1029 QuickLinks

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
The Meekest Democratic Senator (No, Not Harry Reid)
Collaborator on telecom immunity, advocate of warrantless spying, cheerleader for invading Iraq? "That's just Jay being Jay," reports Alexander Zaitchik in a profile on AlterNet of Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WVA).

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Green Zone Now a Danger Zone
"The Green Zone was once considered an American oasis -- a protected bubble of comfort food, large, American-made sport-utility vehicles and enforced speed limits," reports the Washington Post. But since March 23, four Americans and 14 non-Americans have been killed inside by insurgent shelling.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The House That Karl Built
Scott Horton reports on Larisa Alexandrovna of Raw Story, who tracked down Karl Rove's resort home on the border of Florida and Alabama. After talking with locals, she wrote, "I have never seen anyone so unwelcome and unwanted in their own community."

Monday, March 24, 2008
Bet You Didn't Know This About McCain
"Two extraordinary moments in his political past that are at odds with the candidate of the present: His discussions in 2001 with Democrats about leaving the Republican Party, and his conversations in 2004 with Senator John Kerry about becoming Mr. Kerry's running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket." Elisabeth Bumiller reports in the New York Times.

Monday, March 24, 2008
Not Just 4,000 Dead, But 25 in Last Two Weeks
"American forces have just experienced the most violent two-week period in Iraq since September 2007," writes Brandon Friedman at Vet Voice. "Of the two significant numbers this week -- 4,000 killed during war and 25 in the last two weeks -- the latter figure is far more significant with regard to the current situation on the ground."

Monday, March 24, 2008
Sign of the Times: Best Buy, Home Depot Allow Haggling
"Shoppers are discovering an upside to the down economy. They are getting price breaks by reviving an age-old retail strategy: haggling," reports the New York Times. "A bargaining culture once confined largely to car showrooms and jewelry stores is taking root in major stores like Best Buy, Circuit City and Home Depot."

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Spitzer's Successor Also Weighed Down by Infidelity Baggage
"The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state's new governor, David Paterson, told the New York Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs."

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Sheer Number of Suicide Bombers in Iraq Staggering
"Suicide bombers in Iraq have killed at least 13,000 men, women and children," writes Robert Fisk at Britain's Independent. "Our most conservative estimate gives a total figure of 13,132."

Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Spitzer May Be Guilty of Worse
(1 comments) The New York Megaphone received documents recently that indicate Eliot Spitzer's social connections -- WTC baron Larry Silverstein -- may be preventing him from investigating 9/11.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Article That Helped Bring Down Admiral Fallon
"If, in the dying light of the Bush administration, we go to war with Iran, it'll all come down to one man. If we do not go to war with Iran, it'll come down to the same man," writes Thomas Barnett at Esquire. "He is that rarest of creatures in the Bush universe: a man of strategic brilliance."

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Wired's Editor Thinks Free Is the Future of Business
"Once a marketing gimmick, free has emerged as a full-fledged economy. Offering free music proved successful for Radiohead, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, and a swarm of other bands on MySpace that grasped the audience-building merits of zero," writes Chris Anderson.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Spitzer's Fall Bad for Hillary
"The governor of her state -- who also happens to be one of her highest-profile backers -- is in trouble, big trouble," writes John Nichols at the Nation. "But Hillary Clinton doesn't want to go there."

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
It Wasn't Prostitution Ring That Led to Spitzer, But Vice-Versa
According to Brian Ross's page at ABC News, suspicious financial activity on the part of New York's governor "was initially reported by a bank to the IRS which. . . brought in the FBI's Public Corruption Squad. 'We had no interest at all in the prostitution ring until the thing with Spitzer led us to learn about it,' said one Justice Department official."

Friday, March 7, 2008
Obama Adviser and Pulitzer Prize Winner Calls Clinton a "Monster"
Samantha Power, author of the classic "Problem from Hell," tried to make it off the record. But she said, "She is a monster. . . . The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."

Monday, March 3, 2008
Bush Further Defunds Nuclear Storage Clean-up
"Buried in President Bush's proposed budget for next year is a story of broken promises," writes Washington's Gov. Chris Gregoire at the Washington Post. "The president wants to increase spending on every major category of our government's nuclear program except one: cleaning up our toxic nuclear legacy." Like the infamous Hanford.

Monday, March 3, 2008
Confronation with Iran Re-ignites
An exhibition by the US of nuclear documents that appeared (operative word) to have come from Iran's military laboratories open the road to more sanctions.

Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Financial Predators Had a Ball
In part V of a Global Research series, the incomparable William Engdahl explains how the multi-trillion dollar US-centered securitization debacle began to unravel.

Thursday, February 28, 2008
Nobe Laureate Ups Price Tag of Wars to $3 Trillion
White House response? "People like Joe Stiglitz lack the courage to consider the cost of doing nothing and the cost of failure. One can't even begin to put a price tag on the cost to this nation of the attacks of 9-11," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. Sounds like the Edwards's are on the right path, doesn't it?

Thursday, February 28, 2008
McCain's Canal Zone Birth Prompts Queries About Whether That Rules Him Out
(1 comments) "The question has nagged at the parents of Americans born outside the continental United States for generations: Dare their children aspire to grow up and become president? In the case of Senator John McCain of Arizona, the issue is becoming more than a matter of parental daydreaming." Carl Hulse of the New York Times reports.

Thursday, February 28, 2008
Clinton Rebounds -- Picks up Half a Delegate!
"The anomaly happened because the Democrats Abroad will send 22 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, each with a half vote," reports the Associated Press. "The system is designed to enable the group to send more people to the convention, without inflating its voting power."

Thursday, February 28, 2008
Why Did McCain Aid Bud Paxson, His Implacable Foe?
"McCain never wavered from his opposition to the legislation Paxson pushed, which would have diverted those billions into his company's coffers and away from the U.S. Treasury," writes Scott Woolley at Forbes. "Whether McCain did any other, smaller favors for Paxson is a question that will draw new attention as the campaign heats up."

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
John and Elizabeth Edwards Launch Campaign to Link Recession to Iraq
(1 comments) They're "joining a coalition of 4 political action groups: the political arm of the SEIU, VoteVets, Moveon, and the Center for American Progress to launch a 20 million dollar initiative on bringing attention to the economic problems of the Iraq war and how it affects the American pocketbook," reports Open Left.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Another Passing Grade for Iran on Nuclear Activity
Once again, the US is dissatisfied with the IAEA and is fixating on a laptop of dubious origin with plans for a nuclear warhead on it in an attempt to institute another round of sanctions. Farideh Farhi at Informed Comment: Global Affairs explains.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Former Clinton Consort Gennifer Flowers Resurfaces
She seeks to auction off their recorded tapes. To stop Hillary? "I don't need to hurt Hillary. She is doing a fine job of that herself, along with her idiot husband."

Sunday, February 24, 2008
Indian Officials Dread Obama Presidency
Senators Biden, Kerry, and Hagel are in New Delhi trying to close the US-Indian nuclear energy deal -- one that's unlikely to be completed if the antiproliferation Obama is elected president.

Sunday, February 24, 2008
Is Pakistan Election a Win or Loss for Bush Administration?
"Given the administration's staunch backing for Musharraf," writes Jim Lobe at Asia Times Online, "particularly over the past year as he dismissed the supreme court, altered the constitution, and cracked down against the secular opposition -- Monday's vote seemed to be almost as much a rebuff to Washington as to Musharraf himself."

Sunday, February 24, 2008
Rare Interview with Baseball Legend
Sandy Koufax speaks! Though not for long. To the New York Times.

Sunday, February 24, 2008
First B-2 Stealth Bomber Crashes
After take-off from Guam. The crew ejected safely, but that's $1.2 billion (yes, billion -- for one plane) down the drain.

Sunday, February 24, 2008
Did He or Didn't He?
(1 comments) Newly conflicting claims about McCain meeting with communications giant and lobbyist. Either way, looks like he may be on the fast track to Giuliani land.

Friday, February 22, 2008
Quick Reaction Mutes Damage to McCain, Claims ABC
"In less than 24 hours the McCain campaign traveled the long distance from anger and anxiety to calm and confidence." Apparently ABC is taking the McCain campaign's word for it that the issue is resolved. Thanks once again for the objectivity, MSM!

Friday, February 22, 2008
Cluster Bomb Conference Ends on Upbeat Note
"More than 120 nations trying to negotiate a treaty banning most cluster bombs failed to reach agreement in talks that ended Friday in New Zealand," according to the AP. "But Human Rights Watch spokesman Steve Goose said the conference 'has been a rousing success.'"

