Gulet Mohamed's Interrogation without Counsel: Is this the New Miranda Policy?
Gulet Mohamed, the teen held in Kuwait, allegedly beaten, and interrogated by the FBI while in custody, is finally back in the United States. But before he reunited with his family, he was subjected to one more interrogation without his lawyer.
FBI…
Obama's Kabuki Jobs Council, Brought to You By "Nut on China" Jeff Immelt
When Google announced that Eric Schmidt was stepping down yesterday, I joked that Schmidt must be leaving to lead Obama's campaign economy -- the one he'll use to get re-elected with. After all, Schmidt is one of the Obama's closest CEO…
Report Concludes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Personally Killed WSJ Reporter Danny Pearl
A long-term report on the murder of Danny Pearl has just been released. The WaPo describes the report this way.
A recently completed investigation of the killing of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan nine years ago makes public new evidence that a senior…
Some Terrorism Scares Are More Useful Than Other Terrorism Scares
Particularly at those increasingly frequent times when our country experiences political violence and terrorism, it's important to read David Neiwert, not least because his running list of domestic terror attacks demonstrates clearly that these…
UAW: A Seat at the Table
There's always a lot of tut-tutting when the White House releases the list of people who attend a state dinner. While a lot of that, for the dinner honoring Hu Jintao tonight, has to do with which members of Congress have blown off invites (John…
"Foreclosure," "Housing," and "HAMP" Not Part of Epic on Obama's Recovery Plan
Peter Baker has an almost 6500-word article describing Obama's efforts to fix the economy.
Obama’s frustration could set the tone for the remainder of his term. For all the trials of war and terrorism, the economy has come to define his…
So, Amazon, Visa, PayPal, Was It Worth Accepting Government Lies?
Mark Hosenball reports that aside from some pockets of short-term damage, the impact of the Wikileaks leak of diplomatic cables has been embarrassing, but not damaging.
Internal U.S. government reviews have determined that a mass leak of diplomatic…
Blindspots and Fear of the Working Class
I think a lot of the discussion about Freddie DeBoer's "the blindspot" (with Steve Hynd as one exception) focuses too closely on the personalities--on whether Jane is mean in print or whether Ezra is too conciliatory--and not on whether our…
The US Prevented BabyDoc from Returning in 2006, Why Not Now?
Five years ago, BabyDoc Duvalier applied for a passport for Haiti, threatening to return in a period leading up to elections. As a series of Wikileaks cables make clear, the US pressed hard--with apparent success--to prevent his return to Haiti.…
Letter from Nigeria Goldman
FROM: Mr. Lloyd Blankfein
200 West Street
New York, New York
202-555-MOTU
TO: CEO
Chump City, ForeignLand
Dear Sir:
I have been requested by the Facebook Company to contact you for assistance in resolving a matter. The Facebook…
Noted "Nut on China," Jeff Immelt, Uses $16B Bailout to Share Technology with China
Remember this? Remember when Bernie Sanders used a chunk of his FiliBernie to note that GE CEO Jeff Immelt, whose company benefited from $16 billion in welfare from the federal government, was a big fan of outsourcing to China?
Gee! When…
Is the Government Confirming They Used MERLIN with Other Countries?
Josh Gerstein notes a curious argument the government makes in its motion to deny bail to alleged leaker Jeffrey Sterling: that leaking is more dangerous than espionage.
The defendant’s unauthorized disclosures, however, may be viewed as…
GMAC Still Can't Process Mortgages Properly
You'd think after it had become the poster child for robo-signing foreclosure fraud, at a time when it was facing a class action suit arising out of that fraud, and at a time when all servicers had been anxiously awaiting the result of the US…
Dear Judge Hellerstein: Ask About the OLC Torture Documents, Too
On Friday, Judge Alvin Hellerstein had a hearing to figure out how to end the contempt suit the ACLU brought against the CIA for destroying the torture tapes. The ACLU asked that he hold the CIA in contempt. Hellerstein said that wouldn't serve…
Sister Sara, RIP
As bmaz noted, we have learned that long time commenter and my blogmate at Next Hurrah, "Sister Sara," passed away last year. If you're familiar with her comments and posts, you'll remember that she was incredibly knowledgeable with long experience…
Jack Blum's Client Goes to Wikileaks
A man about to go on trial in Switzerland for breaking that country's secrecy laws has promised to give details of 2,000 individuals and corporations who are hiding their money in offshore accounts to Wikileaks tomorrow.
The offshore bank account…
Divisional Playoff Trash Talk
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bmazThe most exciting weekend of the pro football calendar, divisional playoff weekend is here!
Or Maybe Your Profit Levels and Bonuses Are Simply Obscene?
Jamie Dimon says they're going to have to chase 5% of their customers away in response to limits Dodd-Frank put on the usurious rates banks charge merchants for each debit card transaction.
Federal limits on debit card processing fees will…
Air National Guard Will Deploy Drones to Spy on Black Bears in Adirondack Park
As part of what they bill as a "military training program," the Air Force National Guard will deploy a bunch of MQ-9 Reaper drones over the Adirondacks park in Northern NY. (h/t Tim Shorrock)
The Air Force Air National Guard will fly remotely…
American Democracy, Tunisia, and Wikileaks
Update: BBC and al-Jazeera report that Ben Ali has left the country and security forces have arrested family members at the airport.
The simultaneous (and related) unfolding of the uprising in Tunisia and the latest Wikileaks events reveals…
