of $55.6 million. Maryland then had the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) review Rubin's findings. SAIC verified Rubin's concerns, reporting that they had "identified several high risk vulnerabilities of the managerial, operational, and technical controls for [Diebold's] AccuVote-TS voting system." The SAIC report continued, "If these vulnerabilities are exploited, significant impact could occur on the accuracy, integrity, and availability of election results."
Couples Company articleI don't know if there's a competition thing going on there, or if there is anything at all untoward in it. A number of articles on the electronic voting fiasco hint that SAIC is involved in some shady way (and given what else we know, I guess that's a pretty safe bet).
It is something to be looked into. But not by me. In the immortal words of the Senate panel on new torture restrictions: too complex.
Congressional weenies wimp out again
At the urging of the White House, Congressional leaders scrapped a legislative measure last month that would have imposed new restrictions on the use of extreme interrogation measures by American intelligence officers, Congressional officials say.
[...]
The Senate had approved the new restrictions, by a 96-to-2 vote, as part of the intelligence reform legislation. They would have explicitly extended to intelligence officers a prohibition against torture or inhumane treatment, and would have required the C.I.A. as well as the Pentagon to report to Congress about the methods they were using.
But in intense closed-door negotiations, Congressional officials said, four senior members from the House and Senate deleted the restrictions from the final bill after the White House expressed opposition.
[...]
In interviews on Wednesday, both Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican negotiator, and Representative Jane Harman of California, a Democratic negotiator, said the lawmakers had ultimately decided that the question of whether to extend the restrictions to intelligence officers was too complex to be included in the legislation.
[...]
In addition to Ms. Collins and Ms. Harman, the lawmakers in the conference committee negotiations were Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan.
NY Times article[...]
The Senate had approved the new restrictions, by a 96-to-2 vote, as part of the intelligence reform legislation. They would have explicitly extended to intelligence officers a prohibition against torture or inhumane treatment, and would have required the C.I.A. as well as the Pentagon to report to Congress about the methods they were using.
But in intense closed-door negotiations, Congressional officials said, four senior members from the House and Senate deleted the restrictions from the final bill after the White House expressed opposition.
[...]
In interviews on Wednesday, both Senator Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican negotiator, and Representative Jane Harman of California, a Democratic negotiator, said the lawmakers had ultimately decided that the question of whether to extend the restrictions to intelligence officers was too complex to be included in the legislation.
[...]
In addition to Ms. Collins and Ms. Harman, the lawmakers in the conference committee negotiations were Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Representative Peter Hoekstra, Republican of Michigan.
Yeah. Way to go, Senators. Too complex.
Goofball Lieberman was even one of two Senators who introduced the new restrictions in the first place.
Laugh or cry.
Defying Pentagon orders
A US National Guard unit has defied a Pentagon request that sought to stop television news crews filming six flag-draped soldiers' coffins arriving in Louisiana.
The Pentagon has barred US media from filming the coffins of US service members arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
But the Louisiana National Guard allowed a CBS news crew on Wednesday to film the arrival of six soldiers' coffins at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, near New Orleans, Louisiana.
[...]
The six soldiers, who had served in the Louisiana National Guard, all died last Thursday after their armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
[...]
Despite the Pentagon request, Lieutenant-Colonel Pete Schneider, a spokesman for the Louisiana National Guard told CBS: "What we thought was, we're going to do what the family asked us to do."
Aljazeera articleThe Pentagon has barred US media from filming the coffins of US service members arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
But the Louisiana National Guard allowed a CBS news crew on Wednesday to film the arrival of six soldiers' coffins at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, near New Orleans, Louisiana.
[...]
The six soldiers, who had served in the Louisiana National Guard, all died last Thursday after their armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
[...]
Despite the Pentagon request, Lieutenant-Colonel Pete Schneider, a spokesman for the Louisiana National Guard told CBS: "What we thought was, we're going to do what the family asked us to do."
This is not the Army Rumsfiend wishes he had, I'm sure.
Armstrong, Armstrong, Armstrong
I'm afraid Mr. Ho Williams is going to get all the nasty attention, and the pimps are going to skate free. As always.
But, let's not lose sight of the other part of this current equation.
This administration excels at that.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
What gives a delicious twist to the story is that it exposes Williams, a black conservative, as a homophobic sexual hypocrite and closet case who didn't practice what he was preaching. Williams was trotted out on CNN and other cable nets repeatedly last year during the gay marriage controversy to trash those who argued that marriage equality for same-sex lovers was a "civil right," an argument which Williams' pigmentation--in the eyes of TV news producers--gave him standing to make. As originally reported by New York magazine back in 1998:
"Armstrong Williams, the conservative talk-show host who instigated a firestorm last week by asking the senator from Mississippi whether homosexuality is a sin, is being sued for sexual harassment by a former employee who happens to be male. Last year, Stephen Gregory -- the former YMCA personal trainer whom Williams promoted to executive producer of his show -- alleged in his suit that the boss grabbed his buttocks and penis, tried to kiss him, and climbed into his hotel-room bed asking for "affection" while they were traveling together. Williams immediately held a press conference to denounce Gregory's allegations as "false, baseless, and completely without merit."
After the man who was suing him produced affidavits from other men on whom Williams had pressed his unwanted attentions, Williams was forced to admit his denial was a lie, and settled the lawsuit--which alleged 50 seperate incidents of rejected physical advances--for $200,000.
Direland post"Armstrong Williams, the conservative talk-show host who instigated a firestorm last week by asking the senator from Mississippi whether homosexuality is a sin, is being sued for sexual harassment by a former employee who happens to be male. Last year, Stephen Gregory -- the former YMCA personal trainer whom Williams promoted to executive producer of his show -- alleged in his suit that the boss grabbed his buttocks and penis, tried to kiss him, and climbed into his hotel-room bed asking for "affection" while they were traveling together. Williams immediately held a press conference to denounce Gregory's allegations as "false, baseless, and completely without merit."
After the man who was suing him produced affidavits from other men on whom Williams had pressed his unwanted attentions, Williams was forced to admit his denial was a lie, and settled the lawsuit--which alleged 50 seperate incidents of rejected physical advances--for $200,000.
But, let's not lose sight of the other part of this current equation.
"Perhaps the most fascinating Williams TV appearance took place in December 2003, the same month that he was first contracted by the government to receive his payoffs. At a time when no one in television news could get an interview with Dick Cheney, Mr. Williams, of all 'journalists,' was rewarded with an extended sit-down with the vice president for the Sinclair Broadcast Group, a nationwide owner of local stations affiliated with all the major networks. In that chat, Mr. Cheney criticized the press for its coverage of Halliburton and denounced 'cheap shot journalism' in which 'the press portray themselves as objective observers of the passing scene, when they obviously are not objective.'
"This is a scenario out of 'The Manchurian Candidate.' Here we find Mr. Cheney criticizing the press for a sin his own government was at that same moment signing up Mr. Williams to commit.
"This is a scenario out of 'The Manchurian Candidate.' Here we find Mr. Cheney criticizing the press for a sin his own government was at that same moment signing up Mr. Williams to commit.
This administration excels at that.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
The waiting is over
When I originally posted on the Armstrong Williams scandal, I wrote that I couldn't wait to see what The Black Commentator had to say.
Speaking of tort reform
Business lobbyists and their political allies have created a perception that America’s legal system has run amok. They point the finger at consumer and patient lawsuits, which they imply are concocted by “greedy trial lawyers.†They argue that lawsuits have detrimental effects on society and the economy, and effectively suggest that people should turn the other cheek when their rights are violated. President Bush and Vice President Cheney mimic these erroneous claims and make attacks on the legal system a central part of their campaign stump speeches. “See, everybody is getting sued,†says the President, and the lawsuits are “junk and frivolous.â€
But Public Citizen’s examination of public records finds that for the most part it is businesses rather than consumers and their lawyers doing the suing, and that businesses are far more often guilty of filing frivolous pleadings than the trial lawyers they demonize.
· Businesses file about four times as many lawsuits as individuals represented by trial lawyers.
[...]
· Businesses are far more likely than individual tort plaintiffs to be sanctioned for frivolous litigation.
[...]
Oddly enough, Vice President Cheney, who frequently attacks lawyers in his speeches, typifies the hardball litigation stance of corporate America. During Cheney’s five- year tenure as its CEO,the Halliburton corporation filed over 150 lawsuits, seeking money from othercorporations,individ uals, and insurance companies.
Frequent Filers: Corporate Hypocrisy in Accessing the Courts (pdf)But Public Citizen’s examination of public records finds that for the most part it is businesses rather than consumers and their lawyers doing the suing, and that businesses are far more often guilty of filing frivolous pleadings than the trial lawyers they demonize.
· Businesses file about four times as many lawsuits as individuals represented by trial lawyers.
[...]
· Businesses are far more likely than individual tort plaintiffs to be sanctioned for frivolous litigation.
[...]
Oddly enough, Vice President Cheney, who frequently attacks lawyers in his speeches, typifies the hardball litigation stance of corporate America. During Cheney’s five- year tenure as its CEO,the Halliburton corporation filed over 150 lawsuits, seeking money from othercorporations,individ uals, and insurance companies.
Well, what a surprise.
(Thanks to TJ for the snag.)
Okay....here we go, Iran
UN inspectors are preparing to visit an Iranian military base that Washington says may be part of a covert atomic arms effort.
However, the inspectors will have only partial access to the site, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday.