Friday, February 22, 2008
University of Colorado Elects New President Who Doesn't Believe in Global Warming
(8 comments) Among other things, writes Sam Smith at Scholars & Rogues, he also co-founded a 527 group with Pete Coors for the purpose of bashing Democrats.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
US Accused of Stalling Cluster Bomb Talks
Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams accused the United States on Wednesday of trying to stall negotiations on an international agreement to ban cluster bombs - without even attending talks on the treaty.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Facebook Is Almost as Tough to Break Free of as the Mob
"Are you a member of Facebook.com?" asks Maria Aspan in the New York Times. "You may have a lifetime contract. Some users have discovered that it is nearly impossible to remove themselves entirely from Facebook, setting off a fresh round of concern over the popular social network's use of personal data."

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Social Networking: The Next Generation
"Have you ever noticed how social networks don't do a very good job of representing how our personal networks actually function?" asks Dr. Slammy at Scholars & Rogues. "Sure, places like Facebook and MySpace and LinkedIn have their utility, but their flatness is a problem."

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
"Sorry, George, I Need More"
"George W. is going to give us back some money in May -- perhaps as much as $300 or $600 or $1200," writes Linda Seger at Huffington Post. "He thinks that this will make up for his failed economic policies. But isn't this similar to a giving a band-aid to a child who needs a $30,000 operation?"

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
"Our" Terrorist: Luis Posada Carriles
Why is terrorist Luis Posada Carriles enjoying the good life in Miami? Among other things, he's responsible for the 1976 downing of a Cuban passenger plane with 73 people on board, writes CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The "Folly of Attacking Iran" Tour
Coming to a town near you. Meanwhile, watch the video of top Iran experts at Just Foreign Policy.

Friday, February 8, 2008
Bush Approval at New Low
Or his disapproval is at a new high -- 30% according to a new AP poll. But he can take heart that approval of Congress is even lower -- 22%. Bush, Reid, Pelosi: three peas in a pod.

Friday, February 8, 2008
Max Head-Romney, We Hardly Knew Ye
"Here lieth the campaign of Mitt Romney," writes Howard Fineman at Newsweek, "victim of the mistaken belief that the only way to succeed in national Republican politics was to turn yourself into something you are not."

Friday, February 8, 2008
Krugman: Today's Economy Cross Between Dot-Com Bust and S&L Crisis
"On one side," writes Paul Krugman at the New York Times, "the bursting of the housing bubble is playing the role that the bursting of the dot-com bubble played in 2001. On the other, the subprime crisis is creating a credit crunch reminiscent of the crunch after the savings-and-loan crisis of the late 1980s, which led to recession in 1990."

Friday, February 8, 2008
Shadow War: AT&T Versus Verizon for Control of American Communications
(1 comments) Why is AT&T willing to play Internet cop when Verizon is not? Martin Bosworth at Scholars & Rogues answers a question with a question: "Is AT&T getting preferential treatment or subsidization from the government if it offers itself up as a content policeman for Hollywood and Washington both?"

Sunday, February 3, 2008
Democrat Disaster Debunked
Chris Bowers at Open Left sees John McCain winning the Presidency over Hillary Clinton. Joshua Holland at AlterNet begs to differ.

Friday, February 1, 2008
I Am a Geek in a Jock Culture
"I'm an electrical engineer working in the aerospace industry," writes Brian Angliss at Scholars & Rogues. But "I can speak a few words of Klingon and Elvish, and I think it's totally cool that some people take the time to make their own chain mail."

Friday, February 1, 2008
"Der schwarze Kennedy"
Some Germans are calling Obama the black JFK. "America's extraordinary presidential campaign has captivated politicians and ordinary people around the globe," reports the Boston Globe.

Thursday, January 31, 2008
9/11 Commissioner Zelikow Interfered with Report
(1 comments) ABC reports that Philip Zelikow was holding private discussions with Karl Rove during the course of the 9/11 investigation. Not to mention giving colleague Condi Rice a free pass.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Nukes in Space (or at Least Lasers)
(6 comments) As it has in past years, the U.S. government plans to oppose a draft treaty, written by China and Russia, for the "Prevention of Placement of Weapons in Outer Space" when it is introduced Feb. 12 at the international Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. (Courtesy of Nukes of Hazard.)

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Will Obama's Momentum Carry Over to Super Tuesday?
"Super Tuesday is a particular challenge for Obama, who trails Clinton in most national polls," reports the Los Angeles Times. "Three of the biggest states voting -- New York, New Jersey and Connecticut -- are in Clinton's backyard; a fourth, Arkansas, was her home before her husband was elected president."

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Countrywide CEO Foregoes Plush Payoff Package -- But He's Still Smiling
"Lest you think Angelo Mozilo will be on the welfare rolls by next year, fear not -- he's still walking away with retirement funding and deferred compensation totaling $40 million or so," writes Martin Bosworth at Scholars & Rogues. "Oh, the horror! How will he show his face at the country club now?"

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Man Who Learned Too Little
"The sad thing about President George W. Bush's eighth and final State of the Union address is that he seems to have learned so little about the crises in which he's immersed his nation so deeply," writes Fred Kaplan at Slate.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Major New Player on the Progressive Web
The Washington Independent. (Still in beta, or testing, stage.) Welcome it to the Web with a page view.

Monday, January 28, 2008
Bad Tempers, Part II: McCain
"He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me," said Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS). "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine."

Monday, January 28, 2008
Bad Tempers, Part I: Bill Clinton
(1 comments) After Bill Clinton knocked down his former advisor, Dick Morris (now foe of liberals) in 1989, Hillary said, "He only does this to people he loves." How does she know? Did that include her?

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Is the Bush Stimulus Going to Help You?
"The rhetoric surrounding George W. Bush's economic stimulus package," writes Nomi Prins at AlterNet, "indicates a complete lack of comprehension of the difference between this 'national' economy and the 'people's' economy, and the extent of the gap between the two." So what else is new?

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Massive Munitions Blast in Mosul
At least 17 dead. "It reverberated through the city as no explosion ever had before," writes Juan Cole at Informed Comment. "The casualty toll is likely to rise, since there were still people trapped under rubble at the site of the massive explosion."

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Big Dog Is off the Leash and Ripping up the Yard
"Bill Clinton is all over the place -- campaign guru, surrogate candidate, one-man first response team," writes Gail Collins at the New York Times. "By next week, he'll be designing the bumper stickers."

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Kerry Speaks Out on "Swiftboating"
(1 comments) "I hate the term 'Swiftboating,'" writes Sen. John Kerry. "I hate how the name of the boats we honored when we were in uniform in Vietnam has become a verb for the twisted politics of Karl Rove." But today we need to fight the right wing's tactics not just to reclaim a word, but to reclaim our democracy.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Nato "Must Prepare to Launch Nuclear Attack"
(5 comments) Nato must prepare to launch pre-emptive nuclear attacks to ward off the use of weapons of mass destruction by its enemies, according to a group of former senior military officials, including John Shalikashvili, the former Nato commander in Europe and chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff. Talk about keeping all options on the table.

Friday, January 18, 2008
Ahmadinejad Fearless in Face of Israeli Ballistic Missile Test
"In an interview with al-Jazeera TV, the Iranian leader said Israel 'would not dare' attack Iran," The BBC reports. "He spoke as Israel announced it had test-fired a ballistic missile."

Thursday, January 17, 2008
White House Recycled Tapes Used to Record Emails
"E-mail messages sent and received by White House personnel during the first three years of the Bush administration were routinely recorded on tapes that were 'recycled,'" reports the Washington Post. Ah, Nixon's legacy.

Thursday, January 17, 2008
CentCom Commander Fallon Says Pakistan to Allow in More US Troops
"Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command, said he believes increased violence inside Pakistan in recent months has led Pakistani leaders to conclude that they must focus more intensively on extremist al-Qaida hideouts near the border with Afghanistan," reports the Associated Press. Sneaking suspicion that the Pakistani people may not agree.

Thursday, January 17, 2008
Gates and Petraeus Have Different Ideas About Number of US Troops in Iraq
"While General Petraeus is in no hurry for more than five brigades to leave, Secretary Gates weighs a bigger drawdown," reports the Christian Science Monitor.

Thursday, January 17, 2008
Sequel to Schultz, Perry, Kissinger and Nunn's Anti-Nukes Article
Last year the WSJ published a widely read article by this quartet. In a follow-up they re-asses the state of nuclear disarmament and outline what needs to be done next. Though fossils, they're still influential.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008
US Shamed by Tiny Barbados
(3 comments) "Hats off to Barbados, which both signed and ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) on Monday," writes Jeff Lindemyer at Nukes of Hazard. The U.S. is one of only 10 countries, such as Pakistan, Iran and Israel, to stand in the way of its full implementation.

Monday, January 14, 2008
Investors Flocking to Gold
Gold leapt past 900 dollars for the first time last week. Investors have taken refuge in gold amid economic jitters, particularly concerns that the United States is slipping into recession.

