Corporate Fairy Tales in Afghanistan
It's a corporate fairy tale: working class boy joins the military, goes into banking, brings the joys of mineral exploitation to exotic locales.
From Congo to Colombia, from Iraq to Sierra Leone, [Ian] Hannam [the JP Morgan banker overseeing…
Two Themes from Obama's Cybersecurity Proposal: Private Auditors and Immunity
Two and a half years after privatized auditors largely signed off on practices that contributed to the collapse of Wall Street, and a year after coziness between government inspectors and the oil industry they regulate allowed a massive oil…
Government Claims Classified Information Procedures Act Also Applies to Unclassified Information
The government's making outrageous secrecy claims again, this time in the Thomas Drake NSA leak case.
As Steven Aftergood first reported, the government is trying to protect unclassified information using the CIPA process, basically making…
9/11 Commission Redux
Spencer had a superb idea:
I don't pretend that anything will produce an end to this new debate over torture. The fact that we're debating torture diminishes our standing as a civilization. But moving beyond it: perhaps, after the actionable…
John McCain: KSM Lied Under Torture, Just Like I Did
John McCain has, on balance, a good op-ed in the WaPo refuting Michael Mukasey's embrace of torture. McCain's larger point is that our approach to the Arab Spring will have a key role in our ability to defeat terrorists, which is a point not…
ComcastSucks Got Suckier So FCC Commish Could Get a Swank New Job
Our entire country's mediascape will no doubt get suckier as Comcast returns to its typical bad behavior after having eaten NBC. We will become less well-informed. We will fall further behind the rest of the world for broadband access. And we…
MI Dems to Benton Harbor: You're on Your Own
Eclectablog, who has been doing solid reporting on the takeover of Benton Harbor by an Emergency Financial Manager, has been wondering why MI's Democratic Party hasn't been more vociferous in supporting Benton Harbor. Today, he reported that…
Killing Democracy with Bad Intelligence
Some of us have been having fun on Twitter discussing the reported power struggle in al Qaeda to replace Osama bin Laden in terms we'd use to discuss an American election. Which made this report--which Frontline linked as part of their Kill/Capture…
The Congressman from NSA Wants Contractor Contributions to Remain Secret
To be fair, Steny Hoyer can't lay sole claim to be the Congressman representing the National Security Agency--the NSA actually gets three Congressmen: Steny, John Sarbanes, and Dutch Ruppersberger.
But I think it fair to note that Steny has,…
Dangerous Counter-Narratives: Our Global Finance Ponzi Scheme and Iranian Cooperation
According to this post, this op-ed in the WSJ got badly edited after it was originally published. The bolded words are just some of what WSJ axed after the fact. (h/t Naked Capitalism)
The official wisdom is that Greece, Ireland and Portugal…
Obama Administration Finally Brags about Jobs Created in Auto Bailout
The Obama Administration was gung ho to brag about the GM IPO last year. But if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time the White House has bragged nationally about jobs created thanks to the auto bailout (Ron Bloom, who got promoted into an…
After Killing the Guy Who Started this War, We Simply Redefine It
Used to be, when you vanquished your enemy, you declared victory and went home.
Not this time. Just a week after the death of Osama bin Laden--who declared war on the US in 1996--Buck McKeon has renewed his effort to rewrite the 2001 Authorization…
Mountain Pure "Purified" Drinking Water Recalled for Mold
As Mark Bittman said when he tweeted this press releasem, "If bottled water is getting recalled we're all in a lot of trouble."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 4, 2011 - Officials at the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) announced today that…
Congress to DOD: You Must Start Briefing Us on (Some) Cyberwar Now
Robert Chesney notes that the HASC Mark on the Defense Authorization bill includes a section on cyberwar. Here's the entire section:
This section would affirm that the Secretary of Defense has the authority to conduct military activities in…
Coming Soon to a Base Near You! Drone Hangars!
The House Armed Services Committee Mark-Up for next year's Defense Authorization is out. And it includes funds to build drone hangars at four bases in the Continental US. The bases are--with images showing how far a Predator drone might be able…
Marc Thiessen, You Are My Piñata
Normally, Marc Thiessen's torture apologies aren't worth my time. But seeing as how I didn't whack any piñatas on Cinco de Mayo, why not Thiessen's latest, in which he claims those who deny CIA interrogations played a part in nabbing bin Laden…
Condi Claims US Was at War When She Ignored August 6, 2001 PDB
Condi Rice is, of all Bush's top aides, the best at managing her reputation. Which is why her interview with Fareed Zakaria yesterday is so interesting.
Sure, there are some examples of Condi's signature lies, such as when she claims the…
Alberto Gonzales Explains Why Torture Didn't Work Even While Defending It
As I noted in an update to my Mushroom Cloud Brigade post, even Univision joined in the torture apologist fun, inviting Alberto Gonzales on to talk about the killing of Osama bin Laden. And Gonzales did defend torture.
Jorge Ramos: Mr.…
The MSM's Gift to Moms? The Mushroom Cloud Brigade
I noted this already, but it so exceeds even the abysmal standards of the Sunday show bookers, I'm going to repeat it.
To celebrate Mothers Day, the Sunday shows have brought you the Mushroom Cloud Brigade--Condi Rice, Rummy, and Dick Cheney--the…
Sometimes Notes Get Destroyed, Sometimes They Don't
One more point about the case of Mohamed Mohamud, the accused bomber from Oregon. A government filing submitted last month addresses the defense's requests for notes regarding various interactions Mohamud had with the FBI. It describes two…
