Florida Joining Re-awakening? GOP Voters Against SS-Medicare Cuts, Tea Party Chides Scott Over Ethics
The elections from earlier this week may well go down in history as a watershed event in which voters finally began to understand, and then to overwhelmingly reject, the most extreme elements of Republican views that take the "pro-life" movement…
A Terrorist Goes to Prison for 33 Years
On Wednesday, DOJ announced the sentencing of Carlos Mario Jimenez-Naranjo, one of the key leaders in Colombia's AUC terrorist group, to 33 years in prison.
Carlos Mario Jimenez-Naranjo, aka “Macaco,” a paramilitary leader and one of Colombia’s…
ODNI's Response on Intelligence Oversight Board Shows Lack of Intelligence
In September, I wrote about EFF's efforts to find out whether Obama had an Intelligence Oversight Board--the board that's supposed to provide some outside review over potential problems and abuses in the intelligence community.
ODNI has finally…
Iraq Redux? Media Parroting Dubious IAEA Iran Claims
In a remarkable column in the Guardian, Brian Whitaker points out both the uncritical way in which most of the press is merely parroting the accusations in the IAEA report on Iran's nuclear technology and how this process feels very much like…
William Welch Appears to Commit Prosecutorial Misconduct. Again.
DOJ has submitted its statement of issues it plans to appeal in the Jeff Sterling case. They are:
(1) Whether the district court erred in finding that author James Risen was protected by a "reporter's privilege" and, therefore, could not be…
John Rizzo Latest Target for DOJ Probe into Leaking
It pains me to defend John Rizzo. After all, his willful dumbness--or more likely, outright deceit--played a key role in our country's approval of torture.
Still, I have mixed feelings about investigating--and probably reprimanding, but not…
On JoePa
I was born in 1968. At that point, my grandfather was still a Penn State professor. My mom and her 3 siblings were all Penn State grads. Joe Paterno had been head coach at that point already for a year and a half. My entire life, this football…
As the Next Phase of the Crash Accelerates, Watch for More Looting
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The earth avoided getting hit by an asteroid last night. Then today, FEMA tested its catastrophic communications system, only to discover some problems. In my own case, the warning signal started skipping, dadadadadadada,…
Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri Delays His Own Trial until after Presidential Election
As Muna Shikaki and Carol Rosenberg just tweeted, Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri requested--and the military judge granted--that his trial not start until November 9, 2012. Which would put it several days after the Presidential election.
The logic…
SCOTUS and GPS Tracking: US v. Jones and Secret PATRIOT
As I read the transcript of the SCOTUS hearing in the US v. Jones yesterday, I was most interested in what the comments suggest about the government's secret use of the PATRIOT Act to--presumably--use phone geolocation to track people. (Here's…
Did the US Authorize Albright and Sanger to Publish the IAEA Iran Report?
Major media organizations around the world are reacting to the IAEA's report on Iran's nuclear technology.
Okay, anyone who reads my posts knows that the sentence above should include a link to the IAEA's website and its posting of the…
Truth, Justice, and the American Way of Empire
One of my first reactions to the news that Nicolas Sarkozy told Obama he doesn't like Bibi Netanyahu is to note that Sarko is right.
"I cannot bear Netanyahu, he's a liar," Sarkozy told Obama, unaware that the microphones in their meeting room…
If Gun Walking Is Wrong, Why Isn't Nuclear Blueprint Walking?
In his statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, Attorney General Holder tried to stave off questions about Fast and Furious by asserting that "gun walking" is wrong.
I want to be clear: any instance of so-called “gun walking”…
Richard Blumenthal Asks Eric Holder Where the Foreclosure Prosecutions Are
It took until Richard Blumenthal's turn in Eric Holder's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee today before Holder got asked about foreclosure fraud. Blumenthal generously suggested that, "I know the foreclosure crisis is on your…
Eric Holder: Torture Inquiries, Ted Stevens Prosecutorial Misconduct Investigations Almost Finished
Eric Holder is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee right now. [watch here]
In response to two questions from Orrin Hatch, Eric Holder revealed that the John Durham investigation into torture and the Office of Public Responsibility…
The Declining Credibility of the IAEA
Yesterday, I pointed out that the IAEA is preparing to release a report on potential development of nuclear weapons in Iran almost exactly two years after the departure of Mohamed ElBaradei as its leader. As discussed in that post, one of…
Jamie Dimon Owns Obama's Testicles
Jamie Dimon owns Barack Obama's testicles. That's the only explanation I can think of for why, rather than firing his JP Morgan Exec Chief of Staff for being incompetent, Obama simply shifted him over to serve as the public face of his Administration.
Ten…
Gitmo's Commanders and My 4-Year Old Niece Play Games
I enjoyed watching my 4-year old niece wallop Mr. EW in a game of "Matches" last week. She kept making up new rules every turn, ensuring Mr. EW didn't know precisely what the rules of the game were.
It provided me an excellent opportunity…
CHINA! and RUSSIA! and [an unnamed ally that is likely Israel] Are Stealing Our Stuff!
Last week, ODNI released a report on cyberwarfare that is raising eyebrows for the way it named China and Russia as the sponsors of cyberespionage explicitly.
Jack Goldsmith wonders what naming them will accomplish.
I am sure that naming…
Two Years After ElBaradei's Departure, IAEA Joins Anti-Iran Drumbeat
As I noted on Thursday, the "sport" of predicting when Israel will attack Iran has now moved from the progressive blogosphere to many conventional news outlets. This week will see a major escalation in the anti-Iran rhetoric after the…