Monday, January 14, 2008
The Incredible Shrinking President
(1 comments) "The diminished George Bush, increasingly irrelevant at home and abroad, is fading into insignificance," writes the incomparable Chris Hedges at TruthDig. "A year from now one half expects to see him stand up at the next presidents inauguration and screech 'I'm melting! I'm melting!' as he sinks into a puddle of slime."

Friday, January 11, 2008
The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Is Still Our Best Hope
(1 comments) "The NPT is now at a dangerous tipping point, say experts such as Graham Allison, who warn that unless rapid progress is made on non-proliferation issues, there is a real risk of nuclear weapons being used for the first time since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," writes Declan Butler at Nature News. "The issues will come to a head at an intergovernmental meeting in 2010 in Vienna, Austria, of the NPT's 189 members."

Thursday, January 10, 2008
Arms Control Persons of the Year Named
Yes, constructive work in that area is actually being done. The Arms Control Association named Congressmen Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) and David Hobson (R-Ohio) the winners. Due largely to their efforts, Congress rejected the Bush administration's proposal to fund research on a new, so-called "replacement" warhead. A Democrats and Republican working together -- what a concept!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Fewest Tears Yet for Bhutto
Ms. Bhutto, a Pakistani nuclear professor who knew her, reminds us that, "Her two tenures as prime minister were a nightmare of autocratic government and mis-governance. Billions disappeared from foreign aid. A Swiss court found her guilty of money laundering in 2003. Ms. Bhutto owned mansions and palaces across the world."

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Pakistan Plays Bush Admin for a Fool
(1 comments) "The Pakistani military has diverted half of [US military aid] for use against India, apparently with no reaction from Bush," writes Peter Galbraith in the Boston Globe. "Pakistan's military has learned from experience that the United States does not monitor its assistance." Between that and Iraq, the IT guy for the White House must have forgot to hook it up with Excel and its spreadsheets.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
We No Longer Have Any Excuse for Ignoring Plight of Iraqis
"McClatchy Newspapers set up a blog exclusively for contributions from its Iraqi staff," writes Michael Massing at the New York Review of Books. "'It's an opportunity for Iraqis to talk directly to an American audience,' says Leila Fadel, the current bureau chief." We can't screen their suffering out any longer. Follow the link for blog's url.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
An American in Iran
"Traveling this Mexico-sized and intensely proud country, one is impressed by a similar weariness with politics, mixed with resentment at state efforts to stir the embers of revolutionary fervor," writes Max Rodenbeck. "The eye-rolling is not caused by some overpowering attraction to Western culture. Iranians cherish being different."

Tuesday, January 8, 2008
The Chuckabee Show Hits New Hampshire
"The power of Chuck Norris was on display last Sunday when a heckler interrupted Mike Huckabee," writes Alexander Zaitchik at AlterNet. "Don't make me send Chuck back there," deadpanned Huckabee.

Monday, January 7, 2008
Can You Win on Dull?
. . . asks Politico. "Both campaigns have now reduced their themes to single word," writes Roger Simon. "Obama has a sign that says: Hope. Clinton has a sign that says: Ready. But will Clinton get a chance to be ready? Having lost Iowa on Thursday and with the crucial New Hampshire primary just two days away, she chose not to rouse the crowd but bowl it over in a blizzard of policy details."

Monday, January 7, 2008
Krugman: The Economic Levee Has Been Breached
"It's no longer possible to hope that the effects of the housing slump will remain 'contained, as one of 2007's buzzwords had it," writes Paul Krugman at the New York Times. "The levees have been breached, and the repercussions of the housing crisis are spreading across the economy as a whole."

Monday, January 7, 2008
Kucinich Still the Workingman's Best Friend
(1 comments) "Kucinich advocates a full-employment economy, calling for a new version of the 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA), which employed millions of Americans," Chris Hedges writes on Truthdig. "He wants to put people to work to rebuild the country's crumbling infrastructure, from its roads and bridges to its dams, levies, sewer systems, libraries and mass transit."

Monday, January 7, 2008
Eight Tribal Elders Shot Dead in Pakistan
"Eight tribal leaders attempting to broker a ceasefire in Pakistan's dangerous north-west province have been shot dead by suspected Islamic militants in eight separate killings," reports London's the Guardian. "The eight tribal leaders were scheduled to meet each other on Monday to discuss plans to achieve peace between between security forces and insurgents."

Friday, January 4, 2008
Hillary Abandoned by Iowa Women
(1 comments) "In what is bad news for Clinton, exit polling shows Obama beat the New York senator 35 percent to 30 percent among women caucus goers," reports Bill Schneider at CNN.

Friday, January 4, 2008
What Makes Obama Run?
(1 comments) For those suspicious of his motives, now is a good time to revisit what originally motivated Barack Obama to first run for public service. One from the archives.

Friday, January 4, 2008
Is This the Beginning of the End for Romney?
Romney, writes Susan Davis at the Wall Street Journal, "bet his strategy on victories in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. In five days, Romney will have to fend off Sen. John McCain. A victory in New Hampshire is now even more critical to Romney's bid, and if his loss here tonight is indicative of anything, it's that message beat money."

Friday, January 4, 2008
Why Did Kucinich Release His Voters to Obama?
(1 comments) Instead of Edwards? "It's hard to think of a single major issue -- including 'the war,' 'health care' and 'trade' -- for which Obama has a more progressive position than Edwards," writes Norman Solomon.

Friday, January 4, 2008
Russia Foiled 120 Cases of Smuggling Nukes Out
The question inevitably arises: How many got away? "A further 722 cases of illegal importing of highly radio-active material into Russia were detected -- possible evidence of a dangerous trade between ex-Soviet states," reports London's the Telegraph.

Thursday, January 3, 2008
John Edwards and His Bundlers of Joy
(2 comments) "John Edwards is the ONLY candidate who has never taken a dime from PACs or Washington lobbyists ever," writes Denny Wilkins at Scholars & Rogues. "He said he would expand public campaign financing and prohibit lobbyists from being campaign 'bundlers.'" Yet, he "has used 665 bundlers -- far more than any other presidential candidate -- en route to raising nearly $30 million" by the end of the third quarter.

Thursday, January 3, 2008
Gore Tried Populism in 2000
"He would fight these powers, and take on in particular 'big tobacco, big oil, the big polluters, the pharmaceutical companies, the HMOs.' John Edwards, 2008?" asks Marie Cocco at TruthDig. "No. Al Gore, 2000."

Thursday, January 3, 2008
Honoring a Departed Blogger: Harlem's Steve Gilliard
Who passed away this year. "By 2003," writes Matt Bai in the New York Times, "Gilliard had become one of the first official 'guest bloggers' on Daily Kos, then on its way to becoming the most influential of the new liberal political blogs, where he informed his indictments of the Iraq war with detailed references to the British occupation of Mesopotamia."

Wednesday, January 2, 2008
NY Times Shoots Itself in Foot by Hiring Kristol
Ian Williams at London's the Guardian writes: "Kristol, deservedly known as 'Quayle's Brain,' is a lightweight. . . whose magazine, the Weekly Standard, makes massive losses for Rupert Murdoch, its owner. These conservatives go on about market disciplines, but it is noteworthy how many of their thinktanks and publications depend on the kindness of eccentric billionaires."

Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Atomic Year in Review
The International Atomic Energy Agency prefaces its year in review: "Nuclear-related events and developments in 2007 reflected some rising stakes when it comes to global security, environmental, and economic issues." Talk about understatements.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Suddenly "Regime Change" Isn't Enough for Bush & Co.
(2 comments) "'Regime change with a view to ensuring continuity under military rule is no longer the main thrust of US foreign policy,' writes Michel Chossudovsky at Global Research. "The regime of Pervez Musharraf cannot prevail. Washington's foreign policy course is to actively promote the political fragmentation and balkanization of Pakistan as a nation."

Thursday, December 27, 2007
Benazir Bhutto's Courageous Legacy Marred by Wholesale Corruption
"I have buried a father killed at age 50 and two brothers killed in the prime of their lives," Bhutto wrote in a recent Op-Ed for The Washington Post. "I raised my children as a single mother when my husband was arrested and held for eight years without a conviction -- a hostage to my political career. I did not shrink from responsibility then, and I will not shrink from it now."

Thursday, December 27, 2007
Top 10 Myths About Iraq
Juan Cole demolishes the central myth -- that the surge is working. Read one of the world's leading authorities on Iraq at Informed Comment.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Republicans Can't Snake-Handle Evangelicals Any Longer
Sick of broken promises from presidents like Bush, evangelicals are looking to Mike Huckaee to lead them out of the wilderness and replace corporate interests with their own. Chris Hedges reports on the "Huckabites" for Truthdig.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007
The Dark Side of Ron Paul
(10 comments) Over at Scholars & Rogues, Sam Smith stirred up a hornet's nest when he brought to light some of Ron Paul's destructive positions -- including racism. (Scratch a libertarian and that's what you'll often find.)

Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Iran Dedicates Museum to Pursuit of Peace
(1 comments) "The people of Iran always hear about the glories of war, when we were invaded, but they rarely hear of the devastation of war," said its director, as reported by the Christian Science Monitor. Its volunteers "are hardly typical peaceniks. They are former soldiers who have been subjected to Iraqi chemical weapons attacks." Good to see an Iran peace initiative reported in the West.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007
A Crime Foretold: The Charsadda Bombing
"Yesterday's suicide attack that killed 56 people in Charsadda, a village northeast of Peshawar, Pakistan, was not aimed just at the former Interior Minister," writes Barnett Rubin of Informed Comment: Global Affairs. "It was part of a strategy by the Pakistani Taliban, supported by al-Qaida, to surround Peshawar with a ring of destabilization."

Monday, December 24, 2007
Wheee! Waterboarding a Pipeline to Hell
This brave soul actually tried waterboarding -- on himself. But (no pun intended) Scylla at the Straight Dope got in a little over his head. "I have never been more panicked in my whole life."

Monday, December 24, 2007
The True State of the Economy Is Reflected in the State of Our Teeth
(1 comments) "About 1 in 10 residents of Kentucky are missing all their teeth," reports the New York Times. Dr. Edwin Smith, who runs a free clinic, said that "at least once a month he sees a patient who has used Krazy Glue to reattach a broken tooth to the root or to an adjacent tooth." Is this 2007 or the Depression?

Monday, December 24, 2007
Moyers: What Did the Mitchell Report Teach Us?
(1 comments) "Ours is a society on steroids, and we're as blind as baseball's owners were a decade ago," writes Bill Moyers. "We cheer the winners in the game of wealth, the billionaires who benefit from a skewed financial system -- the losers, we kick down the stairs." And neglect to fight for a level playing field.

Monday, December 24, 2007
CIA's Rodriguez Determined Not to Be White House Fall Guy for Torture
(1 comments) According to the Times of London, "he may seek immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying before the House intelligence committee." Asks Vincent Cannistraro, former head of counterterrorism at the CIA, "Why in the world would Jose Rodriguez -- one of the most cautious men I have ever met –- have gone ahead and destroyed the tapes?" Unless, of course, he was ordered to.

Friday, December 21, 2007
Iraq Was a Lose-Lose (and Lose Again) Proposition
Once for Iraq, once for the US, and once for al Qaeda. "Yet the bid to bring the Iraqi resistance groups under the banner of al-Qaida has not just failed. It has spectacularly backfired," writes Jason Burke at London's Guardian.

Friday, December 21, 2007
This Is So Cool: Lakota (Sioux) Secede!
(9 comments) Lakota Sioux Indian representatives declared sovereign nation status today in Washington D.C. following Monday's withdrawal from all previously signed treaties with the United States Government. "This is an historic day for our Lakota people," declared Russell Means, Itacan of Lakota. "United States colonial rule is at its end!"

Thursday, December 20, 2007
Blockbuster Three-Part Series Dissects Hillary Point by Policy Point
"On Iraq: Hillary says she wants the troops out. But does she really? On International Law: When it comes to human rights around the world, Hillary Clinton is little more than Bush Lite. On her military policy: There's every indication that it closely parallels that of the Bush administration." Courtesy of Foreign Policy in Focus.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Newspapers Cartoonists Have a Field Day with Steroid Scandal
These are not only hilarious, but a visit to Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists' Index also highlights a cartoon's capacity to portray pathos.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Reid's Once-Chilly Relationship with Bush Now in Deep Freeze
Reports the New York Times: "Mr. Reid, Democrat of Nevada, calls the president 'this guy,' as in an interview last week, when he said, 'I am mystified, dumbfounded about how difficult it is to work with this guy.'"

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Government Watchdog's Top 10 Ethics Scandals
CREW's list includes those you'd expect, like "Millions of missing White House e-mails still unaccounted for." And those you wouldn't, like "Rep. Murtha's abuse of the earmarking process remains unchecked."

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
High-Ranking Defector Key to Iran NIE
And, yes, Bush knew about it. "The intelligence on the Iranian nuclear program obtained as a result of the U.S. debriefing of [the defector] would have been made available to Bush as soon as it was evaluated as important by the intelligence officials," writes Gareth Porter at AntiWar.

Sunday, December 16, 2007
Bill Clinton Takes Off the Gloves
(2 comments) In defense of his wife. "When is the last time we elected a president based on one year of service before he's running?" he said to Charlie Rose. "In theory, we could find someone who is a gifted television commentator and let them run. They'd have only one year less experience in national politics..."

Sunday, December 16, 2007
Late-Night Drama Needed to Coerce Climate Deal Out of US
"It overran by a day and the American delegation found itself being roundly booed, but a compromise deal on saving the planet has been hammered out at the climate change conference in Bali," reports London's Guardian.

Sunday, December 16, 2007
As if Hawkish Wing of Party Were the Only Democrats Who Cared About Security
"She is probably more assertive and willing to use force than her husband," says Richard Holbrooke, the former envoy for Bill Clinton. "Hillary Clinton is a classic national-security Democrat." At The Atlantic, Matthew Yglesias digs out this assessment of Democratic hawks from an old article.

Sunday, December 16, 2007
Israeli Minister Jumps on Bush's WWIII Band Wagon
"Something went wrong in the American blueprint for analyzing the severity of the Iranian nuclear threat," said Avi Dichter. "He seemed to imply that a world that let its guard down regarding Iran would be more vulnerable to attack by the Islamic regime," writes Laurie Copans at Huffington Post.

Friday, December 14, 2007
Is Senator Mitchell the Reincarnation of Joe McCarthy?
From squeezing the little guys -- trainers, strength coaches, clubhouse attendants -- to name names, to portraying Roger Clemens as public enemy number one, Mitchell's investigation has "witch hunt" written all over it. Howard Bryant at ESPN exposes Mitchell like Edward R. Murrow did McCarthy.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Maureen Dowd: Dumbest Guy Gives Dumbest Speech
(3 comments) The Defense Department's third in command under Rumsfeld: Douglas Feith, of course. "Jay Garner, America's first viceroy in Iraq, deemed him 'incredibly dangerous' and said his 'electrons aren't connected.'"

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Torture Does Not Become. . .
a woman (at the risk of sounding sexist). "That House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been a disappointing leader for House Democrats, few serious observers of the congressional condition will deny," writes John Nichols at the Nation. "But, now, she appears to be something more troubling: a serious hindrance to the fight against the use of crudest and most objectionable torture techniques."

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A Housing Bailout Might Be a Boon, But Bush's Is a Bust
"For those who don't know, last week President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveiled a 'mortgage rescue plan' (NOT a bailout, they desperately stressed) that would enable qualifying homeowners to qualify for a five-year freeze of their mortgage at the current rate," writes Martin Bosworth at Scholars & Rogues. "But the general consensus is that it s**ks."

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Iraq to US: Can't You Take a Hint? Go Home
"Permanent forces or bases in Iraq for any foreign forces is a red line that cannot be accepted by any nationalist Iraqi," the government's national security advisor said in an interview broadcast late Monday.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Is the Mahdi Army Morphing into Another Hezbollah?
"Sadr's top aides say the anti-American cleric is anything but idle. Instead, he is orchestrating a revival among his army of loyalists entrenched in Baghdad and Shiite enclaves to the south," reports the Christian Science Monitor. "Many analysts say what may reemerge is an Iraqi version of Lebanon's Hizbullah."

Monday, December 10, 2007
Has Indy Filmmaker Located bin Laden?
According to MSNBC: "Rumors are flying that filmmaker Morgan Spurlock of 'Super Size Me' fame may have done what the United States government has failed to do for the last six years -- find Osama bin Laden."

Monday, December 10, 2007
Systems Disruption: Rocket Attack on Key Iraqi Oil Refinery
"An oil refinery that produces much of the energy needed to power Baghdad is on fire after it came under rocket attack," reports Al Jazeera.

Monday, December 10, 2007
The CIA's Gift to Conspiracy Theorists
(21 comments) "I have to wonder what space-time continuum the CIA exists in," writes Bob Baer (of "Syriana" fame) in Time, "if they weren't able to grasp what a field day the 9/11 conspiracy theorists are going to have with [the destruction of detainee abuse tapes] especially at a time when trust for the government is plumbing new depths."

Sunday, December 9, 2007
Anatomy of a Scapegoating
"And the Goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities. . . " Scott Horton of Harper's explains how and why the administration decided to bring us the head of Jose Rodriguez for the destruction of records of detainee abuse.

