Tory-Speak on the Torture Inquiry
I seem to be one of the biggest skeptics about the torture inquiry David Cameron announced this week. Among other things, I worry that Cameron intends to pressure plaintiffs who allege they were tortured into a mediated settlement to prevent…
DOD Allows Carol Rosenberg to Return to Gitmo Next Week
There are two pieces of good news in this McClatchy story reporting that Carol Rosenberg, one of four journalists banned from Gitmo because she published the previously reported name of Omar Khadr's first interrogator, Joshua Claus, will be…
One Percent of All Americans Will Have Lost Unemployment by Month's End
More than one percent of all Americans--3.3 million people--will have lost their unemployment benefits by month's end if Congress doesn't pass an extension of long-term benefits.
The Labor Department estimates that about 1.7 million have lost…
Apparently, Reporting on Right Wing Death Squads Is Now Material Support for Terrorism
We've discussed the recent SCOTUS decision that ruled the government can charge people engaging in First Amendment activities with material support for terrorism. Even groups trying to teach terrorist organizations to engage peacefully might…
Huge Brass Balls and A Burn In The Bay: BART Shooting Verdict
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bmazToday was a good day for Michael Rains and his client Mehserle. But a bad day for the City of Oakland. Now the night comes.
Obama Administration Grants Europeans Rights Americans Don't Have
You know what happens when your elected representatives fight for your privacy? Counterterrorism investigators actually grant you some!
At issue is SWIFT--the database that tracked most international money transfers which the Bush Administration…
Did Bad Journalism Make the Country Love Torture?
One of the key takeaways of a study a number of people are buzzing about--showing that a majority of the country has generally opposed torture--is that six months after Obama became president, that changed.
Using a new survey dataset on torture…
GAO to Have Oversight of Most-Secret DOD Programs?
Steven Aftergood reports that DOD signed a directive last week allowing for Government Accountability Office audits of Special Access Programs.
[A] Department of Defense Directive issued last week explicitly allows for GAO access to highly…
Did Adrian Lamo Have Two Days Worth of IM's with Bradley Manning on May 25?
As I noted in my earlier post on Wikileaks leaker Bradley Manning's charging document, there's an apparent discrepancy between the timing Wired gives for Manning's arrest and what the charging document shows. Wired said that the FBI told Adrian…
Another Obama Recess Appointment For Someone Not Named Johnsen
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bmazYet another recess appointment proves the sham and fraud that was the Obama White House handling of Dawn Johnsen.
Wikileaks Leaker Bradley Manning Finally Charged
The government has finally charged Bradley Manning, the Wikileaks leaker. He is charged with two counts of violating the UCMJ, one related to loading onto his own unsecure computer a set of information and adding unauthorized software to a military…
Is the UK Torture Inquiry an Attempt to Limit Further Disclosure?
There's not yet a lot of reporting about the terms of the British inquiry into its complicity with torture. But from the reports by the Beeb and the Independent, it seems the inquiry itself will not start until all pending civil and criminal…
"Creative" Wall Street and Money-Laundering
I have long maintained that we will eventually learn that Citibank took over where BCCI and then Riggs Bank left off: serving as a money laundering vehicle used by drug cartels and other organized crime, terrorists, and spooks. But this article…
Are DOJ and DOI Making A Competent Legal Effort On Gulf Moratorium?
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bmazIf the Obama Administration and Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar truly believe in the propriety of their six month moratorium, and are dedicated to fighting through appeal for it, why are their lawyers not acting like it? Are they really not trying because they really don't care, or are they just sloppy and incompetent? It is one or the other.
Obama Administration Follows Bush/Cheney On Politicization Of DOJ
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bmazThe courts and government of the United States of America are open and unfettered. It is time for the Obama Administration to quit frittering away the American foundation of law to the whims and winds of personal electoral desire and perceived political necessity. There can be no greater show of strength and character than to demonstrate to the world that we live and die with the principles we were founded with. Put the September 11th defendants on trial where they belong, as criminals in the Article III Federal court of jurisdiction.
The Use of False Passports Does Not Make Someone an Al Qaeda Member
Happy Fourth of July.
This week, the DC Circuit Court had to tell the government that using false passports does not make someone an al Qaeda member.
At issue is the appeal of Belkacem Bensayah, an Algerian who had been living in Bosnia…
Bill Keller Suppresses American Tradition of Opposition to Torture
When asked by NYT's own media reporter about the NYT's refusal to use the word torture, Bill Keller could barely exert himself to say more than the official press statement. Here's what the spokesperson gave to Michael Calderone.
A spokesman…
Press Groups Call Gitmo Banning Prior Restraint
"Any system of prior restraints of expression comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption against its constitutional validity" ... The Government "thus carries a heavy burden of showing justification for the imposition of such a restraint."…
Liz "BabyDick" Cheney and DNC: Ideological Soulmates?
A number of people have taken the DNC to task for its Rovian attack on RNC Chair Michael Steele for comments suggesting we might fail in Afghanistan (Glenn Greenwald, Greg Sargent, Adam Serwer). The only thing I would add to their comments is…
Cowboys, T. Jeff's Declaration, Bond Bitchez and Teh Porn Stash
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bmazEnough of these namby pamby blog post tiles. The boys are back, Anna Chapman is hot and Thomas Jefferson is sleeping with teh porn.