Aljazeera article
However, the inspectors will have only partial access to the site, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday.
Inauguration events
From an email from Impeach Bush:
George W. Bush and his administration have been doing everything in their power to “sanitize†Pennsylvania Avenue on January 20th by trying to banish thousands of people holding Impeach Bush signs and banners. But they have not succeeded.
Not only will ImpeachBush members cover the parade route, but we will have the opportunity to sit in bleachers prominently arranged at 4th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. We are joining with the antiwar movement, which has obtained a permit to build bleachers and hold a mass rally along the Inaugural route at 4th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. This is the first time in Inaugural history that the antiwar movement has secured access to build bleachers along the parade route.
George W. Bush and the presidential motorcade will have to drive right in front of the bleachers and mass rally. Military family members whose loved ones are in Iraq, members of the Arab-American and Muslim communities, and people from all walks of life will hold signs reading “Bush Lied: Thousands Died,†“Impeach Bush,†“Save the Bill of Rights,†among other slogans.
Not only will ImpeachBush members cover the parade route, but we will have the opportunity to sit in bleachers prominently arranged at 4th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. We are joining with the antiwar movement, which has obtained a permit to build bleachers and hold a mass rally along the Inaugural route at 4th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. This is the first time in Inaugural history that the antiwar movement has secured access to build bleachers along the parade route.
George W. Bush and the presidential motorcade will have to drive right in front of the bleachers and mass rally. Military family members whose loved ones are in Iraq, members of the Arab-American and Muslim communities, and people from all walks of life will hold signs reading “Bush Lied: Thousands Died,†“Impeach Bush,†“Save the Bill of Rights,†among other slogans.
Hm. I wonder.
Buses and car caravans are coming from more than fifty cities. People are flying from the West Coast to join us at 4th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. Volunteers are making signs, posters, handing out leaflets, answering phones and doing the one hundred and one other tasks to make this an effective mobilization.
If you are unable to come to Washington DC but want to help by making a much-needed contribution, we are in urgent needs of funds to cover the many costs. We have grown stronger only because of the continued generosity and commitment of ImpeachBush/VoteToImpeach .org members.
If you are unable to come to Washington DC but want to help by making a much-needed contribution, we are in urgent needs of funds to cover the many costs. We have grown stronger only because of the continued generosity and commitment of ImpeachBush/VoteToImpeach .org members.
Oh, those wacky Brits
Our famous son can't take all the bad press here at YWA.
Prince Harry apologized Wednesday night after a tabloid newspaper printed a picture of him wearing a Nazi soldier's uniform to a costume party.
Early editions of Thursday's issue of "The Sun," showed Prince Harry - the second son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana - clutching a cigarette and a drink and wearing a swastika armband.
Asked to comment on the photo, the 20-year-old prince issued a statement saying he is "very sorry if I caused any offense or embarrassment to anyone... It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize."
The Queen's former assistant press secretary, Dickie Arbiter, said he was "astounded" to hear that "a member of the Royal Family, albeit a young member of the Royal Family, can be so incredibly stupid, given that he has had a first class education."
CBS articleEarly editions of Thursday's issue of "The Sun," showed Prince Harry - the second son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana - clutching a cigarette and a drink and wearing a swastika armband.
Asked to comment on the photo, the 20-year-old prince issued a statement saying he is "very sorry if I caused any offense or embarrassment to anyone... It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize."
The Queen's former assistant press secretary, Dickie Arbiter, said he was "astounded" to hear that "a member of the Royal Family, albeit a young member of the Royal Family, can be so incredibly stupid, given that he has had a first class education."
Must be the poor breeding then.
Heil Harry: prince goose-steps out of line
Maybe another famous British son is doing better...
The son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pleaded guilty on Thursday to a role in a foiled mercenary plot in west Africa under a plea bargain to avoid prison.
Reuters article[...]
Thatcher, who has lived for the past eight years in South Africa, was arrested in Cape Town last Aug. 25 on charges of funding a foiled coup in Equatorial Guinea.
[...]
The Cape High Court agreed to a deal for Mark Thatcher to pay a fine of 3 million rand ($500,000) or face five years in jail in South Africa, in addition to a further 4-year prison sentence suspended for five years.
Prosecutors said Thatcher was free to leave South Africa.
"There is no price too high for me to pay to be reunited with my family and I am sure all of you who are husbands and fathers would agree with that," Thatcher said on the steps of the court after the hearing.
A mocking banner strung from the third storey of an office block opposite the courthouse read "Save me mummy." It was not clear who placed it. On the steps outside the court one man chanted "Shame on you, shame on you."
Thatcher also agreed to assist South African investigations into the plot against the government of Equatorial Guinea, a tiny country flush with newly-found oil wealth.
Punk and stoolie.
The plea bargain drew an angry reaction from the youth wing of South Africa's ruling African National Congress.
"This is indeed an abomination and miscarriage of justice," a league statement said, adding that Thatcher had got away with "nothing more than a slap in the wrist."
"This is indeed an abomination and miscarriage of justice," a league statement said, adding that Thatcher had got away with "nothing more than a slap in the wrist."
And he didn't even have to apologize.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
Judge Roy Bean gets a new life
The Supreme Court transformed federal criminal sentencing on Wednesday by restoring to judges much of the discretion that Congress took away nearly 20 years ago when it enacted sentencing guidelines and told judges to follow them.
The guidelines, intended to make sentences more uniform, should be treated as merely advisory to cure a constitutional deficiency in the system, the court held in an unusual two-part decision produced by two coalitions of justices.
articleThe guidelines, intended to make sentences more uniform, should be treated as merely advisory to cure a constitutional deficiency in the system, the court held in an unusual two-part decision produced by two coalitions of justices.
[...]
From now on, Breyer said, writing for the majority in this portion of the decision, judges must consult the guidelines and "take them into account" in imposing sentences. But at the end of the day the guidelines will be advisory only, with sentences to be reviewed on appeal for "reasonableness."
I can only imagine the litigation over what is "reasonable". Maybe it's time to get that law degree. There should be plenty of work.
And I would expect that it will redirect some drug transport, as traffickers avoid states where judges hand out harsher sentences.
Let's see...what other types of activities will it affect?
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Houston, we have a problem
Bush administration hard-liners have been considering launching selected military strikes at insurgent training camps in Syria and border-crossing points used by Islamist guerrillas to enter Iraq in an effort to bolster security for the upcoming elections, according to former and current administration officials.
Information Clearinghouse articleSome former and serving U.S. intelligence officials who have usually been opposed to any expansion of U.S. military activities in the region are expressing support for such strikes.
Perhaps that's more to do with another reason....
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will travel to Russia on January 24 for talks with President Vladimir Putin, sources said, amid reports that he is shopping for a missile that can strike anywhere in Israel.
Turkish Press article One former senior CIA official, usually an administration critic, said, "We should send a cruise missile into south-side Damascus and blow the Mukharbarat headquarters off the map. We should first make clear to them that they are the target."
But are the hawks likely to get their strikes?
Former CIA Syria expert, Martha Kessler doesn't think so. "I don't think the administration can afford to destabilize another country in the region," she said.
Kessler pointed out that Syria has tried, often in vain, to cooperate with the United States, only to be either snubbed or ignored.
According to Kesssler, Syria offered to station U.S. forces on its soil before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The Syrians have also opened their intelligence books that identify assets in Europe, including front companies, to the administration in an attempt to help track down al-Qaida.
But Kessler said a chief reason for not moving against Damascus is that any strikes would "destabilize Lebanon," where the Lebanese Hezbollah movement awaits orders from Iran before launching retaliations against Israeli attacks.
"Damascus is not the heartbeat of this Iraqi insurgent movement," she said.
However, one administration official said, "We have got one hell of a problem."
Information Clearinghouse articleBut are the hawks likely to get their strikes?
Former CIA Syria expert, Martha Kessler doesn't think so. "I don't think the administration can afford to destabilize another country in the region," she said.
Kessler pointed out that Syria has tried, often in vain, to cooperate with the United States, only to be either snubbed or ignored.
According to Kesssler, Syria offered to station U.S. forces on its soil before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The Syrians have also opened their intelligence books that identify assets in Europe, including front companies, to the administration in an attempt to help track down al-Qaida.
But Kessler said a chief reason for not moving against Damascus is that any strikes would "destabilize Lebanon," where the Lebanese Hezbollah movement awaits orders from Iran before launching retaliations against Israeli attacks.
"Damascus is not the heartbeat of this Iraqi insurgent movement," she said.
However, one administration official said, "We have got one hell of a problem."
Oh, we do, indeed.
Call for investigation of alleged violations of law in Fallujah attack
To prevent more harm, we should support: 1) a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Fallujah, allowing unrestricted access for independent relief agencies such as the Red Crescent; 2) an independent investigation into violations of international law in Fallujah, as called for by Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Nov. 16; and 3) a campaign to deny any further supplemental budget requests that may, in fact, fund war crimes.
Join us in working to make respect for individual and collective rights, as expressed in international law and the U.S. Constitution, a central theme of our community's relations with the rest of the world.
Jim McDermott, M.D., represents the 7th District in Congress. Richard Rapport, M.D., is in the neurological surgery department at Group Health. Other authors are 17 area doctors and medical professionals.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer articleJoin us in working to make respect for individual and collective rights, as expressed in international law and the U.S. Constitution, a central theme of our community's relations with the rest of the world.