Sunday, December 9, 2007
Honoring the Man Who Saved the World
(1 comments) In his Cold War Report in the eXile, Alexander Zaitchik writes about his visit with Stanislav Petrov. It's the 24th anniversary of the night he elected not to alert his superiors when a US missile launch showed up on his radar screen. He had the presence of mind to sense a false alarm -- and keep Russia from launching its nukes at the US.

Sunday, December 9, 2007
The Congressman Who Went from Freedom Fries to Limiting the President's War Powers
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) co-sponsored legislation renaming French fries in the House cafeteria "freedom fries." He's since introduced the Constitutional War Powers Resolution that would make it difficult for a president to go to war.

Thursday, December 6, 2007
China Poised to Stand up to US over Iran
Now that Iran is US-certified not to be developing nukes, it can be expected to run into a Chinese brick wall. Indeed, Beijing has emerged as the key player in getting the George W Bush administration to enter into a constructive engagement with Tehran. M.K. Bhadrakumar reports for Asia Times Online.

Thursday, December 6, 2007
The CIA "War" on Bush: The New Neocon Ploy
(1 comments) "Extreme Right meet the Extreme Left," writes Marc Cooper at HuffPo. "Now you both can agree. Whatever happens, it must be the fault of the CIA. Sleeper cell members, Al-Qaeda operatives, terrorists, foreign agents you can all rest easy. We've finally found the enemy and it ain't you. Nope. It's our own subversive intelligence services."

Thursday, December 6, 2007
Has Reality TV Finally Gone Too Far?
"The latest reality show being marketed to the major networks by the entertainment industry will certainly add more fuel to the heated immigration debate," reports Edmund Rocha at Scholars & Rogues. "Reuters recently reported that a Los Angeles company, Morusa Media, is marketing a new reality game show called 'Who Wants to Marry a US Citizen.'" And you thought politicians exploited the immigration issue.

Thursday, December 6, 2007
Iraqi Refugees in Syria Face Bleak Winter
McClatchy Newspapers reports: "Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Syria face a bleak winter, with rising fuel costs that could leave many without enough money for food, the director of the World Food Program said Monday. About a third of Iraqi respondents in a recent United Nations study said they skipped one meal a day to feed their children." God forbid the US should, like, come to their aid.

Thursday, December 6, 2007
How You Gonna Keep Them Down on the Farm?
(1 comments) "Numerous Iraqi military and law-enforcement officials brought to the U.S. as part of special intelligence and training programs have run away and are seeking asylum in this country or disappeared altogether," reports the Washington Times.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Forget Rudy's Trysts, Focus on His Dealings with Qatar
(1 comments) "With Qatar's troubling record as both an American ally and a longtime haven for al-Qaida terrorists," writes Joe Conason in Salon, "including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, or 'KSM,' the little Gulf sheikdom is a curious client indeed for Giuliani Security and Safety, a division of Giuliani Partners."

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
They Were Expendable
(1 comments) "U.S. soldiers mistakenly shot four Iraqi civilians, killing one, during operations against al Qaeda militants, the U.S. military said on Tuesday," reports Reuters. That's on top of the five killed in two similar shootings last week.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Jerusalem Weighs in on Iran NIE
Prime Minister Olmert is still pushing for stronger sanctions against Iran. But "Government sources in Jerusalem told Haaretz Monday night that the Bush administration appears to have lost its sense of urgency regarding Iran's nuclear program, making a military strike in 2008 increasingly unlikely."

Monday, December 3, 2007
When a Deterrent Becomes a Threat
(1 comments) "A recent study prepared for the Department of Defense observed that 'The world sees us as shifting from nuclear weapons for deterrence and as a weapon of last resort to nuclear weapons for war fighting and first use," write three arms control specialists. "This perception gives emerging world powers another reason to feel threatened by the United States and may embolden aspiring powers to seek their own nuclear weapons."

Monday, December 3, 2007
Hide the Women and Children -- Wolfie May Be Coming Back
"Don't ever say the Bush administration doesn't take care of its own," writes Michael Isikoff in Newsweek. "Nearly three years after Paul Wolfowitz resigned as deputy Defense secretary and six months after his stormy departure as president of the World Bank, Condoleezza Rice has offered Wolfowitz, a prime architect of the Iraq War," a position in the State Department.

Monday, December 3, 2007
Iraqi Insurgents Regrouping, Says Sunni Resistance Leader
A key insurgent leader told Jonathan Steele of London's the Guardian that, "Iraq's main Sunni-led resistance groups have scaled back their attacks on US forces in Baghdad and parts of Anbar province in a deliberate strategy aimed at regrouping, retraining, and waiting out George Bush's 'surge.'"

Monday, December 3, 2007
Five Myths About the Bomb (and Us)
"A world that's skeptical about the last superpower's intentions only gets more so when U.S. officials push unconvincing lines about the world's deadliest weapons," writes Jeffrey Lewis in the Washington Post. Follow link to find out some "myths about the U.S. nuclear posture of which the administration seems particularly fond."

Friday, November 30, 2007
Giuliani Really Steps in It This Time
"Rudolph W. Giuliani last night called a Web site's account of his spending a 'political hit job' as his campaign struggled to explain why hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel expenses for his mayoral security detail were billed to obscure city offices instead of the Police Department," reports the New York Times.

Friday, November 30, 2007
Interview with Scott Ritter on Why a War, When a War?
(1 comments) Excerpt from Detroit's MetroTimes: "Q. Why do you think that attack hasn't occurred? A: Let's remember that this is an elective war, not a war of necessity. It will be conducted on a timescale that's beneficial to those who who are planning the conflict."

Thursday, November 29, 2007
GOP Debate: Take My Tired and Poor -- Please
"Rarely has a debate left me so troubled about the future of the nation," writes Walter Shapiro at Salon. "What sent me into a free fall of depression was CNN's instinct for the fatuous in choosing the debate questions. It is a disgrace that in a two-hour debate (it felt longer) there was not a single question about the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the powder keg in Pakistan or Iran."

Thursday, November 29, 2007
What We Unleash by Attacking Iran
"The deadliest weapon that the [Republican Guard] can employ against US forces in Iraq will be the 'live bomb,'" writes Hussain Moussavi for the Jamestown Foundaton. "Undoubtedly, the younger generation would be more willing to commit acts of suicide terrorism as a way to reenact the heroic days of the Iran-Iraq War."

Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Though Troubling, Putin's Nuclear Saber-Rattling Not a Direct Threat
Russian President Putin recently stated that, "One of the most important [military modernization] tasks remains raising the combat readiness of the strategic nuclear forces," reports Max Postman at Nukes of Hazard. While, "his choice of rhetoric may serve to undermine policy options in the future. . . his nuclear saber-rattling should not be confused with policy-making."

Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Suzy Homemaker: Counterterrorist
(3 comments) Not exactly -- Shannen Rossmiller, Wired reports, is a lawyer in Middle America who monitors jihadi websites from home, engages participants in online discussions, and has aided in the capture of several terrorists. A fascinating read.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Death to the Anti-Global-Warming Propaganda Machine
Brian Angliss begins by dissecting DemandDebate, an anti-global warming propaganda machine, and then takes apart, strand by strand, the entire disinformation network surrounding rich arch-conservative noisemonger Steven Milloy. This three-part series sheds tremendous light on the anatomy of a dog and pony show, and the lessons learned are neatly generalizable to many other propaganda machines polluting our public sphere.

Monday, November 26, 2007
Pentagon: Petraeus Doesn't Speak for All of Us
(1 comments) The Los Angeles Times reports: "Top military leaders at the Pentagon want to avoid a repeat of the last public assessment of the Iraq war -- with its relentless focus on the opinion of a single commander -- when the Bush administration makes its next crucial decision about the size of the U.S. force."

Wednesday, November 21, 2007
"Will McClellan Be John Dean to Bush's Richard Nixon?"
(2 comments) John Nichols of the Nation writes: "Scott McClellan's admission that he unintentionally made false statements . . . along with his revelation that Vice President Cheney and President Bush were among those who provided him with the misinformation, sets the former White House press secretary as John Dean to George Bush's Richard Nixon."

Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Pollster Zogby: The Democratic Race Is Just Beginning
"Clinton led Obama 38 percent to 27 percent in the new poll, a 10-point fall from her 46 percent to 25 percent lead last month," reports Reuters of a poll it took with Zogby, who said, "This race is just beginning, let alone all over."

Monday, November 19, 2007
U.S. Hopes to Use Pakistani Tribes Against Al Qaeda
Say what? According to the New York Times, "A new and classified American military proposal outlines an intensified effort to enlist tribal leaders in the frontier areas of Pakistan in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, as part of a broader effort to bolster Pakistani forces against an expanding militancy."

