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Tin Foil Hats |
| 4/19/2008 8:01:19 AM |
Put them on 'cause this is weird and I have no idea what it means -- if anything. We all heard about the earthquake in Illinois. However, I found an interesting piece from whatdoesitmean.com. "Reports from 3rd Army Headquarters of the Russian Space Command, located in Solnechnogorsk (Moscow oblast), are reporting today that a ‘nuclear fueled’ explosion has occurred in... Read More |
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The Liberty City Seven |
| 4/17/2008 6:27:28 PM |
Remember the Liberty City Seven? The moniker was attached because this so-called "gang" of ne'er-do-wells conducted their alleged terrorist activities out of a warehouse in Liberty City, a low-income neighborhood in northeastern Miami. This rag-tag group of mostly unemployed oddballs dubbed themselves Seas of David. They preached a mix of Christianity, Judaism,... Read More |
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Revamping Immigration Policy |
| 3/23/2008 8:49:51 AM |
Okay. I'm finally on-board. An article from the Washington Post today has convinced me our immigration policy needs a major overhaul. The Post tells the story of Saman Kareem Ahmad, who spent 4 years as a translator for U.S. forces in Iraq. Marine Captain Trent A. Gibson said, "Sam put his life on the line with, and for, Coalition Forces on a daily basis." He has... Read More |
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Passport Peepers |
| 3/21/2008 2:41:40 PM |
Everyone's a-buzz about the State Department contract employees accessing Barack Obama's passport file 3 times and, it seems, Hillary Clinton's file and John McCain's file were also accessed. (AP) The State Department's Inspector General was supposed to look into this. However, the State Department doesn't have an Inspector General. The former Inspector General, Howard... Read More |
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Tibet |
| 3/21/2008 12:24:19 PM |
| Famed scholar of world religions Huston Smith noted, “Tibetan culture is to worldculture what the Amazon rain forests are to the environment.” It is a resource for health and benefitbeyond compare. Yet, since the Chineseinvasion in 1949 its authoritarian government has been waging what the DalaiLama calls “cultural genocide” against the people of Tibet. Over one million... Read More |
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The Baghdad Taj Majal |
| 3/20/2008 5:30:06 PM |
 If you're listening to the presidential candidates, they're all arguing about how fast they'll pull the troops out of Iraq. If you believe it, you're dreaming. We ain't never leaving. Want proof? In addition to the 13 permanent bases we're building, there's the Baghdad Taj Majal.
The massive U.S. embassy being built in Baghdad will have 21 buildings, including a food court,... Read More |
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Conservatives and the Economic Crisis |
| 3/19/2008 9:56:00 AM |
How much of the current economic crisis is due to conservative values? That's not easy to answer. There are 2 primary conservative mantras: de-regulation and states' rights. What happens when these collide? Which one wins? It's clear. Getting what you want trumps states' rights every time. (See, for example, Bush v.Gore.) That's where the current economic crisis started.... Read More |
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The Economy Sucks |
| 3/17/2008 6:18:07 PM |
Bear Stearns, the titan of Wall Street, was once worth $20 billion. By last Friday, it's stock was selling at $30 a share and this week it was purchased by J.P. Moran for $2 a share, a total value of $236 million. They either had to sell or file for bankruptcy. How could J.P. Morgan absorb all the bad debt that's driving Bear Stearns into the sewer? Easy. The Fed is... Read More |
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Will the House Cave In? |
| 3/3/2008 10:28:28 AM |
According to the New York Times, the House is getting ready to pass a FISA bill that will give the telecommunications companies the retroactive immunity that Bush has been seeking. Yes, they're caving in. Representative Silvestre Reyes (D, TX), chair of the House Intelligence Committee which is drafting the new law, said Sunday that the committee had been talking to the... Read More |
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The True Costs of Our Military Incursions |
| 3/2/2008 9:44:04 AM |
Our military incursions into Iraq and Afghanistan have been more costly than anyone is admitting. If you remember, during the the build-up Bush said this would cost us no more than $50 billion. (USA Today) Yeah. Right. It's now the second most expensive in U.S. history (WWII the most expensive) and the second longest (Vietnam the longest). And let's get this right. To call... Read More |
