Nouri al-Maliki's Retirement Fund?
All this talk about Hosni Mubarak's looted billions must really piss off our other client rulers, the ones who have not yet set aside such rich stashes for their retirement.
But someone in Iraq has already made the move, disappearing $40…
Spy v. Spy: Unmasked?
From the very first reports of Raymond Davis' killing of two Pakistanis and subsequent arrest, the insistence he was just a consular employee was obviously just polite fiction. The Guardian has stopped sustaining that fiction.
Based on interviews…
Another Day at the Beach
This was actually taken yesterday--our gorgeous beach weather has given way to nasty freezing rain (though the freezing rain makes a really cool sound).
But while I'm working on other things, I thought I'd share yesterday's sunshine, dunes,…
Mubarak's Loot: $38 Million Found! Still Hidden? $69,962 Million
The New York Times heralds that,
Swiss Locate Funds Linked to Mubarak
But what the story really reports is that the Swiss have located just "several dozen million Swiss francs," which works out to less than $38 million of the up to $70 billion…
Angelo Mozilo Will Not Be Charged
In news that will not surprise you in the least--but will put you off your breakfast--Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo will not be charged.
Federal prosecutors have shelved a criminal investigation of Angelo R. Mozilo after determining that his…
Poppy Bush's Virgin Born Intelligence Knowledge
Jack Goldsmith links to an interesting document from the RummyLeaks library: then Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld's memo to President Ford reviewing possible candidates to replace William Colby as head of the CIA.
But Goldsmith doesn't call…
Judge: Padilla Can't Sue for Torture because Justification for His Torture Was Based on Torture
Here's the main thrust of Judge Richard Mark Gergel's decision to dismiss Jose Padilla's Bivens suit against Donald Rumsfeld and other high level Bush officials who denied him his Constitutional rights.
The Court finds that "special factors"…
Lindsey Graham Calls Raymond Davis an "Agent"
AFP has a report (notably picked up by Pakistan's Dawn) on the Senate's hand-wringing over whether we should tie aid to Pakistan to the release of Raymond Davis, the "consulate employee" who shot two alleged Pakistani spies. Here's what Lindsey…
Political Giving and Willingness to Cave to Law Enforcement
When Jason Leopold linked to a WSJ report titled, "Obama breaks bread with Silicon Valley execs," I quipped, "otherwise known as, Obama breaks bread w/our partners in domestic surveillance." After all, some of the companies represented--Google,…
Hunton & Williams Left Fingerprints at SEIU
Hunton & Williams, the law firm that solicited HBGary and two other security firms to spy on Chamber of Commerce opponents, has remained silent so far about its efforts.
But it hasn't covered its tracks. The SEIU reports that people from…
Stuxnet: The Curious Incident of the Second Certificate
"Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time."
"The dog did nothing in the night-time."
"That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes.
Arthur Conan…
Confirmed: Our Government Has Criminalized Beauty Products
A year and a half ago, I warned that if you bought certain beauty supplies--hydrogen peroxide and acetone--you might be a terrorism suspect.
I’m going to make a wildarsed guess and suggest that the Federal Government is doing a nationwide…
Themis Applies JSOC Techniques to Citizens "Extorting" from Corporate Clients
It was Berico Technologies' Deputy Director who sent out these documents adopting a military targeting approach for responding to citizens engaging in free speech.
California Supreme Court To Hear Perry Prop 8 Question
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bmazThe breaking news out of the California Supreme Court is that they WILL entertain a full merits consideration of the question certified to them by the 9th Circuit in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
Curveball: I Lied to Get Rid of Saddam
Almost eight years after he helped start a war, the Iraqi behind the US claim that Iraq had mobile weapons labs admitted in an interview with the Guardian that he lied. (h/t Hissypit)
Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed Curveball by German…
Chet Uber Contacted HBGary before He Publicized His Role in Turning in Bradley Manning
A reader found a very interesting email among the HBGary emails: Chet Uber emailed--after having tried to call--HBGary CEO Greg Hoglund on June 23, 2010.
> Sir,
>
>
>
> I would like to speak to Mr. Hoglund. My name is Chet…
Our DOJ Refuses to Send Officials to Jail - Scott Bloch Edition
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bmazThe Obama Administration and Holder Justice Department were not willing to make misrepresentations and disingenuous arguments to cravenly insure that Executive Branch officials, including Scott Bloch, lying to Congress do not serve so much as a day in jail.
Judge: Government Can Shield Its Conversations about Engaging in Torture
Josh Gerstein reports that a Federal Judge has rejected ACLU's effort to get the government to remove more of the redactions in the OPR Report on the torture memos. Judge Rosemary Collyer basically argued that the President's need to get candid…
The Shirley Sherrod Complaint Against Andrew Breitbart
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bmazShirley Sherrod is quite a woman, and now she has followed through on her promise and filed a lawsuit against Andrew Breitbart. Ms. Sherrod has come to the dance locked and loaded and with a very compelling story. Andrew Breitbart better strap in, it could be a bumpy ride.
The HBGary Scandal: Using Counterterrorism Tactics on Citizen Activism
As I described on the Mike Malloy show on Friday and as Brad Friedman discusses in his post on being targeted by the Chamber of Commerce, the essence of the Chamber of Commerce/Bank of America/HBGary scandal is the use of intelligence techniques…