The Price One Pays to Post at HuffPo
For a while, there was a big debate on the left on whether it was okay to post, for free, at HuffPo or not. Many argued that someone choosing to post at HuffPo without pay was being exploited, or exploiting others, by working for free.
Except…
VirginLeak
A number of journalistic outlets are cooperating in a project to describe the contents of 200 gigabytes of financial information from private incorporation agencies in the British Virgin Islands. The International Consortium of Investigative…
Fast Food Workers: Reclaiming MLK's Legacy by Striking
I had realized NYC's fast food workers were striking today, in what may end up being the biggest fast food worker strike. And I always mark the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's assassination, since the tragedy came just a week after I…
H7N9: A New Influenza Virus Emerges
This post is in two parts. The first part deals with the news that a new flu virus has emerged. The second part, which comes below the fold, provides a bit of biological and public health information to help put the news into perspective.
According…
Where Were These Dems Asking about CIA-on-the-Hudson During Brennan's Confirmation?
I have always been a huge fan of what Thomas Perez has done in DOJ's Civil Rights Division. But this sentence, from Adam Serwer's query on what happened to DOJ's review of the CIA-on-the-Hudson, ought to give pause.
Since taking office, the…
Nation Building with Special Forces
Nada Bakos tees up Jackson Diehl's failed Iraq justification to fail again in Syria post and points out something very basic. Military intervention does not equate with nation-building.
It would be a plausible argument if Diehl had not clearly…
Mexican Cartels: The Counter-Globalized Network?
Monday AP published a fascinating article reporting that Mexican drug cartels are altering an earlier organizational approach -- which outsourced the distribution of drugs to and within the US to others, thereby insulating the core members.…
Yet Another Taliban Attack Using Afghan National Army Uniforms
At the height of the green on blue killing outbreak, one aspect that stood out was that the attackers often had access to Afghan military and police uniforms whether they were actual members of these groups or not. As the Taliban shift their…
Sequester: A Two-Year Competitive Advantage for the Military-Industrial Complex
Remember how, before the election, Lockheed threatened to send out layoff notices to all its employees just before the election because sequestration might force it to layoff 10,000 employees?
Here's the actual state of affairs for defense…
Pulling Weeds for Think Tank Employees: My Response to Wittes' Response
Ben Wittes, an employee of the Brookings think tank, had this to say about my post showing how disingenuous his buddy Jonathan Fredman's defense of his statements at Gitmo in 2002 is.
Responding to her in detail is difficult, because her account…
Military's Information Operation Against Gitmo Hunger Strike Breaks Down
It has been clear from the start of the current hunger strike at Guantanamo that the military is carrying out its own information operation against a strike that it views as an information operation carried out by the prisoners. Back on March…
Prosecuting Our Own Conspiracies
My first reaction when I heard about the case of Eric Harroun -- the Army veteran arrested last week on one count of conspiring to use a WMD (in the form of a rocket propelled grenade) -- was that we were going to need bigger jails, because…
Ben Wittes Relies on Obviously False Document to Claim Other Document False
For those coming from Wittes' so-called response to my post, here's my response to that response, which shows that Wittes effectively cedes the point that Fredman's memo is dishonest.
In a post subtitled "Just Shut Up About Jonathan Fredman"…
Afghan Supply Route Problem Becomes Exit Route Problem
Back in July, Pakistan finally re-opened its highways to NATO supply trucks after the routes had been closed for several months in response to the US killing 24 Pakistani soldiers in an attack on a border post in November, 2011. A huge backlog…
The Warsame Model
I'll have more to say about the unsealing of the Ahmed Warsame guilty plea as the week goes forward.
But for the moment I wanted to note a few details of this story describing how the government plans to use the Warsame case as a model for…
The Perils of "Strategic Messaging"
''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality." Senior Bush aide, quoted by Ron Suskind
The WSJ has a fascinating account of how President Obama's efforts to extend our will without military intervention failed in Syria.
Early…
The Moral Rectitude Torture Cover-Up Promotion Czar
Oh hi! Are you folks still here? Missed you!
First off, thanks to bmaz and Jim and Rayne for holding down the fort while Mr EW, McCaffrey the MilleniaLab, and I explored Kentucky. There are many wonderful aspects of the state: the sandstone…
Just How Special Are Afghan Special Forces?
Because I follow the issue of training Afghan forces very closely, I clicked on an article today from TOLONews on graduation of a new group of Afghan Special Forces soldiers. One tidbit in the article caught my eye (emphasis added):
About…
Odds and Ends
First off, let's wish Marcy a big Happy Birthday! The woman is doing nothing but getting younger and smarter. Amazing.
Secondly, my fine Emptywheel friends, I'd like to apologize, I got a little sidetracked today with some work and duties…
ICRC Visits Gitmo Early in Midst of Hunger Strike, New Controversy Over Drinking Water
On Tuesday, Carol Rosenberg reported that the hunger strike at Guantanamo prison camp has become serious enough that the International Committee of the Red Cross has arrived at Guantanamo a week earlier than had previously been planned:
Two…