Monday, November 19, 2007
"Here Come the Thought Police"
(1 comments) "With overwhelming bipartisan support, Rep. Jane Harman's 'Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act' passed the House 404-6 late last month and now rests in Sen. Joe Lieberman's Homeland Security Committee. Swift Senate passage appears certain," reports the Baltimore Sun. "Not since the 'Patriot Act' of 2001 has any bill so threatened our constitutionally guaranteed rights."

Monday, November 19, 2007
U.S. and Russian Publics Strongly Support Nuclear Disamament
"Both Russians and Americans believe nuclear weapons are of very limited military utility," reports Jeff Lindemyer at Nukes of Hazard on a new study. "A majority of both Americans and Russians say that nuclear weapons should be used only in response to a nuclear attack and a large majority of Americans say that the United States should have a policy of never using nuclear weapons first."

Friday, November 16, 2007
This Was Not Your Mother's Presidential Debate
"The Democratic debate in Vegas: Fire-retardant pantsuits! Hecklers! Mysterious booing! GOP-style mudslinging! And a bizarre photo op." Salon's coverage is as lively as the debate.

Friday, November 16, 2007
Billions for Guns, Vetos for Butter
"It's time that we subject the Iraq war to the same cost-benefit analysis that we are called upon to impose on other government endeavors," writes E.J. Dionne at the Washington Post. "We are supposed to repeal or revise domestic programs that don't work. Shouldn't a troubled war policy be treated the same way?"

Friday, November 16, 2007
Democrats as Guilty of Treason as Bush & Co.
(1 comments) "The mainstream Democrats -- represented, say, by Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Joe Biden, and Christopher Dodd -- have not levied war against the United States," writes Richard Behan at AlterNet. "Their treason lies instead in giving aid and comfort" to enemies of the state -- the Bush administration.

Friday, November 16, 2007
US Dismisses Nuclear Report on Iran
(2 comments) "The much-anticipated report on Iran by the head of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that was released this week confirms 'substantial progress'," writes Kaveh Afrasiabi at Asia Times Online, "yet, the US government has reacted swiftly by belittling Iran's cooperation and maintaining its aggressive push for a new round of United Nations sanctions on Iran." In other words, business as usual.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Rich Venezuelan Students Calling for Ouster of Chavez
"Violent street demonstrations by privileged middle and upper middle class university students have led to major street battles in and around the center of Caracas," writes James Petras at Dissident Voice. "More seriously, the former Minister of Defense, General Raul Isaias Baduel, who resigned in July, has made explicit calls for a military coup."

Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Cheney's Controlled Bloodletting
Hunting, not Iraq, where it's uncontrolled. Martha Rosenberg of AlterNet reports: "Last month in a caravan of 15 sport utility vehicles and an ambulance -- no jokes, please -- Cheney made his way to Clove Valley Rod & Gun Club, about 70 miles north of New York City, near Poughkeepsie, for a day of controlled bloodletting."

Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Bob Herbert: Stop Deifying Ronald Reagan Already
To a true progressive nothing grates more than the saintly regard the late President Reagan was held in by not only Republicans, but America at large. As Bob Herbert writes in the New York Times, "Throughout his career, Reagan was wrong, insensitive and mean-spirited on civil rights and other issues important to black people."

Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Real Heroes Refuse to "Shut up and Sing"
Sam Smith at Scholars and Rogues takes the opportunity of the Dixie Chicks' new CD to pen an ode to their courage, which is on view in the documentary "Shut Up and Sing." "It's been a long time," Smith writes, "since an artist or a band was asked to endure so much."

Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Senator Feinstein's Pro-Mukasey Vote Blowing up in Her Face
"A coalition of progressive Democrats upset with Feinstein's controversial votes will ask the California Democratic Party to censure her at its executive board meeting this weekend," reports Max Follmer at HuffPost. To make matters worse, she also supports granting immunity to spying telecom companies.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Many Children of Middle-Class Black Families Plunging into Poverty
The Washington Post reports: "Nearly half of African Americans born to middle-income parents in the late 1960s plunged into poverty or near-poverty as adults, according to a new study -- a perplexing finding that analysts say highlights the fragile nature of middle-class life for many African Americans."

Friday, November 9, 2007
Thanks, Chuck and Diane, for an AG Not Quite as Bad as AG
"The Senate voted Thursday night to confirm the nomination of Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general, despite often emotional opposition from Democrats who said his refusal to disavow a controversial interrogation method made him an unsuitable leader for the U.S," reports the Los Angeles Times. He's incrementally less objectionable than Alberto Gonzalez.

Friday, November 9, 2007
3,000
You've seen, or heard of, the movie "300," in which the Persians get their heads handed to them by the Spartans. Now see "3,000," in which Persia is attacked by Israel and-or the US because its pugnacious leader can't keep himself from boasting about his 3,000 centrifuges.

Friday, November 9, 2007
Nuclear Apartheid
America's standard for saying which countries can have nuclear weapons is simple: Countries we like can have them. Countries we dislike can't. That sums up this remarkable oped at AlterNet by Tad Daley of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

Thursday, November 8, 2007
Is Israel Edging Closer to Attacking Iran?
"A claim by President Ahmadinejad that Iran has 3,000 working uranium-enriching centrifuges sent a tremor across the world yesterday amid fears that Israel would respond by bombing the country's nuclear facilities," reports London's Times. "I wouldn't be surprised if we do something if the international community leaves us alone," said an Israeli defense expert.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Harry Shearer's Beach Boy Torture Spoof up for TV Guide Award
"'Waterboardin', USA,' created by Shearer as a Beach Boys-style spoof that 'almost makes torture look like fun,' has been nominated in the 'Funniest Web Video' category of the 2007 Online Video Awards, hosted by TV Guide,'" reports Mike Sheehan at Raw Story.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Another Bush Backfire on Terror
"President Bush's coddling of Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf suddenly risks being exposed as another case of White House anti-terror policies going spectacularly bad," writes Dan Froomkin at the Washington Post. "The country that Bush considers a bulwark against terror may gain infamy as a crucible for terror instead."

Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Olbermann's Harshest Indictment of Bush Administration Yet
(1 comments) "In light of the recent revelations related to Daniel Levin, former acting assistant attorney general for the Bush administration in 2004, Keith Olbermann cuts to the chase in a lengthy Special Comment and clearly accuses George W. Bush of criminal acts that warrant trial and imprisonment," reports Thought Theatre. Olbermann charges that Bush & Co.'s overriding concern at this point is just to stay out of jail.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Five Members of Afghan Parliament among Those Killed in Taliban Bomb Attack
Dead estimated between 30 and 70. "The attack is among the deadliest in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion," reports MSNBC. "Taliban bombers have killed regional governors in the past, but never have militants killed so many high-ranking officials in one attack."

Monday, November 5, 2007
Empathizing with the Arab World
Englishman John Glubb studied the Arabs in the first half of the 20th century. The blog Small Wars Journal has highlighted some of his observations. What at first seems like stereotyping is leavened by his admiration for them. E.g., "Amongst Bedouins freedom [tends to] degenerate into anrchy -- but they were freer perhaps than any other race in the world." Full of gem after gem like this.

Monday, November 5, 2007
Whatever Happened to That Good Old "American Glow"?
"God, I miss that American glow," writes Colin McEnroe at the Hartford Courant. "I can feel it right now, as surely as I can remember the sun gleaming across a snow fort I built with my friends." He goes on to lament our descent into torture.

Friday, November 2, 2007
US Driving Turkey into Iran's Arms
"The retired general who served as President Bush's special envoy to deal with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)," reports McClatchy newspapers, said that the US is "driving, strategically, the Turks and the Iranians together."

Friday, November 2, 2007
Draft Al Gore TV Commercials to Run
The Associated Press reports: "A national group seeking to draft Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore as a Democratic presidential candidate will begin airing a television ad on CNN and in New Hampshire promoting a petition drive to encourage the former vice president to run."

Friday, November 2, 2007
Requiem for the Last American Soldier to Die in Iraq
"At some point in the future, soldiers will pack up their rucks," writes Brian Turner in the New York Times. "C-130s will rise wheels-up off the tarmac. . . At some point. . . the war in Iraq will end. And I've been thinking about this a lot lately. . . the last American soldier to die in Iraq."

Friday, November 2, 2007
Arab States Reach Out to Iran
Reuters reports: "U.S.-allied Gulf Arab states are willing to set up a body to provide enriched uranium to Iran to defuse Tehran's stand-off with the West over its nuclear plan, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister told a magazine on Thursday." Of course, that means they all plan to go nuclear now.

