First Buckley, now Francis. Nothing if not an opportunist, Fukuyama makes his new views known on MSNBC last night:

"Iraq is teetering on the brink of civil war, and the reason is the failure of neoconservativism, says Francis Fukuyama.

FRANCIS FUKUYAMA, AUTHOR, ?AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS?: It was an overestimation, I think, of the importance of American power in bringing about the, you know, democracy in general.

O?DONNELL: What?s stunning is that Fukuyama is one of the leading architects of neoconservatism. But three years after the invasion, he now says it was misused in Iraq.

FUKUYAMA: You know, conservatism is as American as apple pie. This is a long-standing tradition, this American idealism, to see ourselves as a model for the rest of the world.

O?DONNELL (on camera): So what?s wrong?

FUKUYAMA: You know, the problem, really, was the overmilitarization of the means. I think we?ve spread democracy through political influence, through the example that we set, through funding.

O?DONNELL (voice-over): In his new book, Fukuyama says the Bush doctrine, launching preemptive wars to defend America, it is now in shambles.

(on camera): How have your friends, other neoconservatives, reacted to you speaking out?

FUKUYAMA: I suspect a lot of people are sharpening their knives as we speak."

The Daily Nightly - MSNBC.com:

"Scooter Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, has hired a renowned memory-loss expert to assist him with his legal defense. Harvard psychology professor Daniel L. Schacter tells NBC News he has been retained by Libby as a consultant. An official familiar with the Libby defense team confirms the news."

Link to the Conyers Report from Afterdowningstreet.

Zogby International: "An overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops serving in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year, and nearly one in four say the troops should leave immediately, a new Le Moyne College/Zogby International survey shows."

I guess we should never underestimate good ol' American Xenophobia. As soon as Democrats try to use this port security issue as a National Defense/Terrorism issue with which to blunt the president, Republicans can just say OK, fine, then we need racial profiling in Airport Security, Immigration, etc. But, Democrats will say, midterm elections are coming up, so fuck the religious/ethnic minority and now we can be the party that protects white people from those brown people. (Well, at least until 90% of those white people forget that this was even an issue).

From the Feb. 27th CBS Poll:

THE PORTS DEAL
Just 21% say that the U.S. should let a United Arab Emirates country operate six American ports ? 70% say this should not be allowed.
SHOULD U.A.E. COMPANY OPERATE U.S. PORTS?

Yes 21%
No 70

The opposition to the ports deal crosses party lines ? 58% of Republicans oppose it, as do more than seven in ten Democrats and Independents. The question text included Bush administration positions ? that the U.S. would continue to control security at the ports, that a foreign company from Britain now runs the ports, and that the U.A.E. is an ally of the U.S.

NYT Sues Pentagon Over Domestic Spying: "The Times Requested Documents Under FOIA And Has Not Received Them

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? The New York Times sued the U.S. Defense Department on Monday demanding that it hand over documents about the National Security Agency?s domestic spying program.

The Times wants a list of documents including all internal memos and e-mails about the program of monitoring phone calls without court approval. It also seeks the names of the people or groups identified by it."

A tongue-in-cheek response by one Ohio representative to the recent push to ban gay/lesbian adoption:

Beacon Journal | 02/24/2006 | Plan would bar Ohio adoptions by GOP:

"State Sen. Robert Hagan sent out e-mails to fellow lawmakers late Wednesday night, stating that he intends to ``introduce legislation in the near future that would ban households with one or more Republican voters from adopting children or acting as foster parents.'' The e-mail ended with a request for co-sponsorship."

Democracy Now! | Venezuelan-Owned Citgo Faces Congressional Inquiry For Offering Discounted Oil to U.S. Poor: "In Washington, Republican Congressman Joe Barton of Texas has launched an investigation into one of the world?s major oil companies. But he is not investigating whether any of the oil giants are engaging in price gouging at a time when gasoline and heating oil casts are skyrocketing. Instead Barton has set his sights on the only oil company that actually dared to lower its prices last year - at least for the poorest Americans. Last week Barton demanded the Venezuelan-owned company Citgo produce all records, minutes, logs, e-mails and even desk calendars related to the company?s novel program of supplying discounted heating oil to low-income communities in the United States. The Citgo program, which began late last year in Massachusetts and the South Bronx, provides oil at discounts as high as 60% off market price. We hear an excerpt of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He first announced the discounted gas program during an interview with Democracy Now! on September 16, 2005."

"Military interrogators posing as FBI agents at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, wrapped terrorism suspects in an Israeli flag and forced them to watch homosexual pornography under strobe lights during interrogation sessions that lasted as long as 18 hours, according to one of a batch of FBI memos released Thursday."

CBS News | Poll: Bush Ratings At All-Time Low | February 27, 2006: "The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high. "

The Case for Impeachment (Harpers.org)

"Why we can no longer afford George W. Bush"

The Raw Story | Insight Mag: Cheney to retire after 2006 elections:

"Senior GOP sources envision the retirement of Mr. Cheney in 2007, months after the congressional elections. The sources said Mr. Cheney would be persuaded to step down as he becomes an increasing political liability to President Bush, the conservative magazine 'Insight Magazine' reports Monday."

