Progressives Demand House GOP Committee Chairs Investigate Hunton & Williams
When I first posted on Hank Johnson's letter demanding an investigation into Hunton & Williams' appropriation of counterterrorist techniques to attack citizen speech, I was a bit skeptical. Without a way to get some coverage of the demand,…
If a TBTF Bank Lost Its Quant Code to Chinese Hackers and No One Knew, Would We Still Have a Functioning Market?
Bloomberg has an excellent catch from the HB Gary emails, revealing that Morgan Stanley was one of the 20-200 companies targeted by the Chinese-based Aurora hack in 2009.
Morgan Stanley experienced a “very sensitive” break-in to its network…
"Tactics Developed for Use against Terrorists May Have Been Unleashed against American Citizens"
Hmmm. "Tactics developed for use on terrorists may have been unleashed against citizens." That sounds like something I would have written about the HB Gary scandal. Twice.
It's nice to see some members of Congress understand what the entire…
HB Gary CEO Aaron Barr Resigns
He'll probably just get picked up by TASC, which was about to buy out HB Gary Federal anyway. But I do take some pleasure at his recognition that his reputation is for shit.
Embattled CEO Aaron Barr says he is stepping down from his post at…
Why We Need an Industrial Policy
I've long said that, after the big military-industrial-complex states outside of DC (which have, after all, benefited from 10 years of big stimulus), MI is the state that has most benefited from Obama's economic policies. Not only did Obama…
The Alternative to NYT's Subservience: Actual Journalism
The Guardian has its version of the Arthur Brisbane article approving of NYT's decision to withhold all mention of Raymond Davis' identity. One of the two main reasons why the Guardian chose to publish even as CIA and MI5 were warning that that…
"Shut up and explain how we could assist the FPs in finding *MORE* detainees"
Atrios points out the hypocrisy of our foreign policy as displayed in his Twitter stream.
It reminded me of this:
(02:26:01 PM) Manning: i dont believe in good guys versus bad guys anymore… i only a plethora of states acting in self…
NYT: All the News That's Fit to Authoritatively Quash
There are a couple of funny things about NYT's public editor Arthur Brisbane's article approving the NYT's decision to sit on news of Raymond Davis' CIA affiliation. Check out whom he consults for guidelines on what the NYT should or shouldn't…
Roger Ailes to Be Indicted?!?
Whoo boy. Think back to how loudly the mighty wurlitzer argued that Scooter Libby should not be indicted for lying. And imagine how much louder it will be if Roger Ailes--a cornerstone of Republican success--were indicted for telling Judith…
Bankster-Coddling Party Suffers "Electoral Meltown"
Everyone knew that Fianna Fáil was going to lose Friday's election in Ireland. But the results (still coming in because the Irish hand count their paper ballots and have an instant runoff voting system) are pretty stunning. Here's how Fianna…
Newt's Singeing Statement
Newt Gingrich, in a role that was probably cast years ago, now calls on Obama to be impeached because he refuses to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who plans within two weeks to announce if…
Did FBI First Request James Risen's Phone Records Using the CAU Program?
In Josh Gerstein's report on DOJ's collection of James Risen's phone and business records, he quotes University of Minnesota law professor Jane Kirtley saying that the government doesn't give reporters notice when it collects telephone or business…
George W Bush Won't Share Stage with Someone Who Has Harmed US Interests
Mark Knoller tweets:
A spokesman says former Pres George W Bush cancelled a speaking appearance tomorrow to avoid sharing stage with Wikileaks' Julian Assange.
Bush/43 was invited to address the YPO Global Leadership Summit in Denver tomorrow,…
Spain Will Investigate Gitmo Torture
The High Court in Spain has decided that it can proceed with its investigation of the torture that Lahcen Ikassrien alleges he suffered at Gitmo.
A Spanish court Friday agreed to investigate a complaint by a Moroccan who said he was tortured…
The John Walsh-Liz Warren-Investors & Homeowners Cage Fight
I noted the other day that the Administration was floating a ridiculously small $20 billion Get out of Jail Free plan to excuse the banksters fort their foreclosure fraud. Apparently, the banksters think that $20 billion is just a "crazy figure"…
The Business Records and Classified (?) Emails of James Risen
Jeffrey Sterling's lawyers are throwing a number of interesting theories against the wall. In a filing demanding a bill of particulars (and presumably ultimately supporting a greymail defense),they demand to know which "defense information"…
When Militaries Conspire to Ignore the Will of the People
The story of the day is from Michael Hastings, fresh off winning a Polk Award for his reporting on the insubordination of key members of Stanley McChrystal's staff. In today's story, he describes how Lieutenant General William Caldwell ordered…
Vikram Pandit's Material Mistatements
It appears that Vikram Pandit's failure to disclose material problems with Citibank's valuation of its shitpile is another of the crimes we're supposed to look forward and ignore. Jonathan Weil looks at how one of the documents disclosed in…
FBI Gets Its Lone Wolf, Just in Time for PATRIOT Debate
This morning, the FBI arrested 20-year old Saudi citizen Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari on one charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. According to the FBI, Aldawsari had allegedly purchased all the ingredients to make an IED using…
Thousands of Spooky Americans Doing Who-Knows-What in Pakistan?
As I have followed the Raymond Davis saga, this passage from an early Jeremy Scahill story on the CIA/JSOC/Blackwater programs operating in Pakistan, has haunted me.
The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help…