Better Give Up Trying to Fix Housing Crisis Before Principal Reductions Hit
I'm fairly amused by this story, presented by the NYT as "reporting." It claims the Obama Administration has tried "just about every program it could think of to prop up the ailing housing market," and faced with the failure of "just about every…
KSM Asked after His Sons in December 2006
Terry McDermott will have a 9/11-timed biography of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the New Yorker this week. But in the interim, he has posted a few of the letters he got in Pakistan as part of his research. In a letter sent December 15, 2006 to…
Who We Are: Zeitoun and Camp Greyhound Five Years On
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bmazThere is peril to the very fabric of American society when our founding principles are discarded and/or compromised, yet that is exactly what has occurred in the wake of 9/11. The stunning tale of Zeitoun and the Gitmo style gulag known as Camp Greyhound erected five years ago in the wake of Katrina tells us just how far down the slippery slope we have fallen as a nation.
Why Not Hire the Woman Who Wrote the Book on the Struggles of the Middle Class?
Apparently, Obama decided to use his Labor Day weekend radio address not to pay tribute to all that organized labor did to create the middle class in this country, but to try to persuade voters that he is doing enough to save it.
On Monday,…
Cheney's "Hard, Hard Power" and Syria
Apparently, the Poodle's memoir (the tour for which got a little messy in Dublin) confirms something that was blatantly obvious: Dick Cheney wanted to conquer the entire Middle East, country by country.
Describing the former US vice president…
EW's World Famous Trash Talk: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
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bmazIt's Trash Time!
Hamdan Gets A Full Panel Review
This is a rather interesting pre-holiday document dump:
The Pentagon's war crimes appeals court announced without explanation Friday that the full U.S. Court of Military Commission Review, not a smaller panel, would review the conviction…
"I Think the Critical Term Here Is" Littering Prolonged Mental Harm
Here's how our crack 9th Circuit Judge Jay Bybee played word games so as to consider bottles of water left for migrants traversing the Arizona desert "litter" even if they weren't "garbage." (h/t Balkinization)
1The regulation suffers from…
The Anonymous Coward Returns
The White House was okay with Robert Gibbs attacking the Professional Left and their Catfood Commission Co-Chair attacking, well, everyone.
But they wouldn't let Steven Rattner's claim that Rahm Emanuel had attacked the UAW go unanswered.
Rattner…
Working Thread: John Yoo's Emails
At Rosalind's request, I'm putting up this working thread on the emails that OLC just turned over to CREW.
There's nothing all that exciting there because this search did not include "paper or electronic documents of Mr. Yoo available elsewhere…
On Tuesday, General Petraeus Achieved Victory in Oceania; On Wednesday, He Led Us to War against Eastasia
The day after Obama declared victory (sort of) in Iraq, the Administration announced a whole package of sanctions against the Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-e Taliban. The sanctions:
Designate TTP as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
Designate…
About that "Fuck the UAW" Tax
In honor of Steve Rattner's revelation that Rahm Emanuel wandered around during the auto bailout saying "fuck the UAW," I've renamed the "Cadillac tax" the "Fuck the UAW" tax.
Which is appropriate timing given that the Kaiser Family Foundation…
Elizabeth Warren Drops Harvard Course at Last Minute
Following closely on the reporting that Wall Street has resigned itself to having Elizabeth Warren recess appointed to head the Consumer Finance Protection Board, the WaPo reports that she has backed out of teaching a Harvard class at the last…
Letter to Earl Blumenauer Re: Indemnification Agreements
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bmazNow that Earl Blumenauer has exposed the craven indemnification agreement the US government under the Bush/Cheney Administration gave to Halliburton/KBR, he should pursue the same types of agreements secretly given to telcom companies participating in the illegal wiretapping program.
What Changes Did Obama Just Make to Courts Martial?
In 30 days, changes to Part II (Rules) and IV (Punitive Articles) of the Courts Martial Manual will go into effect. Only, we don't know what those changes are because the annex that describes them appears to be classified.
All we get is this…
SEC to Ratings Agencies: Really, We Mean Business
Yesterday, the SEC told ratings agencies they mean business. They will prosecute agencies for fraud.
In the future.
It did so in a report of investigation into explicit fraud on the part of Moody's in which the SEC declined to prosecute…
Shorter DC Circuit: Yeah, Rogers Brown and Kavanaugh Are Extremists
Charlie Savage noted an interesting part of yesterday's DC Circuit ruling upholding the detention of Ghaleb Nassar al-Bihani: it explicitly disagreed with earlier assertions made by Janice Rogers Brown and Brett Kavanaugh that international…
Nothing To Be Done But Blame Republicans
Jake Tapper hammered Robert "a recovery that got our economy moving again" Gibbs yesterday on whether the Administration is not doing more for the economy because of political paralysis. After four attempts to avoid answering the question or…
ACLU and CCR Sue to Stop Targeted Killings
From a joint press release:
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) today filed a lawsuit challenging the government's asserted authority to carry out “targeted killings” of U.S. citizens located…
More Stupid Housing Policy on the Way?
Great news! My house goes on the market today — at the same price the house next door sold as a foreclosure a few years ago.
Okay — it's mostly good news insofar as I don't have to drive back to Ann Arbor every weekend and instead can…