Saturday
Terrorized by 'War on Terror' - washingtonpost.com
Terrorized by 'War on Terror' - washingtonpost.com: "Where is the U.S. leader ready to say, 'Enough of this hysteria, stop this paranoia'? Even in the face of future terrorist attacks, the likelihood of which cannot be denied, let us show some sense. Let us be true to our traditions."
Friday
Not that I've read the whole 168 pages or anything. But a few random thoughts on the Iraq spending bill: (pdf)
(1) The bill gives full props and power to the CiC. §§1908(a), 1909. Does anyone remember Reagan's certifications of "human rights progress" in Guatemala in the '80s? Does anyone doubt that Bush can keep an indefinite number of troops in Iraq indefinitely under the FOUR (count 'em) missions on which the bill permits indefinite deployment? §1904(f).
(2) Out of the $120-some billion in the bill, only about $10 billion is set to expire in 9/08. More of that is earmarked for Afghanistan than for Iraq.
(3) Another several billion dollars in funding is set to expire 9/09, which is utterly symbolic since the spending bills are good for only two years anyhow.
(4) Deadlines on spending merely encourage the Administration to spend the money faster. Then come back for more. Duh. Remember the Great White Fleet? Okay, I'm too young, too. Teddy Roosevelt wanted to send the Navy around the world in a show of force. Congress refused to fund the mission. So as CiC, Roosevelt deployed the Navy to just sail. And, when they ran out of money in Japan, left it up to Congress whether they wanted to fund the return trip or not.
So, are you *still* proud of your Representative for voting for the bill?
(1) The bill gives full props and power to the CiC. §§1908(a), 1909. Does anyone remember Reagan's certifications of "human rights progress" in Guatemala in the '80s? Does anyone doubt that Bush can keep an indefinite number of troops in Iraq indefinitely under the FOUR (count 'em) missions on which the bill permits indefinite deployment? §1904(f).
(2) Out of the $120-some billion in the bill, only about $10 billion is set to expire in 9/08. More of that is earmarked for Afghanistan than for Iraq.
(3) Another several billion dollars in funding is set to expire 9/09, which is utterly symbolic since the spending bills are good for only two years anyhow.
(4) Deadlines on spending merely encourage the Administration to spend the money faster. Then come back for more. Duh. Remember the Great White Fleet? Okay, I'm too young, too. Teddy Roosevelt wanted to send the Navy around the world in a show of force. Congress refused to fund the mission. So as CiC, Roosevelt deployed the Navy to just sail. And, when they ran out of money in Japan, left it up to Congress whether they wanted to fund the return trip or not.
So, are you *still* proud of your Representative for voting for the bill?
Thursday
Wednesday
Politics of Fuel Economy Catch Up to Automakers - washingtonpost.com
Politics of Fuel Economy Catch Up to Automakers - washingtonpost.com: "'Something happened in the last five years, most likely the war in Iraq,' said Mike Jackson, chairman and chief executive of AutoNation, the nation's largest chain of dealerships. 'People see the connection that we went to war for the first time over oil, we stayed around over oil and we're back there over oil.'"
Secrecy News
Secrecy News: "The cost of post-9/11 U.S. military operations has now reached $510 billion"
POLITICS-US: Key Democrat Pressured to Cut War Funding
POLITICS-US: Key Democrat Pressured to Cut War Funding: "Nancy Pelosi some time ago made a conscious decision that she was going to stop representing San Francisco and start trying to be a national figure"
Tuesday
Candidate for Funniest SCOTUS transcript ever. (pdf file) "For example, in the Shakespeare class, kid doesn't, doesn't say anything. He doesn't yell or scream or even raise his hand. He just holds a little sign in the Shakespeare class that says "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."
And this was before they began singing Mairzy Dotes.
And this was before they began singing Mairzy Dotes.
McClatchy Washington Bureau | 03/19/2007 | Defense spending soars to highest levels since World War II
McClatchy Washington Bureau | 03/19/2007 | Defense spending soars to highest levels since World War II: "'Nobody wants to be labeled anti-military for the crime of cutting the budget,'"
AlterNet: MediaCulture: Have You Been Tricked by Viral Marketing? Join the Crowd
AlterNet: MediaCulture: Have You Been Tricked by Viral Marketing? Join the Crowd: "The process is customized for each product and company, but the standard procedure goes something like this: recruit influential people within a specialty or social network, allow them to familiarize themselves with a product, give them the means by which they can relay their product assessments to other people (over the Internet or by some other channel) and provide them rewards for reporting back on how the product was received and criticized by their peers."
Monday
Comment is free: Truth and torture
Comment is free: Truth and torture: "one of the extraordinary things about the NKVD was that it hardly ever used techniques that today's White House would disallow.
Prolonged discomfort, cold and sleep deprivation broke almost everyone. Both Conquest and Solzhenitsyn list five main techniques used to break prisoners. All are found among the 'enhanced interrogation techniques' used by the CIA. Stalin's NKVD did not, however, use waterboarding, the technique of simulated drowning which is supposed to be the CIA's most effective technique."
Prolonged discomfort, cold and sleep deprivation broke almost everyone. Both Conquest and Solzhenitsyn list five main techniques used to break prisoners. All are found among the 'enhanced interrogation techniques' used by the CIA. Stalin's NKVD did not, however, use waterboarding, the technique of simulated drowning which is supposed to be the CIA's most effective technique."
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