The Narratology of Leaking: Risen and Sterling
You know, I very much want Jeffrey Sterling to defeat the government's attempt to criminalize whistleblowing. I very much want James Risen to succeed in avoiding expansive testimony in the Sterling case.
But this is bullshit.
Sterling's…
The Death Squads "Protecting" Our Country
There was an odd pair of stories in the WaPo last week. On Thursday, there was a story by two reporters on the CIA's increased focus on killing its targets, whether by drone or paramilitary strike.
In the decade since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks,…
How Will City Council Oversee NYPD's Spooks after This?
In their stories on the way the NYPD's intelligence programs profile religious and ethnic minorities, Goldman and Apuzzo have repeatedly noted that the only entity providing oversight of the programs is the City Council.
The department has…
The Next Target in the War on Voting: Hoffa and the Unions
Last week, Ari Berman chronicled what he termed a war on voting.
All told, a dozen states have approved new obstacles to voting. Kansas and Alabama now require would-be voters to provide proof of citizenship before registering. Florida and…
Cops, Security Guards, and Prisoners
I decided to compare these numbers after I read this story about an Iraqi veteran patrolling a suburban VA golf course, armed with a Glock, mace, and handcuffs, making $16/hour (h/t Balloon Juice):
Total cops in the US (2009): 883,600; median…
"The Congressional directory now reads like a casebook of lunacy"
There are a number of reasons to read this entire article--Republican Mike Lofgren's explanation of why the TeaParty convinced him to leave his congressional staffer position after 30 years: the pithy descriptions of Republican nut-jobs (like…
Moussa Koussa's Security File
Journalists and human rights groups found a collection of damning--but not the most damning--records of Libya's cooperation with the CIA and MI6, all wrapped up in binders with labels marking CIA and UK collaboration.
Documents found at the…
Trash Talk: NCAA On The Way To Save The Day!
This joint needs some football, and the college kids are back to give it to us. We have already seen a couple of notable things. First, Wisconsin looked scary good, even though it was Podunk State (UNLV) they clobbered. No, the Runnin Rebs were…
FHFA Shows TurboTax Timmeh Geithner What a REAL Long Weekend Is
Because after the bomb they just dropped on the finance world, I would imagine Geithner will be busy.
Here's the listof banks they're suing:
Ally Financial Inc. f/k/a GMAC, LLC
Bank of America Corporation
Barclays Bank PLC
Citigroup,…
Just in Time To Undercut Eric Schneiderman, the (Ongoing) HUD Investigation!
American Banker has an article suggesting that Tom Miller will be able to use the results of HUD's investigations into servicing problems to craft a settlement with the banks.
The state attorneys general have a secret weapon in their negotiations…
Happy Labor Day, You Zeroes!
I'm a bit slow in revving up today; I've changed my main Farmer's Market day from Saturday to Friday (not actually a good crowd-avoidance strategy before a 3-day weekend, as it turns out) and it has thrown my rhythm a bit.
So while I've been…
At What Point Does T-Mobile CEO Get Dinged for False Advertising?
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The CEO of T-Mobile thinks the government, in suing to stop its merger with AT&T, simply didn't understand how merging with AT&T would benefit customers. (h/t mistermix)
By now you have heard the news…
10 Years Later, 9/11 Commission Says President Is Failing to Protect Civil Liberties
The 9/11 Commission released a 10-year report card on the recommendations they made back in 2004. And one of three recommendations that remains entirely unfulfilled--the only one that is entirely the responsibility of the executive branch--is…
Elliott Abrams: A Convicted Liar Defends a Convicted Liar's Boss by Lying
Elliott Abrams makes a good point: the "reviews," thus far, of Cheney's book have focused on particular incidents rather than on the scope of the narrative. Once I get done with it, I plan to do a full review, which I think would have been better…
Rendition Flight Lawsuit Gives Lie to Government's Jeppesen State Secrets Claim
When they screw our tortured clients, they assert "National Security", but when it is a matter of money, they don't. -- Reprieve's Clive Smith
The British human rights organization Reprieve figured out that a NY state court case--a billing…
National Transportation Safety Board Identifies the Real Threat to Pipelines: PG&E
A year ago, I suggested that PG&E's willful incompetence was probably a bigger threat to critical infrastructure and key resources like pipelines than the anti-fracking activists PA investigated as potential terrorist threats.
Just to take…
If Bank of New York Mellon Has So Many Tax Shelters It Doesn't Pay Taxes, How Is It NY's "Main Street"?
Update: Kelly just stepped down, citing "differences in approach."
A number of outlets have carried the report on the number of CEO's getting paid more than their companies paid in taxes last year, but few have linked to the actual report,…
DOJ Sues to Stop AT&T/T-Mobile Merger
Finally, the Department of Justice did something (aside from its good work on Civil Rights) worthy of its name: it sued to prevent the AT&T/T-Mobile merger.
The Department of Justice today filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block AT&T…
IA AG's Office Whining That They're Not Getting Credit for Settlement Bank of America Violated
The folks desperately working to give the banks a Get Out of Jail Free card for their servicing abuses are trying hard to deny they're not doing so.
Take this anonymous accusation from someone involved in the settlement talks claiming that…
NYPD's Failed Ethnic Profiling Program
When Goldman and Apuzzo exposed NYPD's domestic spying program last week, NYPD insisted it didn't exist. So this time, they've posted documentary proof.
As they report, the domestic spying program employed a "Demographics Unit" that mapped…