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The Bush Library and Institute |
| 2/29/2008 8:42:08 AM |
Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas is going to house President Bush's $200+ million library. (Houston Chronicle) It's going to have a "public policy institute." Faculty, administrators, and staff are and have been protesting. One criticism is that the institute is going to be "affiliated" with the university but is not subject to academic governance. In other... Read More |
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The Don Siegelman Story |
| 2/25/2008 3:38:10 PM |
60 Minutes did a piece on this amazing story of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman yesterday. (See The Weekly Wonk, 6/2/07) However, if you live in Alabama, where all the shenanigans took place, you didn't see it. The Alabama CBS stationed blacked it out, with a later statement that said, "We apologize that you missed the first segment of 60 Minutes tonight featuring 'The... Read More |
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Nader for President |
| 2/24/2008 8:46:40 AM |
Ralph Nader is going to do it again -- throw his hat in the ring and draw off voters from the Democratic nominee. His announcement this morning is, I'm sure, throwing plenty of Dems into absolute hysteria. Hasn't this guy learned anything? Of course he has. He's learned that he can spoil an election and revels in it. He's 74 years old, even older than John McCain, and... Read More |
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The Evolution of FISA |
| 2/18/2008 1:03:08 PM |
Prior to the American revolution, British soldiers were allowed to write their own warrants. They'd stand outside someone's home, write a warrant, and then enter the premises. Thus, the Bill of Rights included the 4th Amendment. This Amendment states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and... Read More |
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More on the Walk-Out |
| 2/15/2008 12:20:49 PM |
The Republican grandstanding yesterday really backfired. They didn't get the FISA bill they wanted. But -- there's more.
Prior to the walk-out, the Republicans had a plan. Rep. Tom Lantos (D, CA), the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, died this week. The House had a memorial service for him. In an attempt to get the Senate's FISA bill passed, the Republicans... Read More |
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Congrats to the House |
| 2/14/2008 7:33:56 PM |
House Democrats refused to cave in to Bush, the Senate, or their own Republicans and wouldn't change their FISA bill, which does NOT include retroactive immunity for telecommunication companies. The Republicans were so infuriated they walked out. Yes, they took their ball and went home. Of course, they said that this threatens American security. It does not. The Protect... Read More |
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Congressional Hearings |
| 2/14/2008 12:21:41 PM |
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Oh, my God. The shock. The hand-wringing. The outrage. What are we gonna do?
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Henry Waxman (D, CA), spent the whole day yesterday having hearings on the Mitchell Report. Former senator George Mitchell (D, ME) did a 20-month investigation on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. Roger Clemens was... Read More |
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The House FISA Shenanigans |
| 2/13/2008 7:52:31 PM |
A House bill that would have extended the Protect America Act, the FISA bill from last August, was defeated by a vote of 229 to 191. Blue Dog Democrats sided with Republicans. But a bill to prolong its debate for 3 more weeks passed by a vote of 206-199.
Bush is still saying that he will veto any bill that does not include retroactive immunity for the telecommunication... Read More |
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The Senate FISA Bill |
| 2/12/2008 8:54:06 PM |
After James Risen and Eric Lichtblau exposed the existence of the illegal wiretapping done by telecommunications companies for the Bush administration (see The New York Times), Congress went nuts. Everyone claimed that this wouldn't stand. They were going to do something about it. Well, Lichtblau and Risen's article appeared on June 23, 2006 and now they finally are doing... Read More |
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Voter Dynamics |
| 2/6/2008 9:34:52 AM |
The Super Tuesday voting got me to thinking about the dynamics in each party. The Democrats are the most interesting since the Democratic party, as Mark Twain said, isn't an organized political party. It's a confederation of factions. Bill Clinton was hugely supported by Democrats and it seems that loyalty is extending to his wife. Any disenchantment with Bill appears to... Read More |
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