Friday, November 2, 2007
Middle East Racing to Nuclear Power
"This week Egypt became the 13th Middle Eastern country in the past year to say it wants nuclear power, intensifying an atomic race," reports the Christian Science Monitor. They're spurred on both by Iran's plans for nuclear power and their own dwindling oil supplies.

Thursday, November 1, 2007
Rumsfeld's Memos Reveal Surprising Sensitivity to Critical Columnists and Editorials
Robin Wright of the Washington Post reports on Donald Rumsfeld's memos, "often referred to as 'snowflakes,' [they] shed light on Rumsfeld's brusque management style and on his efforts to address key challenges during his tenure as Pentagon chief. . . a sampling of his trademark missives obtained yesterday reveals a defense secretary disdainful of media criticism and driven to reshape public opinion."

Thursday, November 1, 2007
Trigger Finger Still Hairy
(1 comments) "The Bush administration has come under fire for stating before a United Nations conference that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is not on 'hair-trigger alert,'" reports Colum Lynch at the Washington Post. In fact, much of the arsenal is capable of launch in minutes.

Thursday, November 1, 2007
Russia Pours Billions in Oil Profits into Nanotech Race
"After sleeping through the high tech revolutions of the late 20th century, the Russian government is dumping billions into nanotechnology," reports Alexander Zaitchik at Wired. "The Kremlin. . . announced the creation of Rosnanotekh, a state nanotechnology corporation slated for $5 billion in initial funding," which propels it past China and even with the US.

Thursday, November 1, 2007
Torture -- from the Horse's Mouth
"Most people cannot stand to watch a high intensity kinetic interrogation," writes Malcom Nance, a 20-year veteran of the US intelligence community's Combating Terrorism program, at critical group blog, Small Wars Journal. "One has to overcome basic human decency to endure watching or causing the effects."

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Bicycle Bomber Kills 28 in Baghdad
The Washington Post reports: "An 11-year-old boy, Alaa Kassim Mohammed, was walking to school when he was hit. As he moaned in pain from his hospital bed, his father asked doctors if they were going to amputate his foot. 'This suicide bomber wanted to attack those policemen because he thinks they are apostates, but what did my son do wrong to deserve this?' said his father, Kassim Mohammed, a security guard."

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Similarities to Clinton Land Obama in a Tough Spot
"In the nine months since launching his insurgent campaign for president, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has seized on a slew of issues in trying to set himself apart from Senator Hillary Clinton of New York," reports the Boston Globe. "But with Clinton's dominance unabated, there is little evidence Obama has made headway on any of them."

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Blackwater Provides Administration with Another Believe-It-or-Not Moment
"The State Department promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of last month's deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians," reports the Associated Press. "'Once you give immunity, you can't take it away,' said a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation."

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Laura Bush Has the Audacity to Defend Her Husband's SCHIP Veto
"It's really easy to blame people for so-called voting against children," the first lady said in an interview on Fox News Sunday, reports the Hill. "She went on to say that the bill would cover children who are not poor and added that the program is often used to cover adults." Hmm, never met a doctor who couldn't tell a child from an adult.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The Horror Is Getting to Matt Taibbi
Mike Sheehan interviews him at Scholars and Rogues. Taibbi on 2008: "If the race comes down to Hillary and Giuliani, the Green Party could nominate Big Bird and win 28% of the vote. And a third party is definitely needed, since the Democrats have become captives of the money wing of their party."

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
New Embassy in Iraq a White Elephant
"The new American Embassy in Baghdad will be the largest, least welcoming, and most lavish embassy in the world: a $600 million massively fortified compound with 619 blast-resistant apartments and a food court fit for a shopping mall," writes William Langewiesche at Vanity Fair. "Unfortunately, like other similarly constructed U.S. Embassies, it may already be obsolete."

Monday, October 29, 2007
Iran Shifting Its Trade from West to East
"China is expected to overtake Germany as Iran's biggest trading partner this year," reports the Washington Post. Also, "with the benefit of record high oil prices, Iran is likely to be able to withstand the new U.S. sanctions." As usual these days, everyone seems to come out smelling like a rose except the U.S.

Monday, October 29, 2007
Times Calls Bush Our for Trash-Talking Iran
From a New York Times editorial today: "America's allies and increasingly the American public are playing a ghoulish guessing game: Will President Bush manage to leave office without starting a war with Iran? Mr. Bush is eagerly feeding those anxieties."

Monday, October 29, 2007
Yet Another Washington Scandal Brewing
"Larry Flynt, editor and publisher of Hustler magazine, just told FOX Business Network's Neil Cavuto that he's 'hoping to expose a bombshell' that will stand 'Washington and the country on its head.' Within the next week or two, he says his magazine will expose a sex scandal of huge proportions involving a prominent United States Senator." Republican, presumably.

Friday, October 26, 2007
How Do We Back Out of Our Nuclear Cul-de-Sac?
(1 comments) "The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty is still the best route out of our current nuclear crises," reports London's The Independent, "yet the NPT is being used as toilet paper by the world's leaders. The Bush administration, for example, has ignored both parts of the bargain: it has buffed up its own arsenal instead of reducing it, and it has recognized and rewarded other countries for proliferation."

Friday, October 26, 2007
Republican Kyl Urges Senate Not to Ratify Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
"The necessity –- and indeed, urgency –- of a fully funded, supported, and implemented CTBT has only increased since the Senate failed to endorse its ratification eight years ago," writes Jeff Lindemyer at Nukes of Hazard. "In fact, given recent technical advances that allow for the increased ability to verifiably detect nuclear testing, CTBT opponents have even less legs to stand on than they did at that time."

Friday, October 26, 2007
"Attack Iran and You Attack Russia"
(2 comments) "A high-level diplomatic source in Tehran tells Asia Times Online," reports Pepe Escobar, "that essentially Putin and the Supreme Leader [Khameini] have agreed on a plan to nullify the George W Bush administration's relentless drive towards launching a preemptive attack, perhaps a tactical nuclear strike, against Iran. An American attack on Iran will be viewed by Moscow as an attack on Russia."

Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Why We All Need to Root Against the Rockies
(1 comments) Because, with their evangelical litmus tests, the organization aligns itself with the worst of Colorado -- the fanatical fundamentalists of the Colorado Springs mega-churches. Sam Smith at Scholars & Rogues explains.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Turjks Can't Restrain Themselves from Launching Raids inside Iraq
"Turkey has targeted Kurdish separatists with a series of cross-border attacks despite reports that Iraq had succumbed to pressure to close down terrorist training camps," reports London's The Telegraph. As many as 34 Kurds were reported killed.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Fires Bring Back Specter of Katrina for Bush
"Hurricane Katrina has many legacies for the Bush White House, none pleasant. One is the guarantee that as soon as disaster strikes in the United States, President Bush's every move is closely scrutinized," reports ABC News. "This became clear yet again on Tuesday, as the enormity of the wildfires sweeping across Southern California became apparent."

Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Mark Morford: American Kids Dumber Than Dirt
(11 comments) How bad is the state of kids' minds today? "It is not bad at all," a teacher tells Morford. "It's absolutely horrifying." Morford elaborates: "If you think the hordes of easily terrified, mindless fundamentalist evangelical Christian lemmings have been bad for the soul of this country, just wait" until these kids grow up.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Urgency About Iran All in Bush & Co.'s Head
"I cannot judge their intentions, but supposing that Iran does intend to acquire a nuclear bomb, it would need between another three and eight years to succeed," Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told France's Le Monde newspaper. If we let our leaders attack Iran, we can't say one of the most respected voices on the planet didn't warn us.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Ecuador's President: Turnabout Is Fair Play
(2 comments) Rafael Correa has refused to renew Washington's lease on on air base in his country, set to expire in 2009, reports Reuters. Unless, he said, "they let us put a base in Miami -- an Ecuadorean base." Tou-friggin'-che!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
You're Not Helping Matters, Iran
(2 comments) Amnesty International today expressed alarm at the new wave of executions in Iran and said that it has already recorded almost 250 executions since the beginning of 2007, although the true total of those put to death could be significantly higher.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Neocons Elevate Ahmadinejad to Pantheon of Hitler, Stalin and Mao
"Iran has an economy the size of Finland's," writes Fareed Zakaria in Newsweek. "Israel and every Arab country (except Syria and Iraq) are quietly or actively allied against Iran. And yet we are to believe that Tehran is about to overturn the international system and replace it with an Islamo-fascist order? What planet are we on?"

Monday, October 22, 2007
The Secret History of the Impending War with Iran
Former high-level administration official Flynt Leverett tells Esquire the story of how Bush & Co. rejected Iran's sincere, comprehensive peace offerings in 2003. Thus proving the road to hell is paved with bad intentions.

Thursday, October 18, 2007
How bin Laden Beat George Bush
Al Qaeda expert Peter Bergen (who once interviewed bin Laden) mercilessly skewers the Bush administration for the ongoing disaster that is the war on terror in this rare New Republic article that doesn't make you roll your eyes.

