Entries by emptywheel

BREAKING: Obama Continues Bush Policy On State Secrets

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Earlier this morning, Looseheadprop wrote about the case of Binyam Mohamed, the British subject tortured at the hands of the United States at Gitmo, including having his genitals carved selectively with a scalpel. The Mohamed case is of critical significance for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that there was an oral argument in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco this morning in which the Obama Administration has shown its true colors and continued the assertion of state secrets to conceal US torture policy.

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USAMRIID Can’t Keep Track of Its Microbes

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Remember how one key to the FBI case against Bruce Ivins is their claim that only he had access to the flask that contained the anthrax strain used in the attack–and that they’re sure that there were no other flasks of the strain? Well, it turns out that Ivins’ lab, USAMRIID, shut down all research on Friday because they don’t have a good inventory of all their high-risk microbes.

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Comings and Goings and Dealings at the SEC

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One of the contemptuous SEC officials who pretty much blew off Congress last week will be resigning today. And, all of a sudden, the SEC is going after Madoff for financial penalties, perhaps reflecting the elimination of Chris Cox-era rules that made it hard to do so.

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The Surge’s Virgin Birth

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Thomas Ricks tells a tale of how Ray Odierno is the father of the surge. Problem is, Ricks’ story still has obvious holes, leaving open the question of who actually birthed the plan.

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Toyota Sings The Mercury Blues

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As the Republicans in Congress, most notably the Senate fixate on emasculating the stimulus package, stripping it and the country of hope, I want to return to another recent example of the un-American activities and bent of this group of legislative geniuses. I refer to this same group’s actions and illogic in relation to willingness to kill or cripple American Auto manufacturing under the false guise it is not as good or efficient as foreign makers. Recent news from Toyota puts the lie to another Republican claim.

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“Bipartisan”

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If Susan Collins, Tom Coburn, and Chuck Grassley are largely responsible for the way the Senate compromise stimulus bill looks, then why are Republicans claiming it’s not a bipartisan bill/?

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