Free Press Asks for Details
Ask and someone shall FOIA it for you...
A couple of days ago, I wondered why it was that DOJ would decide to intervene against Net Neutrality--months after the comment period to do so closed. Well, Free Press was wondering the same thing and has submitted a FOIA request to find out.
Banana Republic
The Sentencing Memorandum the government filed in the Chiquita case reveals something rather interesting. Chiquita was an equal opportunity terrorist supporter. You see, from 1989 to 1997, Chiquita paid protection money to FARC and ELN, left wing terrorist groups. Then, after FARC and FLN were declared terrorist groups in 1997, Chiquita switched sides, paying protection money to right wing terrorist group AUC instead.
Tribute
Omar Mora and Yance Gray have died in Iraq, just weeks after they contributed to a powerful op-ed in the NYT. In tribute to their lives, I think it only appropriate to return to their op-ed, which offers a far more honest assessment of progress in Iraq than the Petraeus and Crocker dog-and-pony show.
Our Blabby Director of National Intelligence
You'd think Conyers would be looking forward to having Mike McConnell in for testimony. After all, Conyers has faced such a long string of Administration witnesses who, basically, "do not recall," he ought to be happy to have one who blabs too much. But Conyers is putting McConnell on notice that he's none too happy about that, either.
At the hearing held in our Committee last week, a number of seriousconcerns were
Invite Admiral Fallon to Tell Us if We're Safer
You've no doubt heard that General Petraeus has no fucking clue whether sustaining the surge and succeeding in Iraq will make us safer. (To some degree, this is appropriate, because his command is limited to Iraq, and his job is to do the best job in Iraq he can.) You've also probably heard that some at the Pentagon have their own plan to get us out of the Iraq, fast.
NEWSWEEK has
Now Why Would They Want to Bury Plea Agreements?
Readers of this blog no doubt know that Federal Courts have gone to lengths to make Courts more accessible to dirty fucking hippies citizens in recent years.
The policy of the Judicial Conference on privacy andpublic access to electronic case files has developed incrementally overthe past four years. The application of the policy to various types ofcases files has evolved to the point where the policy now provides forremote access to
I'd Love to See Conyers and Pelosi in a Spat
That may not be a mature sentiment, wanting to see Conyers and Pelosi in a spat. But after reading that Pelosi knee-capped Conyers on his subpoena of Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten, I have marginal hopes that this will piss off Conyers and escalate things in HJC, rather than bury them as Pelosi seems content to do.
House Democratic leaders have decided to postpone a vote on a criminalcontempt resolution against White
Is There Any Indication This Isn't the Fault of OVP?
Via Secrecy News, I see that DCI Michael Hayden is lecturing the press on its obligations in the GWOT.Theduty of a free press is to report the facts as they are found. By sticking tothat principle, journalists accomplish a great deal in exposing al-Qa’ida andits adherents for what they are.
Justas they report on the terrorists, it’s the job of journalists to report on the howthe war against terrorism is being fought.
Whose Credibility Is Declining Faster?
Mike McConnell or General Petraeus?
Petraeus has become Fox's latest pundit, while McConnell is claiming the amended FISA is responsible for those German terror arrests last week.
The government’s ability to eavesdrop on terrorism suspects overseasallowed the United States to obtain information that helped lead to thearrests last week of three Islamic militants accused of planning bombattacks in Germany, Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told senators on Monday.
The Warrantless Wiretap Program Was Illegal
When Jim Comey testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he refused to say the warrantless wiretap program was illegal.
SPECTER: Well, you don't have to.
If the certification by theDepartment of Justice as to legality is required as a matter of law,and that is not done, and the program goes forward, it's illegal.
Holy Joe Bewails Free Speech
MoveOn has a hot new ad in today's NYT pointing out that Petraeus' statements differ from all the known metrics out there. And boy has it made Sanctimonious Joe pissed. Not surprisingly, Joe is trying to call in those chits he got for agreeing to caucus with the Democrats in January.
The personal attack on Gen.
War and Propaganda Council
BushCo says that--since they haven't seen Petraeus in a week--they clearly couldn't have given him a script for today's hearing.
The White House and its allies on Capitol Hill have pushed back hard atthis critique. Administration officials said they are not directing orreviewing the testimony of Petraeus and Crocker. A senior militaryofficial close to Petraeus said the general's congressional testimonyhas not been provided to the White House or the Pentagon "and the
Medicare Giveaways!
No, not to the seniors enrolled in Medicare, silly! To the private insurance companies. Yet another GAO report has found yet another contracting scam that BushCo is ignoring.
Private insurance companies participating in Medicarehave been allowed to keep tens of millions of dollars that should havegone to consumers, and the Bush administration did not properly auditthe companies or try to recover money paid in error, Congressionalinvestigators say in a new report.
What's remarkable
The Hunt for Oil
Does it surprise you that the first company to sign an oil deal with Iraqi Kurds is Hunt Oil, a company with very close ties to Bush and our country's intelligence infrastructure?
Texas' Hunt Oil Co. and Kurdistan's regional government saidSaturday they've signed a production-sharing contract for petroleumexploration in northern Iraq, the first such deal since the Kurdspassed their own oil and gas law in August.A Hunt subsidiary,Hunt Oil Co.
Communities of Interest
This Eric Lichtblau article provides a lot of dots that have been, heretofore, missing in our picture of the surveillance they've got us under. It's no surprise the government has been using data mining on not just suspects themselves, but also on their friends and associates--a virtual "Friends and Families" plan of surveillance.
"The White House Needs to Hire an Archivist"
WTF is the Administration doing, claiming it has briefed members of Congress on the warrantless wiretap program when it hasn't?
After the domestic surveillance program was revealed in 2005, formerSenate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham (D-FL) said thatWhite House briefings that he attended in the Vice President’s office failed to disclose that the administration was spying on Americans:
There was no reference made to the fact that we weregoing to…begin unwarranted, illegal —
What Indictments Did Schlozman Speak to Elston About?
Brad Schlozman remains unresponsive on a few of the questions he (finally) returned to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Take this question that asks for very specific details about any conversations he had with Mike Elston about indictments in WD MO:
Did you speak with Michael Elston regarding any other indictments filed while you were U.S.
Why Would DOJ Oppose Net Neutrality ... Now?
Mcjoan has a post on how the DOJ intervened all of a sudden into the FCC's consideration of Net Neutrality. As she points out, there's something unusual about DOJ's intervention: it came after the comment period had closed.
It was a curious filing, as IP Democracy's Cynthia Brumfield describes:
What’s curious about the filing is that, first, it’s an ex parte, orlate, submission in the FCC’s Inquiry on Broadband Practices, mostcommonly known
They Won't Put Their Lies in Writing
Well, I guess that'll make it harder to prosecute General Petraeus for lying to Congress.
In the latest twist to the ongoing saga over the Petraeus White House report, a senior military official tells the Washington Times today that there will actually be no report at all:
A senior military officer said there will be nowritten presentation to the president on security and stability inIraq.
Our Latest Rent-a-Thuggish-Sheikh in Iraq
I have little wisdom to add to this Abu Aardvark post, but I wanted to make sure people saw it:
It's kind of lost in the shuffle of the coming battle over thevarious Iraq reports, but I find myself morbidly fascinated by thephotos and reports which have circulated in the Iraqi press aboutBush's meeting in Anbar with the controversial head of the AnbarSalvation Council Sattar Abu Risha.