Snowy and Wooden Trash
Yakkety Yak, Take Out The Papers and the Trash
More Cheney Get Out of Jail Free Costs: Mitchell and Jessen's $5 Million Indemnity Agreement
The AP has a story on Mitchell and Jessen's torture defense. The lead of the story describes how CIA protected the torturers both by paying all of their defense costs--up to $5 million--as well as paying it directly out of CIA funds.
But there's…
Teh Gay Are Stealing the Rainbows! Who Will Protect Richie Blackmore?
Do dogmatic conservative religious nutjobs ever stop to think how insane they sound? No. Now they are whining that teh gay are stealing the rainbows.
Christmas Special: Half Off Dick Cheney's Freedom!
Just a quick post while I'm packing so you all have fresh thread to unwind.
And also to note that Halliburton did manage to convince Nigeria to give them a half-off special for Dick Cheney's freedom, though they had to bring Poppy Bush and…
Wal-Mart Hikes Toy Prices Just as Congress Gives the Waltons Huge Tax Breaks
If there was ever any illusion that the super-rich would start acting nicer after Congress gave them both income and estate tax breaks, I present Wal-Mart's thanks for Congress' willingness to make the Walton family even richer: (h/t Consumerist)
Wal-Mart…
Quasi-Governmental Entities AT&T and Verizon Blocking Wikileaks Sites
We know the government is blocking Wikileaks sites: the Air Force, the Library of Congress, the Department of Education, as well as orders from the State Department that its employees should not read the leaked cables.
Which is why I find it…
Republicans Vote to Ban the Terms "Wall Street" and "Deregulation"
Apparently, the Republicans on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission have abandoned the commission because the other six members would not agree to ban the phrases "Wall Street" and "deregulation" from the final report.
The four Republicans…
Halliburton Tries to Get Half Off Its Bribe for Cheney's Freedom
As I noted last week, Halliburton is in negotiations to reach a plea deal with Nigeria to drop its bribery charges against Dick Cheney. At that point, Nigeria was demanding $500 million for such a deal, which led Gregg to quip, "So, Cheney Halliburton…
Timmeh Geithner to House of Representatives: Fuck Off And Die
A month ago, Brad Miller and a dozen other Congressmen -- including House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank -- wrote the Financial Stability Oversight Council to ask that they look into the systemic dangers of foreclosure fraud.…
Bernie Sanders Quotes Jeff Immelt: "I am a Nut on China"
This was, IMO, the highlight of Bernie Sanders' non-filibuster on Friday:
GE is of course one of our major corporations, and in fact this recent disclosure pointed out the taxpayers of this country, through the Fed, provided $16 billion in…
Throwing our PATRIOT at Assange
Last week, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder admitted what bmaz laid out yesterday -- the problems with prosecuting WikiLeaks' Julian Assange under the Espionage Act. But at the same time, he said, the Espionage Act may play a role in a possible…
A Tale of Two Bailout Paybacks
As promised over the weekend before I realized I had forgotten my Toobz, I wanted to compare the behavior of two bailout recipients, the UAW and the banksters.
A number of people have pointed to this intriguing interview about the Korea Trade…
The Misplaced US Determination To Indict Assange
The US determination to prosecute Julian Assange is not just a destructive and myopic scheme to effect prior restraint in a digital world, it is laughable from the point of legal foundation.
Militarized Trash Talk
When Dwight Eisenhower warned of the creeping military-industrial complex, little did he know it would invade even the football trash talk of the liberal blog set. But, yet, here we are this week all soldiered up.
That is because the big story…
Forgotten Toobz Fail
I woke up this morning and tried to do a post comparing how the UAW acts after getting bailed out with how JPMorgan Chase does. But then I realized I forgot my Toobz chez Prince-town. That's probably just as well since I'm supposed to be packing…
Hatfill and Wen Ho Lee and Plame and al-Awlaki and Assange
Last night I appeared on a panel on the Scooter Libby case. It was Judge Reggie Walton, Peter Zeidenberg, Alexandra Walsh from the Libby team, Lee Levine (who represented Andrea Mitchell and Tim Russert), Walter Pincus and I.
The panel itself…
$500 Million to Keep Cheney Out of Jail?
Apparently, Halliburton is in negotiations with the Nigerian government to craft a plea deal that would keep Dick Cheney out of jail. (h/t scribe)
Halliburton is planning to make a plea bargain in former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's corruption…
John Pistole: "What I Think Is Appropriate in Terms of Privacy"
This entire interview between TSA Director John Pistole, James Fallows, and Jeffrey Goldberg is worth reading. But I'm particularly interested in what Pistole says about his role in finding the appropriate balance between security and privacy.
James…
ACLU Appeals 9th Circuit Jeppesen Decision to SCOTUS
The ACLU, who represents the plaintiffs in Mohamed v. Jeppesen, has appealed from the 9th Circuit en banc decision by petitioning the Supreme Court for certiorari.
Dick Cheney: Wanted for Bribery
Nigeria has made it official. Today, it charged Dick Cheney with 16 bribery-related charges.
While that's not unexpected, I'm amused by Dick Cheney's Defense-Attorney-on-Call Terry O'Donnell's response to the charges:
Mr Cheney's lawyer, Terence…