Jim McDermott, M.D., represents the 7th District in Congress. Richard Rapport, M.D., is in the neurological surgery department at Group Health. Other authors are 17 area doctors and medical professionals.
As you might imagine, Congressman McDermott is regularly charged with being a "traitor". Check out some of his other stands and maybe send him a supportive message.
To: Allies for Humanitarian Legal Action for Iraq
Please see Embargoed Press Statement, Petition, with Title page ADD. on Attachment.
Thank you for any help or advise to support this legal action to stop the massacre and breeches of Geneva Conventions in Falluja and elsewhere in Iraq. This petition, a legal complaint, is the beginning, emergency needed action. The hospital and medical aide petition is first emergency need and includes possible exposure to 'DU' weapons used on hospital and clinic bombing. The petition will also include soldiers who are suffering irreparable harm under order to commit these violations.
Los Angeles-based Humanitarian Law Project/International Educational Development (HLP/IED and San Francisco-based Association of Humanitarian Lawyers (AHL), who filed petition have solid evidence, including photos, of breeches of International Law that govern members of The Organization of American States, of which USA is a member.
Karen Parker JD, attorney for petitioners is the Humanitarian Lawyer who successfully sued the USA on behalf of the people of Grenada. She is the foremost International Legal Expert on Weaponry and Humanitarian law.
We believe this is the right action to take that can halt these atrocities and war crimes in Iraq.
Final Press Release Wording Attached and Letterhead which will be added for press copy.
articlePlease see Embargoed Press Statement, Petition, with Title page ADD. on Attachment.
Thank you for any help or advise to support this legal action to stop the massacre and breeches of Geneva Conventions in Falluja and elsewhere in Iraq. This petition, a legal complaint, is the beginning, emergency needed action. The hospital and medical aide petition is first emergency need and includes possible exposure to 'DU' weapons used on hospital and clinic bombing. The petition will also include soldiers who are suffering irreparable harm under order to commit these violations.
Los Angeles-based Humanitarian Law Project/International Educational Development (HLP/IED and San Francisco-based Association of Humanitarian Lawyers (AHL), who filed petition have solid evidence, including photos, of breeches of International Law that govern members of The Organization of American States, of which USA is a member.
Karen Parker JD, attorney for petitioners is the Humanitarian Lawyer who successfully sued the USA on behalf of the people of Grenada. She is the foremost International Legal Expert on Weaponry and Humanitarian law.
We believe this is the right action to take that can halt these atrocities and war crimes in Iraq.
Final Press Release Wording Attached and Letterhead which will be added for press copy.
[...]
We request our Trusted Congressional Representatives support to speak out to stop U.S. War Crimes and that Jay Inslee and Dennis Kucinich will be prepared to speak out. Congressman Jim McDermott's office is standing by to help.
There will be financial help needed for legal work. Emergency Filing expense was $5,000. paid out of AHL that was saved for 'DU' Petition. The 'DU' Petition will be $10,000. to file, should you know of any resources, emergency grants, etc., for help to aide needed legal actions.
Petition submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
God's appointee
I can tell you one reason why BubbleHead has to talk about his relationship with God so much...kings are God's representatives on earth.
Well, then Bubbleboy, I don't think you do understand your job. Because, that would seem to say that anyone who didn't believe in "the Lord" could not be president of this country.
We can not worship, if we see fit. But we have to believe.
Just did. Or, I guess, my blogoranting can't really be considered discussion. Anybody want to discuss?
Say what?
Well, DoubleDumb, you've said it now, then, haven't you?
We hadn't noticed.
Go on, admit all your character flaws.
"I fully understand that the job of the president is and must always be protecting the great right of people to worship or not worship as they see fit," Bush said.
"That's what distinguishes us from the Taliban. The greatest freedom we have or one of the greatest freedoms is the right to worship the way you see fit.
"On the other hand, I don't see how you can be president at least from my perspective, how you can be president, without a relationship with the Lord."
WaPo article"That's what distinguishes us from the Taliban. The greatest freedom we have or one of the greatest freedoms is the right to worship the way you see fit.
"On the other hand, I don't see how you can be president at least from my perspective, how you can be president, without a relationship with the Lord."
Well, then Bubbleboy, I don't think you do understand your job. Because, that would seem to say that anyone who didn't believe in "the Lord" could not be president of this country.
We can not worship, if we see fit. But we have to believe.
Bush has often said that he is a religious man who supports freedom of religion, but yesterday may be the first time he has so clearly suggested in his use of words that he harbors the feeling that these two principles are to some degree in conflict.
You don't use the "other hand" construction for two concepts that complement each other. And his suggestion that someone is not qualified to be president unless they are religious is sure to spark some further discussion.
You don't use the "other hand" construction for two concepts that complement each other. And his suggestion that someone is not qualified to be president unless they are religious is sure to spark some further discussion.
Just did. Or, I guess, my blogoranting can't really be considered discussion. Anybody want to discuss?
"I think people attack me because they are fearful that I will then say that you're not equally as patriotic if you're not a religious person," Bush said. "I've never said that. I've never acted like that. I think that's just the way it is."
Say what?
Well, DoubleDumb, you've said it now, then, haven't you?
Bush also notes that he has the power of "the bully pulpit, which I use and like using, frankly."
We hadn't noticed.
Go on, admit all your character flaws.
Most of the time, Bush is not particularly forthcoming when he meets with reporters, preferring to take a defensive course in which he relies heavily on statements recycled from prepared scripts.
But it appears that he's a little more relaxed and loquacious when he talks to the Washington Times, the newspaper widely considered conservative in outlook and founded in 1982 by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah.
But it appears that he's a little more relaxed and loquacious when he talks to the Washington Times, the newspaper widely considered conservative in outlook and founded in 1982 by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah.
Self-proclaimed messiah and buddy to Poppy Bush.
ABC News's Note reports that Bush's next interview comes this afternoon, when he and the first lady sit down with Barbara Walters. It's Bush's first broadcast interview since the election, and will be on ABC's "20/20" on Friday.
I'm sorry I'm going to have to leave the watching of that to those with stronger stomachs.
...but hey, you do what you want...you will anyway.
Further on Sgt. Benderman
Background in previous post.
More personal information, as well as Sgt. Benderman's statements and a message from his wife are available through links in the sidebar at Project for the Old American Century. (Scroll down to "Voice from the Military".)
January 12, 2005
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A Fort Stewart veteran of the 2003 invasion of Iraq refused to deploy for a second combat tour days after telling commanders he was seeking conscientious objector status.
News4Jax articleSAVANNAH, Ga. -- A Fort Stewart veteran of the 2003 invasion of Iraq refused to deploy for a second combat tour days after telling commanders he was seeking conscientious objector status.
[...]
Lt. Col. Cliff Kent, a Fort Stewart spokesman, said Benderman is considered absent without leave because he had orders to deploy to Iraq while the Army processed his conscientious objector claim. Kent says the Army has not decided whether to bring charges against Benderman.
January 11, 2005
On Friday, January 7, 2005 Sergeant Kevin Benderman, stationed with the 2-7 Infantry Battalion at Ft. Stewart, Georgia, refused an order from the Command Sergeant Major of his unit Samuel Coston to deploy to Iraq and requested a General Courts-Martial.
Axis of Logic articleOn Friday, January 7, 2005 Sergeant Kevin Benderman, stationed with the 2-7 Infantry Battalion at Ft. Stewart, Georgia, refused an order from the Command Sergeant Major of his unit Samuel Coston to deploy to Iraq and requested a General Courts-Martial.
[...]
The 2-7 Chaplain, Captain Matt Temple in a letter addressed to Benderman today stated that: "It is unfortunate that you have chosen the course of action you have taken. You should have had the moral fortitude to deploy with us and see me here in Kuwait to begin your CO application. To expect me to complete an interview with you within 48 hours of a major deployment was unreasonable and quite inconsiderate of my own time. I would have gladly helped you once we got here. As an NCO in the US ARMY, I expected a greater display of maturity from you. Furthermore, for you to have media personnel contacting me at my personal email address without first acquiring my permission was very unprofessional of you. You should be ashamed of the way you have conducted yourself. I certainly am ashamed of you. I hope you will see your misconduct as an opportunity to upgrade your character and moral behavior for your own good and the good of your fellowman." Benderman said the letter disgusted him, stating "Nothing in my career as a professional soldier has prepared me to respond to something like that letter from the Chaplain."
[...]
Benderman has also garnered the support of an American icon and war hero, Colonel James "Bo" Gritz, USA (Ret.), who profiled Benderman for three days running on his radio show "Freedom Call". Gritz has labeled previous charges by the Army in connection with Benderman’s refusal to deploy and statements to the press "ridiculous," savaging the officers of 2-7, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush on the air while calling Benderman "a hero" and his immediate superiors "weenies." One of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. Army history, Gritz led the only raid on a prisoner of war camp during the Vietnam War at Son Tay, North Vietnam.
On Monday afternoon, Benderman says he is still in the dark as to what the Army plans for him. "I have learned nothing from anyone in my chain of command informing me on the disposition of my case, despite my attempts to communicate with them. Perhaps tomorrow," he said.
[...]