Thursday, October 18, 2007
Iran and Russia Draw Closer Together
The Caspian Summit was a success, writes Kaveh Afrasiabi at Asia Times Online: "It is as much shared interests as common worries and concerns, eg, the US's unbounded interventionist policies, that have now brought Iran and Russia closer together and to the verge of a new strategic relationship."

Thursday, October 18, 2007
'Politics Have Interfered With Our Work'
From Germany's Der Spiegel: "Chief UN War Crimes Prosecutor for the former Yugoslavia Carla Del Ponte spoke about allegations surrounding her legal performance, and the obstacles to bringing war criminals to justice."

Thursday, October 18, 2007
Has Iraq Turned British Soldiers into Monsters?
Hospital workers allegedly reported signs of torture and murder on the bodies of Iraqi insurgents killed after a gun battle with British troops three year ago.

Friday, October 12, 2007
Reuters: Will Nobel Win Mean Gore Will Run for President?
The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Democrat Al Gore on Friday increases pressure on him to launch a late bid for the U.S. presidency, but advisers say he is showing no signs of interest in the 2008 race.

Thursday, October 11, 2007
Failing Prevention, Can We Recover from a Nuclear Attack?
(3 comments) In April, a group of leading federal government civilian and military officials, scientists, policy experts, and journalists convened in Washington to ponder two different questions: What will the United States actually do on the day after prevention fails? What preparations are necessary?

Thursday, October 11, 2007
Iran, the Inflatable Bogeyman
"Benjamin Netanyahu would like Americans and Israelis to believe that it's 1938 all over again," writes Dr. Trita Parsi at Rootless Cosmopolitan. "Iran, he tells us, is Nazi Germany; President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is Hitler. And, of course, that means that anyone who advocates diplomacy and engagement with Tehran is simply reprising the tragic appeasement politics of Neville Chamberlain."

Thursday, October 11, 2007
New Guard Hiring the Old Guard
"Paul Wolfowitz was a VIP at the Sept. 5 premier of 'Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq' and was still smiling after the screening, which featured insurgent footage of IED attacks, severed limbs, shredded brains, and left hardly a dry eye in the place," reports libertarian American Conservative magazine. Meanwhile presidential hopefuls promise a change in foreign policy but hire Neocon advisers.

Thursday, October 11, 2007
Are "Rational Business Decisions" the Best Newspapers Can Do Today?
Bet you didn't know this about newspapers, but, as Dr. Denny writes at Scholars & Rogues, "Some of that heralded doomsday circulation decline is intentional." It's all part of their strategy of attracting quality, not a quantity of, subscribers. Where does that leave journalism?

Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Noam Chomsky: US a Nuclear Outlaw
We're granting India "'terms of nuclear trade more favorable than those for states that have assumed all the obligations and responsibilities' of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which India has not. In most of the world, few can fail to see the cynicism. Washington rewards allies and clients that ignore the NPT rules entirely, while threatening war against Iran, which is not known to have violated the NPT."

Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Iran Runs TV Mini-Series on the Holocaust
(1 comments) You mean in denial of the Holocaust? To the contrary -- it relives Iran's role in rescuing Jews during World War II.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Why Are Weapons Systems So Expensive?
(3 comments) Most sophisticated weapons systems, writes Edward Luttwak at The American Interest, are "almost entirely made by hand, with a profligate use of costly skilled labor."

Monday, October 8, 2007
Suicide Bombing Has Become SOP for Taliban
"British forces used to describe the Gereshk valley as the 'black heart of Taliban country,'" reports Britain's The Independent. "After months of ferocious fighting, much of this area of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan has been reclaimed, and reconstruction and development work is at last under way." But the violence has not abated. Instead, it has taken on the lethal form of suicide bombings

Monday, October 8, 2007
Russia's Inter-Generational Catastrophe
"'This is an intergenerational catastrophe,' says Vladimir Chouprov, a nuclear specialist with Greenpeace Russia, which helped organize a demonstration commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Mayak blast last week in Chleyabinsk. 'We are seeing the second and third generations living amid radioactive contamination, both accidental and systemic.'" Alexander Zaitchik reports for Moscow's The eXile.

Monday, October 8, 2007
Storm Worm Is Out to Enslave Your Computer
(1 comments) "The Internet criminal/hacker marketplace has produced a major innovation called the 'Storm Worm' and it is rewriting the rules of engagement in computer security," writes futurist John Robb at Global Guerillas. "It is nearly immune to defense, suppression, or eradication -- demonstrated in that it has already infected up to 50 million computers and slaved them into a massive botnet."

Thursday, October 4, 2007
Is There Anything "Socially Redeeming" About the Subversive Sarah Silverman?
(5 comments) "Cringe-worthy comedy is nothing new," writes Kera Bolonik at The Nation. But, "Is she or isn't she funny? Is she genuinely mean, or is she making a commentary about American ignorance?"

Thursday, October 4, 2007
Does an Iraq Tax Belong on Progressives' Agenda?
Massachusetts Democratic congress member James McGovern (among others) thinks it does. While in Iraq he came across a sign in a US military facility in Ramadi, Iraq. "The sign read, 'America is not at war. The Marine Corps is at war; America is at the mall.' The sign reflects a perception among many US soldiers and their families that the American people are not sharing in their sacrifice."

Thursday, October 4, 2007
"Insane on Asylum"
(1 comments) The Los Angeles Times came up with an editorial title to die for. And it is deadly serious. "The administration can't or won't admit most Iraqi refugees," it writes. "Is it incompetence or indifference?"

Thursday, October 4, 2007
Blame Blackwater on the Baby Boomers
"We didn't want to serve in the military madness that was Vietnam," writes Jim Booth at Scholars & Rogues, "and we've made it abundantly clear that a draft of our well coddled little Millenials would be political suicide." What else could a "war mongering chicken hawk like George 'Mission Accomplished' Bush" do but hire outside contractors?

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
"A.Q. Khan's Nuclear Wal-Mart: Out of Business or Under New Management?"
Are nuclear materials and technology still being smuggled around the world even though Mr. Nuclear Black Market, Pakistan's A.Q. Khan, has been put out of commission? According to this House Committee on Foreign Affairs report, "At least some of Khan's associates appeared to have escaped law enforcement attention and could, after a period of lying low, resume their black market business."

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
General Petraeus: "Sycophant Savior"
All great generals, from Washington to Grant to Eisenhower, understood politics, writes Andrew Bacevich in American Conservative. But General Petraeus "is a political general of the worst kind -- one who indulges in the politics of accommodation that is Washington's bread and butter."

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Press Gave Clarence Thomas a Free Pass
"Numerous stories that raised questions about Thomas' credibility were known to the press during the hearings -- many of which never saw the light of day until after his confirmation," writes Laura Sydell at FAIR. Like the other women who accused him of sexual misconduct.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
"Witness for the Persecution"
"I believe in affirmative action, but I have to acknowledge there are arguments against it," writes Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post. "One of the more cogent is the presence of Justice Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court." Robinson, one of the nation's foremost -- and funniest -- columnists, is, of course, also black.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007
John McCain -- Wandering Down Dominionist Alley Again
"John McCain is at it again. This time out he. . . comes dangerously close to suggesting that only a Christian would be fit to be president." But, asks Sam Smith at Scholars & Rogues, "Is religion causing us to field a weaker national leadership team?"

Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Is It Too Early for a Post-Mortem on the Democratic Congress?
(1 comments) "The Democrats' antiwar campaign has failed," writes Gary Kamiya at Salon. "President Bush's ruinous Iraq adventure will continue indefinitely, despite the fact that a majority of the American people oppose it. Too divided and afraid of being called 'weak on national security' to stop funding it, the Democrats have been reduced to hoping that voters punish the GOP in 2008."

Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Anita Hill (remember her?) Answers Back Clarence Thomas
"Justice Thomas has every right to present himself as he wishes in his new memoir, 'My Grandfather's Son,'" writes Anita Hill. "He may even be entitled to feel abused by the confirmation process that led to his appointment to the Supreme Court. But I will not stand by silently and and allow him, in his anger, to reinvent me."

Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Senate Approves $150 Billion More for the War
(8 comments) "Thwarted in efforts to bring troops home from Iraq, Senate Democrats helped pass a defense policy bill authorizing another $150 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," reports ABC News. "Monday's 92-3 vote comes as the House planned to approve separate legislation Tuesday that requires President Bush to give Congress a plan for eventual troop withdrawals." And you thought money didn't grow on trees.

Friday, September 28, 2007
John Carlos of Black-Gloved 1968 Olympic Fame Marches for Jena 6
"I can't believe we still have to be marching," track and field legend John Carlos