In Ferreting Out Science's Secrets, There Is No Room for Censorship
On Tuesday afternoon, the Washington Post announced that the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) has officially asked two scientific journals to censor portions of manuscripts that are pending for publication:
The federal…
Fuck You To Jamie Dimon & His Plaintive Wail For The 1%
Pardon me for the Taibbi like insolence, but this is just fucking amazing. While most Americans are struggling to stay alive, employed, and their families fed and in their homes, much less celebrate a decent Christmas, the 1% Masters Of The…
Drone War Secrecy and Kill or Capture
As we stand on the doorstep of President Obama signing into law the new NDAA and its dreaded controversial provisions, there are two new articles out of interest this morning. The first is an incredibly useful, and pretty thorough, synopsis…
The Next Round of Looting
Here are three data points that will make you cranky.
First, the New Bottom Line has taken the bonus pool data the big banks have released from the first three quarters of this year to estimate what they'll be for the year. They are:
Next,…
Zardari Returns to Pakistan; Liaison Officers Return to Border Centers; Stage Set for Haqqani as Double Scapegoat
Two major steps toward stability in Pakistan and restoration of relations with the United States have taken place, as President Asif Ali Zardari returned to Pakistan yesterday while liaison officers have now returned to the border coordination…
Ahmed Warsame and StuxNet
Back in November, I suggested one intended purpose of the detainee provisions in the Defense Authorization is to require a paper trail that would make it a little harder for the Administration to disappear detainees on floating prisons. The…
Václav Havel: From the Prague Spring to the Velvet Revolution to the Year of the Protestor
We're an empire now. And when we act, we create our own reality. --Senior Bush Advisor to Ron Suskind
It can be said, therefore, that ideology, as that instrument of internal communication which assures the power structure of inner…
Tebowling For Columbine Trash
Not since Michael Moore's 2002 epic "Bowling For Columbine" has life in Denver been under such a national microscope. But even that is nothing compared to Tebowmania! which is running wild and rampant in the Mile High City. And good lawdy, here…
Mitch McConnell's Greatest Fear: DOJ Proved Him Wrong for 5% of the Cost
When the Obama Administration charged two Iraqis on al Qaeda related charges in Bowling Green, KY, Mitch McConnell wrote an op-ed wailing about all the fearful things that could happen as a result.
In short, these two are not common criminals…
Obama's Re-elect Strategy: Vote for Me, or Newt Will Have Authority to Indefinitely Detain You
Ken Gude, writing for the Democratic Party's house think tank, offers a thoroughly disgusting defense of Obama signing the Defense Authorization and its detainee provisions. In his first paragraph, he asserts that the detainee provisions don't…
Jay Carney: NDAA Still Doesn't Give the Courts Any Oversight Over Detention and Killing
Jason Leopold pointed out this language in Jay Carney's press briefing yesterday:
Q You had objections to the defense bill; you’ve dropped them. There’s still a lot of civil liberties experts who are convinced that that bill contains…
Our Trade Pact Partners--Colombia and Panama--and Multinational Hezbollah Plots
The government continues to crack down on Ayman Joumaa's Hezbollah-tied money laundering ring, yesterday suing some exchange companies and the auto dealers tied the ring.
The announcement reads like a Bush Axis of Evil speech, emphasizing…
Russia's Description of Sodium-22 in Bag Headed for Iran As "Work of a Nuclear Reactor" Misleading
Radioactive sodium-22 has been found in a bag checked at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport that was headed for Tehran. The earliest reports on this finding were quite misleading, as the initial statement from Russia indicated that the material…
Feinstein Tries Again to Fix the Detainee Provisions
Kudos to Dianne Feinstein for trying to eliminate the President's ability to indefinitely detain (and kill?) American citizens. This time, she's trying a free-standing bill titled the Due Process Guarantee Act of 2011. It says,
(1) An authorization…
Senate Passes Defense Authorization
The final vote was 86-13. No votes were Lee, Paul, DeMint, Risch, Crapo, and Coburn (the last three not on civil liberties grounds), and Cardin, Wyden, Sanders, Durbin, Franken, Harkin, and Merkley.
I'm sure Obama will sign this in time for…
How to Indefinitely Detain Jamie Dimon
Kagro X and I were engaging in a little thought experiment on Twitter to show how easy it would be to solve our dangerous bankster problem by indefinitely detaining them.
It turned out to be pretty easy to do. Here's how.
First, before…
Zardari Released From Hospital, Remains in Dubai; Memogate Reply Delayed
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari was released from the hospital in Dubai on Wednesday, but has not returned to Pakistan. His reply to Pakistan's Supreme Court investigation into the Memogate scandal had been expected today, but could be…
No, the Iraq War Is NOT Over
The NYT, which played a key propaganda role in getting us into the Iraq war, has a 1000-word article telling us the Iraq war has officially been declared over.
And while it is true that the Administration had a campaign event dog and pony…
Did Dianne Feinstein's "Fix" on AUMF Language Actually Authorize Killing American Citizens?
To explain why it caved on its Defense Authorization veto threat, the Obama Administration had the following to say about the affirmation of detention authority.
Ensuring that we track current law and minimize risks associated with legislating…
Obama Will Not Veto Defense Authorization
I said this about the detainee provisions in the conference Defense Authorization bill.
It seems to me the language does enough to avoid a veto from the cowardly Obama, but still does terrible damage to both the clarity of national security…
