Trashing Up the Weekend
Since I'm a non-travelling Wheel this weekend (and since I'm batshit crazy about college baseball) I get the honor of writing the weekend sports trash talk. Lots of sports are on tap this weekend, as the NBA chooses its Eastern Conference sacrificial…
Why The DOJ Can't Prosecute Banksters: Map of Clemens Investigation
At a time when there are still no significant prosecutions of major players, banks and investment shops responsible for the financial fraud that nearly toppled the world economy and is still choking the US economy, we get an explanation why…
Foreclosure Fraud: The Most Dangerous Panel in the World
They've scheduled DDay's Netroots Nation foreclosure fraud panel--with Lynn Szymoniak, Malcom Chu, and Neil Barofsky--in a room with no streaming, and President Obama is holding a press conference to conflict with it. Which suggests this is…
Alarming Rise in Military Suicides: More Than Double Rate in 1999
AP's Robert Burns yesterday delivered sad news on a large rise in the rate of military suicides. Just over a month ago, Burns discovered that the military has been systematically under-reporting "green on blue" attacks in Afghanistan by only…
Traveling Wheels
Hello one and all, and greetings from lovely downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Marcy and I are both here for Netroots Nation; she has been in town since yesterday, and I just arrived this morning. We will both be here through Sunday afternoon.
So…
30 Ways to Shrink Intelligence Oversight
Correction: I misunderstood a few things about this. First, this is the request from DNI, not what the Intelligence Committees have agreed to. And the House--which has taken up this request--did not accept all these requests (including the clearances…
First Quarter Violence Down in Afghanistan: Progress or Harsh Winter?
During his unannounced trip to Kabul today, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had the unfortunate timing to arrive on the worst day for civilian casualties this year. The Washington Post, however, gave plenty of room for Panetta to cling to…
Gang Warfare to Protect Israel's Secrets
Easily the most overlooked line in David Sanger's story on StuxNet is this one:
Mr. Obama concluded that when it came to stopping Iran, the United States had no other choice.
If Olympic Games failed, he told aides, there would be no time…
UndieBomb 2.0: Defying the Trend
In his story describing the lowered standards for drone strikes the other day, Greg Miller described multiple officials admitting that we're increasing the number of drone strikes in Yemen even though there's no evidence more people are "migrat[ing]"…
The Banksters and the Cartels
Two Colombian economists decided to see who's getting money off the illegal drug trade. And they discovered that American and British banks are getting a big chunk of the profits. (h/t Chris from Americablog) That's because the cartels are laundering…
Will al-Libi Killing Be Used to Justify Drone Strikes on Mourners, First Responders?
Back in early February, a report from Chris Woods and Christina Lamb at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism delivered the shocking news that CIA targeting practices for drone attacks include the intentional targeting of mourners at funerals…
SCOTUS Reviews the "Military Age Male" Standard on Thursday
One of the most consistent statements of outrage I've seen from people just coming to the horrors of the drone program is the military aged male criterion: the Administration's assumption that all military age males killed in a drone strike…
Prop 8 Appeal Takes A Step Forward; But Not The Big One It Should Have
Those of us watching and covering the Proposition 8 case, formally known as Perry v. Brown, got a cryptic notification from the court yesterday afternoon. The notice read:
This is to inform you that a filing is expected on Tuesday, June…
BREAKING! EXCLUSIVE! NYT's Ambiguous Reporting Leads to Logical Conclusions
I guess John Brennan has figured out that the effort to roll out the Steely Decider campaign has backfired.
How else to explain the almost unheard of tactic from the NYT of accusing those who drew very logical conclusions from its own article…
When Did the "Signature Strikes" Start in Yemen?
Last week, I argued that the focus on the drone vetting process--the "Kill List"--is a shiny object, distracting us from signature strikes targeted at patterns, not people, in Yemen. Today, I'm going to push that further and suggest the focus…
Armed US Diplomats Detained at Peshawar Toll Booth: What Was Mission?
The Raymond Davis incident in Lahore, Pakistan raised the issue of people moving within Pakistan under US diplomatic cover while heavily armed. Davis, who in fact worked for the CIA, had a number of weapons in his possession (see here for…
Zimmerman Bond Revocation & Why Bond Will Likely Be Reinstated
George Zimmerman's bond was revoked last Friday, June 1, 2012. It created a cacophony of cable and network news, and resulting politicized claims and analysis on both sides of the aisle over the blogosphere. All to be expected; it is what they,…
Glomar and CIA's Propagandistic Campaign of Sanctioned Leaks
The ACLU submits briefs.
In response to Plaintiffs’ January 2010 request under the Freedom of Information Act, the CIA asserted that its use (or non-use) of drones to carry out targeted killings was a “classified fact.” The assertion…
For All the Targeting "Transparency" We Still Don't Know How al-Majala Was Targeted
I realized something as I read this Gregory Johnsen post. For all the so-called transparency on targeting we've gotten since the AP first revealed John Brennan was seizing control of the targeting process, we still don't know what went wrong…
Only Banks Might Want to Review How Criminal Banks Are
The other day, I noted how--days after his department reported that suspected bankster crimes are growing quickly and terrorist financing crimes are going down--Treasury Department fired FinCEN head, Jim Freis. Given some of the reporting describing…