In further developments this weekend, it has been confirmed that Specialist J.R. Burt and Specialist David Beals, also of 2-7 attempted suicide rather than deploy to Iraq, and an additional seventeen soldiers in 2-7 Infantry Battalion have gone AWOL for the same reason. Army sources who have been granted anonymity because they feared retaliation stated that both Burt and Beals are being harassed and mistreated on the Psychiatric Ward of Winn Army Hospital by unit commanders and a civilian, Dr. Capp who in apparent violation of state law is reported as informing them of the harsh punishments they may expect should they refuse deployment. In addition, SFC Johnson, 2-7 platoon sergeant for Spec. Beals reportedly told him recently "…when I get you to Iraq, I’m going to get you killed," in the presence of several witnesses who say this incident was a catalyst in Beals’ attempted suicide.
More personal information, as well as Sgt. Benderman's statements and a message from his wife are available through links in the sidebar at Project for the Old American Century. (Scroll down to "Voice from the Military".)
Deep pockets
Michael Georgy of the Scotsman reports from Baghdad that interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi admitted on Tuesday that "pockets" of Iraq won't be able to vote on January 30 because of poor security. I suspect the pockets amount to about 3 million persons.
Juan Cole post[...]
Jordan's ambassador to the US, Karim Kawar, is among the few officials in the region or in Washington to admit the truth: The January 30 elections in Iraq have no real validity. He estiamtes that 40% of the country won't be able to vote.
An election in which the names of the candidates in the various lists are still not known 18 days before the polls open is a sick joke, not an election. What could it possibly mean, to vote for anonymous politicians?
We know about sick jokes passing for elections.
And hey, there were a number of Americans who claimed to be willing to vote for an anonymous politician rather than for Bush.
It's kind of interesting that the candidates are anonymous to avoid being killed by the guerillas. So, do they think the guerillas will leave them be once they have an office?
The elections are like all the other Wizard of Oz spectacles put on by the Bush administration in Iraq since April 9, 2003 -- the appointment of Garner, the appointment of Bremer, the appointment of an Interim Governing Council, the capture of Saddam, the "transition to sovereignty," etc., etc. Each of these was supposed to be some magical turning point and the beginning of sunshine and rainbows, and instead the situation has deteriorated every single month for the past nearly two years.
POAC graphic
NSPD 28
I think that I’ve discovered a previously undisclosed National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD) relating to nuclear weapons.
Moreover, I worry that it lays the groundwork to build new nuclear weapons and resume nuclear testing.
The source? National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) Policy Planning Director John Harvey’s biography! Prepared for a recent CISAC conference, Harvey’s biography lists his role as “point for NNSA “¦ on the drafting and implementation of National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD)-28 on Nuclear Weapons Command, Control, Safety, and Security.”
I’ve never seen another reference to NSPD 28. Steven Aftergood doesn’t have it on his comprehensive list of NSPDs. [He just put it up, with a very generous link to ACW.]
The directive must have been signed sometime between June 2003-April 2004. That would exclude the classified stockpile plan reduction plan which, again according to John Harvey, was signed in May 2004.
So, what’s in it?
Moreover, I worry that it lays the groundwork to build new nuclear weapons and resume nuclear testing.
The source? National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) Policy Planning Director John Harvey’s biography! Prepared for a recent CISAC conference, Harvey’s biography lists his role as “point for NNSA “¦ on the drafting and implementation of National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD)-28 on Nuclear Weapons Command, Control, Safety, and Security.”
I’ve never seen another reference to NSPD 28. Steven Aftergood doesn’t have it on his comprehensive list of NSPDs. [He just put it up, with a very generous link to ACW.]
The directive must have been signed sometime between June 2003-April 2004. That would exclude the classified stockpile plan reduction plan which, again according to John Harvey, was signed in May 2004.
So, what’s in it?
Continue reading NSPD 28 at Arms Control Wonk.
I'm assuming it would be something directing the development and testing of "mini nukes".
No Pundit Left Behind
If anyone is interested in ferreting out other Armstrong Williamses whom the WH is pimping, please see this post at Daily Kos.
Pass it on.
Pass it on.
Social Insecurity
I keep avoiding the subject. If you want someone who is fixated on it and will answer pretty much any conceivable question you have, I hope you are reading Talking Points Memo. Or Jonathan Schwartz provides a number of links to explanations.
I'll take up the issue of what "young people" think about the SS fiasco for a short post here, though, because I've just read a couple of posts on the subject from those two sources. The first is from Josh Marshall at TPM:
The other is from Jonathan Schwartz at A Tiny Revolution:
Dude, relax. I'm sure it's in our Star Wars plan somewhere.
I'll take up the issue of what "young people" think about the SS fiasco for a short post here, though, because I've just read a couple of posts on the subject from those two sources. The first is from Josh Marshall at TPM:
Do reporters respond when the president tells flagrant lies?
(No, it's not a trick question.)
Today the president said: "Most younger people in America think they'll never see a dime [from Social Security]. Probably an exaggeration to a certain extent. But a lot of people who are young, who understand how Social Security works, really do wonder whether they'll see anything."
(No, it's not a trick question.)
Today the president said: "Most younger people in America think they'll never see a dime [from Social Security]. Probably an exaggeration to a certain extent. But a lot of people who are young, who understand how Social Security works, really do wonder whether they'll see anything."
[...]
So here, for instance, he states that young people think they'll never collect Social Security benefits. Then he says that's "probably an exaggeration to a certain extent." And then he goes on to say that it's precisely the young people who are knowledgable about Social Security who think this. The clear implication, the meaning he intends to convey, is that this dire prediction is at least more true than not, when in fact, as we've noted, to the extent we can know anything about the future, it's not even close to being true.
The other is from Jonathan Schwartz at A Tiny Revolution:
In any discussion about Social Security, you constantly hear about a 1995 poll finding that more 18-34 year-olds believed in UFOs than believed Social Security would exist when they retired. This is always brandished as proof that we have to do something about Social Security.
I agree completely -- the ultimate arbiter of all public policy must be what 18-34 year-olds believe.
Therefore:
We must immediately start preparing our defenses against UFO attack!!!!!
WE CANNOT WAIT A SECOND LONGER TO DEAL WITH THE UFO CRISIS!!!!!!!!!
I agree completely -- the ultimate arbiter of all public policy must be what 18-34 year-olds believe.
Therefore:
We must immediately start preparing our defenses against UFO attack!!!!!
WE CANNOT WAIT A SECOND LONGER TO DEAL WITH THE UFO CRISIS!!!!!!!!!
Dude, relax. I'm sure it's in our Star Wars plan somewhere.
Bush Dynasty
There's a personal risk, too, for Bush if he picks the ''Salvador option.'' He could become an American version of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet or Guatemala's Efrain Rios Montt, leaders who turned loose their security forces to commit assassinations, ''disappear'' opponents and torture captives.
Like the policy that George W. Bush is now considering, Pinochet even sponsored his own international ''death squad'' - known as Operation Condor - that hunted down political opponents around the world. One of those attacks in September 1976 blew up a car carrying Chilean dissident Orlando Letelier as he drove through Washington D.C. with two American associates. Letelier and co-worker Ronni Moffitt were killed.
With the help of American friends in high places, the two former dictators have fended off prison until now. However, Pinochet and Rios Montt have become pariahs who are facing legal proceedings aimed at finally holding them accountable for their atrocities. [For more on George H.W. Bush's protection of Pinochet, see Parry's Secrecy & Privilege.]
One way for George W. Bush to avert that kind of trouble is to make sure his political allies remain in power even after his second term ends in January 2009. In his case, that might be achievable by promoting his brother Jeb for president in 2008, thus guaranteeing that any incriminating documents stay under wraps.
President George W. Bush's dispatching Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to inspect the tsunami damage in Asia started political speculation that one of the reasons was to burnish Jeb's international credentials in a setting where his personal empathy would be on display.
Consortium News articleLike the policy that George W. Bush is now considering, Pinochet even sponsored his own international ''death squad'' - known as Operation Condor - that hunted down political opponents around the world. One of those attacks in September 1976 blew up a car carrying Chilean dissident Orlando Letelier as he drove through Washington D.C. with two American associates. Letelier and co-worker Ronni Moffitt were killed.
With the help of American friends in high places, the two former dictators have fended off prison until now. However, Pinochet and Rios Montt have become pariahs who are facing legal proceedings aimed at finally holding them accountable for their atrocities. [For more on George H.W. Bush's protection of Pinochet, see Parry's Secrecy & Privilege.]
One way for George W. Bush to avert that kind of trouble is to make sure his political allies remain in power even after his second term ends in January 2009. In his case, that might be achievable by promoting his brother Jeb for president in 2008, thus guaranteeing that any incriminating documents stay under wraps.
President George W. Bush's dispatching Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to inspect the tsunami damage in Asia started political speculation that one of the reasons was to burnish Jeb's international credentials in a setting where his personal empathy would be on display.
Please.
The Armstrong Williams WH payola story
This isn't just a story about a self-serving pundit "entrepreneur," or the erosion of public trust in the media, or hypocrisy, or using covert propaganda to sell controversial Bush programs like Medicare reform and NCLB, or the misuse of taxpayer dollars, or the undermining of the American people's trust in the public sector.
It is the story of the conservative movement and its well-oiled marketing machine; a packaging and distribution system of ideas that has been shaping American public opinion for more than a quarter century. It is also one of the most important stories behind the 2004 election.
It is the story of the conservative movement and its well-oiled marketing machine; a packaging and distribution system of ideas that has been shaping American public opinion for more than a quarter century. It is also one of the most important stories behind the 2004 election.
[...]
