Former WellPoint VP Liz Fowler to Implement Health Care Oversight

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emptywheel
Remember Liz Fowler? The former WellPoint VP whom William Ockham noted was the literal author of the health care reform bill? I'm sure you'll be thrilled to learn that WellPoint's former VP will be in charge of consumer issues and oversight…

You Have a Right to Speedy Trial ... Unless They Need to Torture You First

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emptywheel
Judge Lewis Kaplan has basically concluded that if the government can persuasively argue that government believed the torture necessary at the time, then they can torture a detainee as long as he still has intelligence value without infringing on the detainee's right to a speedy trial.

We Are All South America Now

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emptywheel
At the point in the World Cup when five South American teams had made it to the knockout round and European teams like Italy and England performed badly, I wondered whether this year's Cup would be a kind of revenge on the IMF. All these South…
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Right Wing Finally Talking about Rule of Law

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emptywheel
Don't get me wrong. I'm happy that--after all these years--someone on the right is calling out Presidents Bush and Obama on their abuse of power (watch the video to hear Andrew Napolitano complain about Obama's targeting of Anwar al-Awlaki). Nader:…

Omar Khadr Condemns the Military Commissions

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emptywheel
Carol Rosenberg, recently freed from her arbitrary banning at Gitmo, posts this picture of a statement Omar Khadr read aloud in court today explaining why he wants to boycott any further proceedings. [my transcription; I've added punctuation…
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Obama Comes to MI to Celebrate Korean Technology

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emptywheel
Let me start by saying I'm thrilled the Obama Administration has focused stimulus and energy efficiency funds to support a number of new battery plants in and around Michigan. For all my complaints about the Obama Administration, it has used…

As April Strawberry Blossoms into Perfect Citizen

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emptywheel
A number of you have asked what I make of Siobhan Gorman's latest story describing a program called "Perfect Citizen" that aims to monitor and map out attempted cyber-intrusions of our critical infrastructure. Before I say anything about…

Spooky Timing

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emptywheel
I assume this is a coinkydink. But oh what a coinkydink it is. Sergei Tretyakov, a high-ranking Russian spy whose defection to the United States in 2000 was regarded as one of the most significant coups against the Russian government since…

Was the Real Target of the Spy Sting Russian Official #1?

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emptywheel
It appears the White House may have gotten itself caught in the kabuki it played with the press on the Russian spies now swapped for some spies in Russian custody. But the timing of the kabuki suggests the target of the spy sting may not have…

Bob Corker Kills the Catfood Commission

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emptywheel
The catfood commission (aka Obama's deficit commission) is dead. Well, it must be, right? After all, that great figure of Beltway-corporatism-posing-as-moderation, Bob Corker, has decreed that we shall pass no legislation during a…

Tory-Speak on the Torture Inquiry

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emptywheel
I seem to be one of the biggest skeptics about the torture inquiry David Cameron announced this week. Among other things, I worry that Cameron intends to pressure plaintiffs who allege they were tortured into a mediated settlement to prevent…

DOD Allows Carol Rosenberg to Return to Gitmo Next Week

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emptywheel
There are two pieces of good news in this McClatchy story reporting that Carol Rosenberg, one of four journalists banned from Gitmo because she published the previously reported name of Omar Khadr's first interrogator, Joshua Claus, will be…

One Percent of All Americans Will Have Lost Unemployment by Month's End

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emptywheel
More than one percent of all Americans--3.3 million people--will have lost their unemployment benefits by month's end if Congress doesn't pass an extension of long-term benefits. The Labor Department estimates that about 1.7 million have lost…
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Apparently, Reporting on Right Wing Death Squads Is Now Material Support for Terrorism

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emptywheel
We've discussed the recent SCOTUS decision that ruled the government can charge people engaging in First Amendment activities with material support for terrorism. Even groups trying to teach terrorist organizations to engage peacefully might…
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Obama Administration Grants Europeans Rights Americans Don't Have

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emptywheel
You know what happens when your elected representatives fight for your privacy? Counterterrorism investigators actually grant you some! At issue is SWIFT--the database that tracked most international money transfers which the Bush Administration…
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Did Bad Journalism Make the Country Love Torture?

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emptywheel
One of the key takeaways of a study a number of people are buzzing about--showing that a majority of the country has generally opposed torture--is that six months after Obama became president, that changed. Using a new survey dataset on torture…

GAO to Have Oversight of Most-Secret DOD Programs?

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emptywheel
Steven Aftergood reports that DOD signed a directive last week allowing for Government Accountability Office audits of Special Access Programs. [A] Department of Defense Directive issued last week explicitly allows for GAO access to highly…

Did Adrian Lamo Have Two Days Worth of IM's with Bradley Manning on May 25?

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emptywheel
As I noted in my earlier post on Wikileaks leaker Bradley Manning's charging document, there's an apparent discrepancy between the timing Wired gives for Manning's arrest and what the charging document shows. Wired said that the FBI told Adrian…
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Another Obama Recess Appointment For Someone Not Named Johnsen

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bmaz
Yet another recess appointment proves the sham and fraud that was the Obama White House handling of Dawn Johnsen.
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