A Tale of Two Airline Heroes
You've heard about Steven Slater.
He's the Jet Blue flight attendant who got fed up, bitched out a nasty passenger over the flight intercom, grabbed two beers, then escaped via the emergency slide (the YouTube is the Taiwanese animation…
Helen Would Have Asked about the Rape Threats for Teens
That last thread is getting a bit long, and since McCaffrey the MilleniaLab says we're going on a walk NOW, I wanted to throw up more space for discussion.
So let me just make this observation. Apparently, not one of the crack reporters at…
Gibbs' Walk-Back: Clueless about "in America"
In Robert Gibbs' intemperate rant about hippies, he seemed to distinguish between the "professional left" he was targeting and the Progressives "in America" who are clapping loudly over Obama's accomplishments.
Progressives, Gibbs said,…
Thank You Nicholas Merrill
Today we learn the name of the guy who challenged the more abusive aspects of the National Security Letter program: Nicholas Merrill.
Now, following the partial lifting of his gag order 11 days ago as a result of an FBI settlement, Merrill…
Mistaking a Nomination for an Appointment
Katrina vanden Heuvel set off the twitters with this:
WH (& others) indicate Elizabeth Warren 2 be nominated next week to head Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Kudos 2 all who worked 4 her.
While I agree with vanden Heuvel that those…
More Kangaroo Court Craziness
Not only did our Kangaroo Court in Gitmo decide that it's okay to threaten teeenaged boys with rape to get them to confess, but it also announced that the sentence for Ibrahim al Qosi would remain sealed until he was released.
In one courtroom,…
The US Believes It's Okay to Threaten Teenagers with Rape
Carol Rosenberg tweets:
Omar Khadr's military judge just ruled that ALL of his confessions from Afghanistan to #Guantanamo will go to trial. None suppressed.
The Toronto-born captive's defense had wanted his interrogations excluded on…
The Nomination Gap In The Justice System
/
bmaz30% of US Attorney spots are either still under Bush appointees or under "acting status" and well over 100 Federal judicial seats are empty with far less that half even having a pending nominee. Republicans have put the appointment of conservative judges at the top of their agenda; Democrats and Obama need to get with the program.
Mr. "Newsweek" Jane Harman's Role in the Intelligence Industrial Complex
You all know I'm a big fan of the work Tim Shorrock has done to track the dangers of the privatization of the intelligence industrial complex. Today, he kicks off an ongoing relationship with the Daily Beast--so now we can read at the Daily…
DC Circuit, Want to Rethink that Habeas Ruling?
Back in May, the DC Circuit decided that detainees at Bagram Air Force base were not entitled to habeas corpus because, since the base is in an active war zone, it would be unduly burdensome for the government to hold a real hearing.
I'm…
GAO Audits and Poppy Bush's Covert World
Steven Aftergood has an important update on the continuing saga of whether or not GAO can conduct investigations of intelligence activities. He explores the source of current restrictions on GAO review: a 1988 OLC opnion written by Douglas Kmiec.
The…
Obama's Relentless Abandonment of Progressive Nominees
/
bmazLike they did to Dawn Johnsen, the Obama White House has hung absolutely outstanding progressive nominees Goodwin Liu and Edward Chen out to dry, and are well on their way to doing the same with Elizabeth Warren. It is a pathetic track record on progressive nominees.
The Stay Issue in the Perry Prop 8 Case
/
bmazThe governor and Attorney General of the State of California have filed formal briefs opposing the stay of Judge Walker's decision in the Proposition 8 case that the law is unconstitutional and cannot stand. This gives cover to Judge Walker to deny the stay and he is likely to do just that.
Dr. William Tam's Understanding of "The Gay Agenda" and Vaughn Walker's Prop 8 Decision
There was a fair amount of attention to Vaughn Walker's scathing dismissal of professional anti-gay "scholar" David Blankenhorn's testimony in the Prop 8 trial.
The court now determines that Blankenhorn’s testimony constitutes inadmissible…
Abu Zubaydah's American-Taxpayer Paid Tour of the World
You should read two pieces in conjunction this morning. First, this Andy Worthington piece from last week, that lays out new details on the black site CIA used in Poland in 2002-2003.
On Friday, the Polish Border Guard Office released a number…
Why Isn't Obama Clearing Brush on PDB Day?
Nine years ago today, George W Bush was informed that "Al Qaeda [was] determined to strike in US."
And then he went out to clear more brush at his pig farm in Crawford.
Obama is showing no such presidential manliness in the second year…
Picking and Choosing Which Journalistic Outlets to Treat as Journalistic Outlets
Tuesday, Philip Shenon reported that Wikileaks wanted the Defense Department's help reviewing the next batch of documents it will release for names that should be redacted.
Julian Assange wants the Pentagon’s help.
His secretive WikiLeaks…
Will DOD Ban Itself for Publishing Joshua Claus' Name?
Carol Rosenberg tweets:
Just got formal notice: Pentagon publicly naming Interrogator No. 1 who testified remotely to #Guantanamo as ex-Army Sgt. Joshua Claus
Army Maj. Bradsher read me a Pentagon policy statement that said Claus' "own actions"…
BREAKING NEWS: Court Overturns Prop 8; Joy For Marriage Equality
/
bmazThe decision from Judge Vaughn Walker is in and the hatred and discrimination of California's Proposition 8 has been overturned and declared unconstitutional.
Canadian Judge: Omar Khadr's Brother Was Illegally Held and Interrogated
Omar Khadr is set to go on trial starting Monday, August 9.
Today, his brother went free in Canada.
A judge ruled that he could not be extradited to the US because the confessions on which his extradition request was based had been collected…