While the leaders of the conservative movement like to boast that the power of their movement lies in the power of its ideas, the ideas of today's conservative movement are the same old failed policies from years gone by, spit-shined and with user-friendly names. The power of the conservative movement is not in its ideas, rather it is in the marketing of these ideas, primarily through effective packaging, promotion and distribution.
Read: The Conservative Marketing Machine
For all the truth in this and other articles about "the left" needing to get good and slick in the advertising department in order to reach the other half of America, I don't think I'd like living in that version, either. A country where people are willing to remain ignorant and be manipulated by slick promos and feel-good slogans? Where the "ideas" don't count - just the packaging? No thanks. I'm looking for a place where people want to understand what's really happening to them and to the rest of the world in their name.
Meanwhile in Iraq
Dahr Jamail reports.
Full post.
During my last trip I interviewed several IP’s [Ed.: Iraqi Police] who complained of lack of weapons, radios and vehicles from the occupation forces. Their complaints were centered on the fact that the resistance had better weapons than the police.
Later in my room we watched a press conference on the television with the so-called interim prime minister Iyad Allawi. A journalist asked him if it was true that the cell phone service would be cut on the 15th of this month because of the upcoming “elections.â€
He dodged the question…deferring it to the ministry of defense.
Later in my room we watched a press conference on the television with the so-called interim prime minister Iyad Allawi. A journalist asked him if it was true that the cell phone service would be cut on the 15th of this month because of the upcoming “elections.â€
He dodged the question…deferring it to the ministry of defense.
[...]
Of course the gas crisis continues to worsen. Most of the stations in Baghdad are closed. Rather than cars filling their tanks, strands of razor wire and empty fuel tanker trucks sit in many of them.
[...]
Iraqis are reminded daily of the 70% unemployment with the gas shortage driving the costs of everything through the roof. Even petrol is 1000 Iraq Dinars (ID) per liter on the black market, which unless you are willing to endure 12-24 hours waiting in a line, is the only way to get your tank filled.
When I was in Iraq one month ago it was 300 ID per liter. Imagine what you would do if in your country you had 70% unemployment, were without a job, and the cost of fuel rose 333% in one month, thus driving the costs of everything from food to heating oil up?
Speaking of the gas crisis, this morning a pipeline between Kirkuk and the Beji refinery was exploded, and several lines southwest of Kirkuk were also destroyed.
[...]
Keep in mind that Yusufiyah, just south of Baghdad and in the “triangle of death†was recently the scene of large scale US/UK military operations to rid the area of resistance fighters. Looks like those operations were about as successful as Fallujah, where fighting also continues on a near daily basis.
Full post.
Maybe Kerik was just the decoy
Direland has some more information on our likely new Fatherland Director, and it ain't pretty.
Inauguration ordeal
Dozens of federal and local law enforcement agencies and military commands are planning what they describe as the heaviest possible security. Virtually everyone who gets within eyesight of the president either during the Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol or the inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue later in the day will first go through a metal detector or receive a body pat-down.
Thousands of police officers and military personnel are being brought to Washington from around the country for the four-day event. Sharpshooters will be deployed on roofs, while bomb-sniffing dogs will work the streets. Electronic sensors will be used to detect chemical or biological weapons.
News-Herald articleThousands of police officers and military personnel are being brought to Washington from around the country for the four-day event. Sharpshooters will be deployed on roofs, while bomb-sniffing dogs will work the streets. Electronic sensors will be used to detect chemical or biological weapons.
[...]
Parade performers will have security escorts to the bathroom, and they've been ordered not to look directly at President Bush or make any sudden movements while passing the reviewing stand.
Don't even look at him! Why not just make everybody kneel and put their heads down?
"It's going to be very different from past inaugurals," said Contricia Sellers-Ford, spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police, which is responsible for the Capitol and grounds.
Yeah, I guess. We never had a coronation before.
Anti-war protesters with the A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition have complained that large sections of the parade route have been set aside for Bush's political contributors and supporters and will be closed to the general public.
That was a given.
Thousands of performers - marching bands, color guards, pompon dancers, hand bell-ringers, drill teams on horseback and Civil War re-enactors - will be bused early in the morning to the Pentagon parking lot across the Potomac in Virginia. While performers disembark and go through metal detectors, bomb-sniffing dogs will search the buses.
Then everybody will get back on the buses for a trip to the National Mall, where they will spend most of the day in heavily guarded warming tents. Participants have been warned that they will not be allowed to leave the tents except to go to portable toilets accompanied by a security escort.
Other instructions given performers include a warning not to look directly at Bush while passing the presidential reviewing stand, not to look to either side and not to make any sudden movements.
Then everybody will get back on the buses for a trip to the National Mall, where they will spend most of the day in heavily guarded warming tents. Participants have been warned that they will not be allowed to leave the tents except to go to portable toilets accompanied by a security escort.
Other instructions given performers include a warning not to look directly at Bush while passing the presidential reviewing stand, not to look to either side and not to make any sudden movements.
Boy! This is going to be a great time!
The anti-abortion Christian Defense Coalition, which is also planning a demonstration, has threatened to sue the government because the Secret Service recently added crosses to its list of objects that are banned from the parade route.
Bummer.
"I think it's censorship no matter how you look at it," said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the defense coalition.
You gave him his mandate. Maybe you should have checked a little closer into who you were voting for. And pay a little more attention to reality next time. And notice how it feels to have your views censored.
Besides weapons, other items on the banned list include coolers, folding chairs, bicycles, pets, papier-mache objects, displays such as puppets, mock coffins, props and "any items determined to be a potential safety hazard."
Not much left, but you can still wave your flag.
No WMD, but we're still holding those scientists
Congress allotted hundreds of millions of dollars for the weapons hunt, and there has been no public accounting of the money. A spokesman for the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency said the entire budget and the expenditures would remain classified.
WaPo article[...]
[A] small group of Iraqi scientists still in U.S. military custody are not being held in connection with weapons investigations [...]
Three people involved with the ISG said the weapons teams made several pleas to the Pentagon to release the scientists, who have been interviewed extensively. All three officials specifically mentioned Gen. Amir Saadi, who was a liaison between Hussein's government and U.N. inspectors; Rihab Taha, a biologist nicknamed "Dr. Germ" years ago by U.N. inspectors; her husband, Amir Rashid, the former oil minister; and Huda Amash, a biologist whose extensive dealings with U.N. inspectors earned her the nickname "Mrs. Anthrax."
None of the scientists has been involved in weapons programs since the 1991 Gulf War, the ISG determined more than a year ago, and all have cooperated with investigators despite nearly two years of jail time without charges. U.S. officials previously said they were being held because their denials of ongoing weapons programs were presumed to be lies; now, they say the scientists are being held in connection with the possible war crimes trials of Iraqis.
And if that doesn't pan out, we are experienced in changing the reasons for our actions. That's the easy part.
Genocide in Darfur
Jan Pronk, the special UN envoy to Sudan, said on Tuesday arms were flooding into the troubled western region, violence was spreading beyond camps for the homeless, banditry was increasing and rebel groups were launching attacks in the area of oil facilities.
The renewed fighting comes just days after Khartoum signed a peace deal with rebels in the south.
articleThe renewed fighting comes just days after Khartoum signed a peace deal with rebels in the south.
[...]
Darfur has been caught up in an armed conflict since 2003, resulting in the death of some 70,000 people. About 1.7 million people have also been driven from their homes.
The horror that is Darfur, where ruthless and heinous attacks by government supported marauders (ah, death squads) to smash a popular uprising, isn't nearly as exciting as a tsunami. I imagine the people living there might be wishing for a natural disaster, devoid of politics, to capture the attention of aid donors worldwide. Too bad for them.
The WHO's top crisis envoy, David Nabarro, estimated that 70,000 people in Darfur had died since March from disease or malnutrition.
"We still are not able to get the resources we need collectively to mount the response that is required to bring death rates down to the level that is acceptable," Nabarro told journalists Friday.
Aid agencies had only received half of the 300 million dollars needed to cope with disease, malnutrition, poor shelter and sanitation for the 1.4 million displaced in the region and another 200,000 refugees in neighbouring Chad Chad.
"When you are dealing with an issue where you can sense the suffering, the despair and hopelessness of so many people, and you perceive that there is a potentially receptive international community, it's amazing that we still can't seem to get the money that is required," Nabarro said.
"It's covered well in French newspapers, in Japanese newspapers and other countries in Europe and the United States," he added, pointing to the high degree of political attention.
"But the conversion of information reaching the politicians into resources that come to us isn't adequate, and the price is measured in death."
Although the mortality rate had fallen back to the levels recorded in June, up to 10,000 people were still dying a month in Darfur, an excessively high death rate even for a humanitarian crisis, according to the WHO.
Health article"We still are not able to get the resources we need collectively to mount the response that is required to bring death rates down to the level that is acceptable," Nabarro told journalists Friday.
Aid agencies had only received half of the 300 million dollars needed to cope with disease, malnutrition, poor shelter and sanitation for the 1.4 million displaced in the region and another 200,000 refugees in neighbouring Chad Chad.
"When you are dealing with an issue where you can sense the suffering, the despair and hopelessness of so many people, and you perceive that there is a potentially receptive international community, it's amazing that we still can't seem to get the money that is required," Nabarro said.
"It's covered well in French newspapers, in Japanese newspapers and other countries in Europe and the United States," he added, pointing to the high degree of political attention.
"But the conversion of information reaching the politicians into resources that come to us isn't adequate, and the price is measured in death."
Although the mortality rate had fallen back to the levels recorded in June, up to 10,000 people were still dying a month in Darfur, an excessively high death rate even for a humanitarian crisis, according to the WHO.
Ten thousand per month.
The British charity Save the Children says it will evacuate all staff from Sudan’s Darfur region. Two of the charity’s workers were killed by a land mine in October and two others were killed in a road ambush this month.
Save the Children, which had been serving some 250-thousand children in the area, said the risks to aid workers in Darfur had become unacceptable. Government-backed militias have been fighting a rebel insurgency in Darfur for nearly two years. The Sudanese government denies that it is backing the militias.
VOA articleSave the Children, which had been serving some 250-thousand children in the area, said the risks to aid workers in Darfur had become unacceptable. Government-backed militias have been fighting a rebel insurgency in Darfur for nearly two years. The Sudanese government denies that it is backing the militias.
[...]
The United States says the violence in Darfur amounts to genocide. Nearly two million people have been displaced by the unrest and scores of villages have been burned to the ground.
But, sorry, you're on your own. If only Sudan's leader had threatened to kill George's daddy, maybe we could help you.
Human Rights Watch: Ethnic Cleansing in Darfur
Oxfam donations
It's official: No WMD
And "official" makes it so. Now they can put that search expense money into elections security, I guess.
The search for elusive weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has officially ended, the Washington Post says.
The daily reported on Wednesday that officials who served with the group charged with hunting banned weapons said insecurity in Iraq and a lack of new information had led them to fold up the effort shortly before Christmas.
Reuters article at Al JazeeraThe daily reported on Wednesday that officials who served with the group charged with hunting banned weapons said insecurity in Iraq and a lack of new information had led them to fold up the effort shortly before Christmas.
[...]
The Post said the findings of an interim report that Duelfer submitted to the US Congress in September will stand as the ISG's final conclusions, according to a senior intelligence
official.
[...]
The report found that Iraq had no stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons and its nuclear programme had decayed before the US-led invasion in 2003, in findings contrary to pre-war assertions of the Bush administration.
With little fanfare, U.S. President George Bush's highly publicized search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq ended before Christmas.
Washington Times article"With little fanfare"? We didn't even hear about it until now.
photo snagged from Maru
Update 11:00am :
Congress allotted hundreds of millions of dollars for the weapons hunt, and there has been no public accounting of the money. A spokesman for the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency said the entire budget and the expenditures would remain classified.
WaPo article
ABC plays military's game
A US soldier was killed in action in the volatile western province of Al Anbar on Tuesday, the military announced in a statement.
"A soldier assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was killed in action on January 11, while conducting security and stability operations in the Al Anbar province," the military said.
The military gave no further information.
article"A soldier assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was killed in action on January 11, while conducting security and stability operations in the Al Anbar province," the military said.
The military gave no further information.
Nor does ABC give further information that "security and stability operations in Al Anbar province" is code for "continued fighting in Falluja". Must allow Americans to think that mission has been accomplished.
Reuters follows the same script, releasing the military's official statement, adding this silly, but true, closing line:
U.S. troops often come under attack from insurgents who want them to leave Iraqi soil.
Speaking of the relatively new "hot" spot, The Australian doesn't sugar coat the news that two bombs in the last two days have killed more Iraqi soldiers.
Mosul was plunged into all-out war between US forces and insurgents in early November.
Indeed. And the "operations" in Falluja still constitute war, too. No matter how they avoid saying so.
All Falluja posts
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
More from the secrecy files
The United States said Monday that it would release documents to the independent panel investigating the United Nations' Iraq oil-for-food program, after the inquiry's chief complained about lack of cooperation from the United States government.
NY Times article[...]
In an interview with The New York Times last week, Mr. Volcker said, "I hate to make a sweeping statement, but we get better cooperation from many other countries than we do from the United States."
The U.S. Commerce Department's Boulder labs on Broadway house the "atomic clock" and employ 1,700 workers. Two years ago, the feds announced plans to fence in most of the 217-acre site “which was given to the government by Boulder citizens and which has been used as public open space for five decades.
Boulder residents and (we now know) many federal scientists reacted with disbelief and pointed questions: Why is this fence necessary? Who really wants to blow up the atomic clock? How much will this "security" cost?
The Commerce Department didn't answer. But it did hold obligatory public hearings in which federal bosses told the riff-raff that the fence was a fait accompli. As for why the fence was needed, well, it was needed because they said it was. Nyah, nyah, nyah.
Daily Camera articleBoulder residents and (we now know) many federal scientists reacted with disbelief and pointed questions: Why is this fence necessary? Who really wants to blow up the atomic clock? How much will this "security" cost?
The Commerce Department didn't answer. But it did hold obligatory public hearings in which federal bosses told the riff-raff that the fence was a fait accompli. As for why the fence was needed, well, it was needed because they said it was. Nyah, nyah, nyah.
[...]
A local group called FightTheFence.org was so frustrated by the feds' secrecy last February, it filed a federal Freedom of Information Act request for all documents pertaining to the proposed fence. By last September, the group was so angered by the non-responses (most of the released documents were critical notes to the department's bosses) that it sued the government for allegedly violating FOIA.
In March, the Camera also sought meaningful answers, wielding the sword of the Freedom of Information Act. Since then, the Commerce Department has given the Camera seven parcels of documents, totaling about 1,000 pages. But virtually none of the documents actually answers any vital question.
[...]
On one page only one three-sentence paragraph was fully released. The feds say the redaction is legal because the censored material relates "solely to the internal rules and practices of an agency."
It's a brave new world with such falsehood in it. A dubiously necessary security fence cannot “on the face of it” relate "solely to internal rules and practices." But this is how the government answers a citizen's questions: with nonsense and contempt.
Because they can. Nyah, nyah, nyah.
Jeezus, now we're stiffing the spies
It might be legal, but I'm not sure it's a good idea....
The Supreme Court is considering whether spies recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) can sue the U.S. government for promises of payment that were allegedly broken.
VOA article
[...]
Two former Soviet-bloc diplomats recruited to spy for the CIA during the Cold War say the agency later reneged on promises to compensate them for the dangerous missions they performed. The husband and wife team are bringing this case under the assumed names of John and Jane Doe out of fear they could be assassinated if their identities are exposed.
[...]
Lower courts have allowed the case to go forward. But lawyers for the U.S. government argue such lawsuits would compromise national security by exposing intelligence secrets. And they cite a 130 year-old Supreme Court decision that prevented a spy working for the government of President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War from suing over alleged promises unfulfilled. At that time, the high court ruled espionage agreements are by nature secret contracts and therefore cannot be enforced in court.
To be offered in 2008?
And you Dems are fools if you buy.
11 January 2005
On November 3, just hours after Democratic vice-presidential hopeful John Edwards made a national announcement that he and John Kerry were not going to concede until all the votes were counted, Kerry grabbed the spotlight and conceded -- before all the votes were counted.
Kerry took the money and ran. Seems he couldn't stick around because he and the missus were spending Christmas at a holiday extravaganza in Sun Valley as personal guests of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who just weeks before had fired up the Republican Convention at Madison Square Garden by declaring that "America is safer with George W. Bush as president."
Scoop articleOn November 3, just hours after Democratic vice-presidential hopeful John Edwards made a national announcement that he and John Kerry were not going to concede until all the votes were counted, Kerry grabbed the spotlight and conceded -- before all the votes were counted.
Kerry took the money and ran. Seems he couldn't stick around because he and the missus were spending Christmas at a holiday extravaganza in Sun Valley as personal guests of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who just weeks before had fired up the Republican Convention at Madison Square Garden by declaring that "America is safer with George W. Bush as president."
[...]
It would be another two months before Kerry got around to emailing his millions of stunned, exhausted, and much poorer supporters to let them know that, although he was committed to "ensuring that every vote in this election is counted," alas, he wouldn't be joining the protest of the Ohio Electors.
18th December 2004
The Green called attention to the $51 million war chest Sen. Kerry was left with after the election. Kerry has come under fire for not contributing the money to other 2004 Democratic congressional candidates.
“Sadly, John Kerry seems to be trapped under the pile of 51 million dollars that is preventing him from getting up and standing up,” Cobb told RAW STORY.
That’s “the highest amount of money a presidential candidate has ever been left with so far” after an election, he added.
Kerry, given the opportunity to exercise his right for a recount as a candidate that received a large percentage of the vote, declined to do so. As such, the Green Party and others raised $150,000 to pay Ohio to conduct the count.
Bellaciao articleThe Green called attention to the $51 million war chest Sen. Kerry was left with after the election. Kerry has come under fire for not contributing the money to other 2004 Democratic congressional candidates.
“Sadly, John Kerry seems to be trapped under the pile of 51 million dollars that is preventing him from getting up and standing up,” Cobb told RAW STORY.
That’s “the highest amount of money a presidential candidate has ever been left with so far” after an election, he added.
Kerry, given the opportunity to exercise his right for a recount as a candidate that received a large percentage of the vote, declined to do so. As such, the Green Party and others raised $150,000 to pay Ohio to conduct the count.
11/17/2004
"Democrats are questioning why he sat on so much money that could have helped him defeat George Bush or helped down-ballot races, many of which could have gone our way with a few more million dollars," said Donna Brazile, campaign manager for Al Gore's 2000 presidential race.
USA Today article"Democrats are questioning why he sat on so much money that could have helped him defeat George Bush or helped down-ballot races, many of which could have gone our way with a few more million dollars," said Donna Brazile, campaign manager for Al Gore's 2000 presidential race.
[...]
Three former Kerry campaign aides, also demanding anonymity out of concerns about alienating their former boss, said they were surprised and disappointed to learn that he left so much money in the bank.
[...]
His final report is not due until next month, but officials close to Kerry said he has $15 million to $17 million in that account, with no outstanding debts, after giving the DNC about $23 million and state parties about $9 million since the mid-October report.
[...]
"He's going to have to give some of it up for 2005 and beyond," Brazile said. "The party will demand it."
Nov. 17, 2004
WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kerry, who has $45 million left from his record-breaking Democratic campaign, hinted on Tuesday that he may try again for the presidency.
MSNBC articleWASHINGTON - Sen. John Kerry, who has $45 million left from his record-breaking Democratic campaign, hinted on Tuesday that he may try again for the presidency.
[...]
In his first extensive interview since his Nov. 2 defeat, Kerry was asked by the Fox News affiliate in Boston about running again in 2008 and reminded the questioner that Ohio is still counting votes from 2004.
He then said, “It is so premature to be thinking about something that far down the road. What I’ve said is I’m not opening any doors, I’m not shutting any doors.” Kerry added, “If there’s a next time, we’ll do a better job. We’ll see.”
[...]
The Democrats have no clear front-runner for the 2008 nomination. Kerry has a distinct financial advantage over any rival based on his fund raising.
Kerry had roughly $45 million left in his primary campaign fund as of mid-October and could use that as seed money for another presidential bid. In addition, he had about $7 million on hand in a legal and accounting compliance fund that he could use for legal expenses in a 2008 campaign.
So apparently there's somewhere between 15 and 50 million dollars to jump start a 2008 run if that's what he's thinking.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
U.S. won't claim responsibility for reckless killing
That report of soldiers blasting a couple of Iraqi police and some civilians in response to a roadside bomb explosion is being denied by the military. I guess having to admit to dropping a 500-pound bomb on the wrong house the day before was all the crow they were willing to eat.
A U.S. spokesman denied on Monday that American soldiers killed five civilians in a hail of gunfire after a roadside bomb exploded near American troops, and an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman who initially issued the report backed away from the claim.
The U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. James Hutton, said the weekend bombing apparently targeted American soldiers but instead killed a civilian and two men wearing Iraqi police uniforms. He said coalition troops then came under small-arms fire that killed two Iraqi civilians.
Hutton said three civilians also were wounded, "most likely from insurgents," and a third man wearing a police uniform was wounded. There were no U.S. casualties, he said.
The U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. James Hutton, said the weekend bombing apparently targeted American soldiers but instead killed a civilian and two men wearing Iraqi police uniforms. He said coalition troops then came under small-arms fire that killed two Iraqi civilians.
Hutton said three civilians also were wounded, "most likely from insurgents," and a third man wearing a police uniform was wounded. There were no U.S. casualties, he said.
How lucky.
Hutton said it was believed the three men in police uniforms were not actually Iraqi police. Afterward, four police officers responsible for the area arrived at the scene and were detained on suspicion they might have been involved in the attack, he said.
A fiasco, no matter how you slice it.
Bubbleboy flirting with danger
For two men at opposite ends of the political spectrum, the relationship between the 43rd and 42nd presidents has grown surprisingly warm and personal over the last six months. Clinton endorsed Bush's approach to the tsunami catastrophe, defending him against criticism about his initial response as well as raising cash alongside the president's father. Friends and aides say the two men enjoy each other's company and, as fellow pros, respect each other's political talents.
The rapid thaw started with the unveiling of Clinton's official portrait in the White House in June, when Bush told his speechwriters he wanted to deliver something "very praiseworthy, warm, funny and short." During Clinton's recent health crisis, Bush called twice to share what one of the former president's aides called "good, funny conversations." And in November, at the opening of Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., both the president and his father delivered praise that Clinton reveled in. Clinton even pulled aside Karl Rove, the architect of Bush's election success, to congratulate him.
MSNBC articleThe rapid thaw started with the unveiling of Clinton's official portrait in the White House in June, when Bush told his speechwriters he wanted to deliver something "very praiseworthy, warm, funny and short." During Clinton's recent health crisis, Bush called twice to share what one of the former president's aides called "good, funny conversations." And in November, at the opening of Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., both the president and his father delivered praise that Clinton reveled in. Clinton even pulled aside Karl Rove, the architect of Bush's election success, to congratulate him.
Sure, Bubblehead and Bubblenose are about par as far as scruples go, but how many rabid Bush supporters are going to go along with this? Will they turn on their mascot? Will the blame Clinton for everything talk die off?
...hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
A new Fatherland chief nomination
Chertoff: Kerik without the sex
But...no sex scandal.
Then that should be okay.
His record?
[...] OK'ed and then defended the detention of hundreds of "material witnesses" of Arab descent -- even though it would later be determined that none -- that's right, none -- of the detainees had anything to do with the terrorist attacks of 2001.
[...] "defended the need for government agencies to aggregate large amounts of personal information in computer databases for both law enforcement and national security purposes."
[...] responsible for the badly botched prosecution of al-Qaeda terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, who has yet to be brought to any type of justice even though he was arrested three-and-a-half years ago. Under his leadership, the Justice Department pursued a theory that Moussaoui was "the 20th hijacker" -- despite zero evidence to support that claim. However, that argument has been used as an excuse to deny the American public from information that might prove what really happened to Flight 93 on 9/11.
[...] "defended the need for government agencies to aggregate large amounts of personal information in computer databases for both law enforcement and national security purposes."
[...] responsible for the badly botched prosecution of al-Qaeda terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, who has yet to be brought to any type of justice even though he was arrested three-and-a-half years ago. Under his leadership, the Justice Department pursued a theory that Moussaoui was "the 20th hijacker" -- despite zero evidence to support that claim. However, that argument has been used as an excuse to deny the American public from information that might prove what really happened to Flight 93 on 9/11.
But...no sex scandal.
That budget cut the Pentagon is making?
Yep. You guessed it. Smoke and mirrors.
BECAUSE of the cost of the war in Iraq and the mounting federal deficit, the Office of Management and Budget has ordered the Pentagon to make major budget cuts over the next six years. According to the Pentagon, these could come to more than $55 billion and will affect almost all major weapons programs. Like most reports about reductions in Pentagon spending, however, there is less to it than meets the eye.
First, the overall size of the Pentagon budget would not come down very much. A large amount of the money that is supposedly being cut is in fact only being transferred from the Air Force and Navy budgets to the Army's, which is scheduled to increase by $5 billion a year. The overall military budget will continue to rise; from 2006 through 2011, the Pentagon will still spend more than $2.5 trillion, not counting the costs of the war in Iraq, which now exceed $200 billion.
Second, the proposed savings will take some time to translate into actual budget reductions. For example, in its 2006 budget, which will be sent to the Congress next month, the Pentagon plans to cut budget authority - which includes spending, borrowing and contractual obligations - by $5.9 billion. But because so much of that money was scheduled to be spent toward the end of the decade, the actual reduction in 2006 alone will be only about $1 billion. Most of the money that will be spent on new weapons next year has already been authorized by Congress.
Third, many of the reductions are not real cuts. For example, the Navy still plans to buy 30 Virginia-class nuclear submarines for some $60 billion, but rather than buying two a year for the next six years, as had been planned, the Pentagon will buy only one per year. This will "save" about $5.3 billion in the next six years, but simply pushes the cost to the following years.
NY Times article
First, the overall size of the Pentagon budget would not come down very much. A large amount of the money that is supposedly being cut is in fact only being transferred from the Air Force and Navy budgets to the Army's, which is scheduled to increase by $5 billion a year. The overall military budget will continue to rise; from 2006 through 2011, the Pentagon will still spend more than $2.5 trillion, not counting the costs of the war in Iraq, which now exceed $200 billion.
Second, the proposed savings will take some time to translate into actual budget reductions. For example, in its 2006 budget, which will be sent to the Congress next month, the Pentagon plans to cut budget authority - which includes spending, borrowing and contractual obligations - by $5.9 billion. But because so much of that money was scheduled to be spent toward the end of the decade, the actual reduction in 2006 alone will be only about $1 billion. Most of the money that will be spent on new weapons next year has already been authorized by Congress.
Third, many of the reductions are not real cuts. For example, the Navy still plans to buy 30 Virginia-class nuclear submarines for some $60 billion, but rather than buying two a year for the next six years, as had been planned, the Pentagon will buy only one per year. This will "save" about $5.3 billion in the next six years, but simply pushes the cost to the following years.
Support our troops
Republican style support:
It's payback time in the nation's capital. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., lost his post as chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs this week for the worst possible reason: He spoke out loudly against cuts in veterans programs at a time when House GOP leaders - and President Bush - were touting the party's wartime support for the troops.
Even though the heads of eight veterans groups, including the VFW and the American Legion, recently wrote to House Speaker Dennis Hastert that it would be a "tragedy" if Mr. Smith were removed, the long-time champion of veterans is now off the committee altogether.
North Jersey article (subscription: use the BugMeNot link in the sidebar to bypass registration)
Even though the heads of eight veterans groups, including the VFW and the American Legion, recently wrote to House Speaker Dennis Hastert that it would be a "tragedy" if Mr. Smith were removed, the long-time champion of veterans is now off the committee altogether.
Saddam's replacement
The electoral group headed by Iyad Allawi, the interim Iraqi prime minister, on Monday handed out cash to journalists to ensure coverage of its press conferences in a throwback to Ba'athist-era patronage ahead of parliamentary elections on January 30.
After a meeting held by Mr Allawi's campaign alliance in west Baghdad, reporters, most of whom were from the Arabic-language press, were invited upstairs where each was offered a "gift" of a $100 bill contained in an envelope.
Many of the journalists accepted the cash - about equivalent to half the starting monthly salary for a reporter at an Iraqi newspaper - and one jokingly recalled how Saddam Hussein's regime had also lavished perks on favoured reporters.
Financial Times articleAfter a meeting held by Mr Allawi's campaign alliance in west Baghdad, reporters, most of whom were from the Arabic-language press, were invited upstairs where each was offered a "gift" of a $100 bill contained in an envelope.
Many of the journalists accepted the cash - about equivalent to half the starting monthly salary for a reporter at an Iraqi newspaper - and one jokingly recalled how Saddam Hussein's regime had also lavished perks on favoured reporters.
Ace in the hole
Why hasn't Osama bin Laden's terror network executed an attack on U.S. soil since 9-11?
Simple, says Dr. Jack Wheeler, creator of an acclaimed intelligence website dubbed "the oasis for rational conservatives": The U.S. has threatened to nuke the Muslim holy city of Mecca should the terror leader strike America again.
World Net Daily articleSure it was.Simple, says Dr. Jack Wheeler, creator of an acclaimed intelligence website dubbed "the oasis for rational conservatives": The U.S. has threatened to nuke the Muslim holy city of Mecca should the terror leader strike America again.
[...]
"There has been a rumor floating in the Washington ether for some time now that George Bush has figured out what Sword of Damocles is suspended over Osama bin Laden's head. It's whispered among Capitol Hill staffers on the intel and armed services committees; White House NSC (National Security Council) members clam up tight if you begin to hint at it; and State Department neo-cons love to give their liberal counterparts cardiac arrhythmia by elliptically conversing about it in their presence.
"The whispers and hints and ellipses are getting louder now because the rumor explains the inexplicable: Why hasn't there been a repeat of 9-11? How can it be that after this unimaginable tragedy and Osama's constant threats of another, we have gone over three years without a single terrorist attack on American soil?"
[...]
Writes Wheeler: "So far, Osama has decided not to see if GW is bluffing. Smart move."
[...]
Part of Bush's rationale for invading Afghanistan and Iraq – obviously never expressed publicly – was to convince Osama that his threat to nuke Mecca was real. Osama hates America just as much as ever, but he is laughing no more."
Somehow I don't think that's as reasonable as that bin Laden is on the CIA payroll. Or even that our security agencies are actually able to thwart attacks.
But it sounds good in cowboy parlance.
Returning to Falluja
They took prints of all my fingers, two pictures of my face in profile, and then photographed my iris. I was now eligible to go into Falluja, just like any other Fallujan.
Guardian articleBut it was late by then, somewhere near 5pm (the curfew is at 6pm). After that anyone who moves inside the city will be shot on sight by the US military.
I guess pushing you into a river isn't so bad, then is it?
The approach to the checkpoint was covered in pebbles so we had to drive very slowly. The soldiers spent 20 minutes searching my car, then they bodysearched Tariq and me. They gave me a yellow tape to put on to the windscreen of the car, showing I had been searched and was a contractor. If I didn't have this stripe of yellow, a US sniper would shoot me as an enemy car.
How easy will it be to counterfeit a yellow tape? Will you want to drive with one, tempting an 'insurgent' to shoot you for your 'legal' car?
Falluja used to be a modern city; now there was nothing. We spent the day going through the rubble that had been the centre of the city; I didn't see a single building that was functioning.
The Americans had put a white tape across the roads to stop people wandering into areas that they still weren't allowed to enter. I remembered the market from before the war, when you couldn't walk through it because of the crowds. Now all the shops were marked with a cross, meaning that they had been searched and secured by the US military. But the bodies, some of them civilians and some of them insurgents, were still rotting inside.
[...]
Fallujans are suspicious of outsiders, so I found it surprising when Nihida Kadhim, a housewife, beckoned me into her home. She had just arrived back in the city to check out her house; the government had told the people three days earlier that they should start going home. She called me into her living room. On her mirror she pointed to a message that had been written in her lipstick. She couldn't read English. It said: "Fuck Iraq and every Iraqi in it!"
"They are insulting me, aren't they?" she asked.
[...]
I tried to figure out who these four men were. It was obvious which houses the fighters were in: they were totally destroyed. But in this house there were no bullets in the walls, just four dead men lying curled up beside each other, with bullet holes in the mosquito nets that covered the windows. It seemed to me as if they had been asleep and were shot through the windows. It is the young men of the family who are usually given the job of staying behind to guard the house.
[...]
The US military destroyed Falluja, but simply spread the fighters out around the country. They also increased the chance of civil war in Iraq by using their new national guard of Shias to suppress Sunnis. Once, when a foreign journalist, an Irish guy, asked me whether I was Shia or Sunni - the way the Irish do because they have that thing about the IRA - I said I was Sushi. My father is Sunni and my mother is Shia. I never cared about these things. Now, after Falluja, it matters.
Cardinal feels betrayed
Cardinal Pio Laghi visited Bush at the White House on March 5, 2003, to relay the pope's position that dialogue, not arms, should be used to resolve the crisis over Iraq, which the United States accused of harboring weapons of mass destruction.
"When I went to Washington as the pope's envoy just before the outbreak of the war in Iraq, he (Bush) told me: `Don't worry, your eminence. We'll be quick and do well in Iraq,'" Laghi told Italian Catholic TV station Telepace, which was broadcasting the pontiff's annual address to diplomats.
When the United States went to war in Iraq, Laghi called the attack on Baghdad "tragic and unacceptable."
"Unfortunately, the facts have demonstrated afterward that things took a different course — not rapid and not favorable," the prelate told Telepace. "Bush was wrong."
Yahoo article"When I went to Washington as the pope's envoy just before the outbreak of the war in Iraq, he (Bush) told me: `Don't worry, your eminence. We'll be quick and do well in Iraq,'" Laghi told Italian Catholic TV station Telepace, which was broadcasting the pontiff's annual address to diplomats.
When the United States went to war in Iraq, Laghi called the attack on Baghdad "tragic and unacceptable."
"Unfortunately, the facts have demonstrated afterward that things took a different course — not rapid and not favorable," the prelate told Telepace. "Bush was wrong."
As you know, however, Cardinal, it's the first time in his life.
You're all idiots. And hypocrites.
Pope John Paul II, who opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the Bush administration's policy of preventive war, criticized on Monday the "arrogance of power," which he said should be countered with reason and dialogue.
WaPo articleDon't worry, Cardinal. His Holiness the Pope and His Slowliness the Dope can still agree on some things.
[The Pope] listed first his opposition to abortion, artificially assisted procreation, human embryonic stem cell research and cloning, calling anything that "violates the integrity and dignity of the embryo . . . ethically inadmissible." He also spoke out indirectly against gay marriage, saying that the family was threatened by laws that "challenge its natural structure" as a union of a man and a woman.
[...]
"Recourse to arms and violence has not only led to incalculable material damage, but also fomented hatred and increased the causes of tension," the pope said. "The arrogance of power must be countered with reason, force with dialogue, pointed weapons with outstretched hands, evil with good."
The quest for peace was one of four challenges the 84-year-old leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics said faced the world this year.
Uh-huh. Like the Catholic Church has ever been anti-war. Like they've never "fomented hatred and increased the causes of tension" in the world. Like they've never participated in holy wars or inquisitions and torture. Like they don't wield power like a racist copper.
Besides, all those "counters" are being met. One in the right hand, the other in the left. That's how they pretend to justify the arrogance of power. Just like the holy church.
The pope also called for a "vast moral mobilization of public opinion" to fight hunger and urged political leaders in wealthy countries to be particularly responsive. In addition to his plea for peace, he spoke out for individual freedom and put religious liberty "at the very heart" of it.
Individual freedom with exceptions (see abortion, artificially assisted procreation, and gay marrriage above).
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
The "new" torture memo
When I posted about the new and improved Justice Department memo on torture, I had not read it. Still haven't. But, I have since read this Tapped article.
Excerpt:
Excerpt:
With this in mind, it becomes clear that perhaps the most important part of the new Levin Opinion is footnote 8, which reads: “While we have identified various disagreements with the August 2002 Memorandum, we have reviewed this Office's prior opinions addressing issues involving treatment of detainees and do not believe that any of their conclusions would be different under the standards set forth in this memorandum." In other words, despite its admirable and considerable repudiation of the 2002 OLC Opinion, the new OLC Opinion does not in any significant way affect what the CIA has already been specifically authorized to do.
[...]
Thus, for example, the President's February 7, 2002 "humane treatment" directive was carefully worded to apply only to the Armed Forces—not to the CIA. Similarly, in recent months the Senate has twice voted to prohibit the CIA, and all U.S. personnel, from engaging in cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment—but on each occasion, the Administration has resisted, and that language has been stripped from the bills in conference (even after the 9/11 Commission recommended it). Note, as well, that in yesterday's hearing Judge Gonzales was very careful to qualify his statement that “[it] has always been the case that everyone should be treated — that the military would treat detainees humanely, consistent with the president's February order.†...
As long as it's legal, eh?
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