Leo Lowenthal, (Frankfurt School) from An Unmastered Past, p. 87-8, speaking about his experience with Voice of America and McCarthyism, and why he was never called in front of the House Unamerican Activities Committee:

"I can only tell you the following story, which I learned from the executive director of Voice of America. I simply said to him, 'Ask around why I haven't been called to testify.' So he asked one of those unpaid assistants of McCarthy's, the well known William F. Buckley, a very rich, archreactionary journalist belonging to the farthest right wing of American journalism. And he said to the director, 'Yeah, that Lowenthal. We had him at the top of our list, we looked into every corner of his past, but we couldn't find anything on him.' I was aghast, of course, and said to my informant, 'Do me a favor and go back and tell them that I'll help them find something!' But nothing happened."

William F. "I'll Punch You in the Goddamn Face" Buckley speaks:

National Review Online:

"One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed...Mr. Reuel Marc Gerecht backed the American intervention. He now speaks of the bombing of the especially sacred Shiite mosque in Samara and what that has precipitated in the way of revenge. He concludes that ?The bombing has completely demolished? what was being attempted ? to bring Sunnis into the defense and interior ministries.

Our mission has failed because Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an invading army of 130,000 Americans. "

Very interesting and comprehensive piece on the changing nature of our security state. Lots of complied references and documented speculations on new moves to house 'affiliates' of terror...hmmm, thoughtcrime anyone?

AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: Bush's Mysterious 'New Programs': "Bush's Mysterious 'New Programs'

By Nat Parry, Consortium News. Posted February 23, 2006.

Is the Pentagon building U.S.-based prison camps for Muslim immigrants? Evidence points to the possibility."

Jason Leopold | White House 'Discovers? 250 Emails Related to Plame Leak:

"The White House turned over last week 250 pages of emails from Vice President Dick Cheney?s office. Senior aides had sent the emails in the spring of 2003 related to the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald revealed during a federal court hearing Friday.

The emails are said to be explosive, and may prove that Cheney played an active role in the effort to discredit Plame Wilson?s husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush administration?s prewar Iraq intelligence, sources close to the investigation said.

Sources close to the probe said the White House ?discovered? the emails two weeks ago and turned them over to Fitzgerald last week. The sources added that the emails could prove that Cheney lied to FBI investigators when he was interviewed about the leak in early 2004. "

Talk about burying the lead...

Bush Would Veto Any Bill Halting Dubai Port Deal - New York Times:

"The administration's review of the deal was conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a body that was created in 1975 to review foreign investments in the country that could affect national security. Under that review, officials from the Defense, State, Commerce and Transportation Departments, along with the National Security Council and other agencies, were charged with raising questions and passing judgment. They found no problems to warrant the next stage of review, a 45-day investigation with results reported to the president for a final decision.

However, a 1993 amendment to the law stipulates that such an investigation is mandatory when the acquiring company is controlled by or acting on behalf of a foreign government. Administration officials said they conducted additional inquires because of the ties to the United Arab Emirates, but they could not say why a 45-day investigation did not occur."

From DC's gossip Rag Capitol Hill Blue

Capitol Hill Blue: Secret Service agents say Cheney was drunk when he shot lawyer:

"Secret Service agents guarding Vice President Dick Cheney when he shot Texas lawyer Harry Whittington on a hunting outing two weeks ago say Cheney was 'clearly inebriated' at the time of the shooting.

Agents observed several members of the hunting party, including the Vice President, consuming alcohol before and during the hunting expedition, the report notes, and Cheney exhibited 'visible signs' of impairment, including slurred speech and erratic actions."

Senator Roberts' friendly hometown paper is turning up some heat at least.

Wichita Eagle | 02/18/2006 | EDITORIAL: ROBERTS' CREDIBILITY ON LINE: "Many Kansans, including members of The Eagle editorial board, have long admired Sen. Pat Roberts for his plainspokenness and reputation for fair brokering of issues.

So it's troubling that Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is fast gaining the reputation in Washington, D.C., as a reliable partisan apologist for the Bush administration on intelligence and security controversies.

We hope that's not true. But Roberts' credibility is on the line.

...

This week, Roberts sidetracked a Senate Intelligence Committee inquiry into the possibly illegal National Security Agency wiretap program, saying the White House had agreed to brief lawmakers more regularly and to work with him on a behind-the-scenes "fix" of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

That prompted a scathing New York Times editorial Friday headlined "Doing the President's Dirty Work," which opined: "Is there any aspect of President Bush's miserable record on intelligence that Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is not willing to excuse and help to cover up?"

Well post festum, it looks like one of your explanations of the Senate's actions on the NSA spying case is more plausible:
Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), Saturday's NYT
"The irony of this is that it is portrayed now as administration pressure brought to bear on us, meaning the Republicans on the committee and basically me," Mr. Roberts said Friday. "It's just the reverse. It's the Republicans on the committee, my staff and myself, who have been really ? I don't want to say pressuring, but trying to come up with a reasonable compromise that will settle this issue. It was our activity that brought them along to this point, plus the possibility of an investigation."

I like how he mentions the "possibility of an investigation" at the end as the thing that makes the adminstration willing to talk about this at all.

Two recent climate studies that I thought we might want deposited at the Repository for posterity's sake.

Washington Post -- Glacier Melt Could Signal Faster Rise in Ocean Levels:

"Greenland's glaciers are melting into the sea twice as fast as previously believed, the result of a warming trend that renders obsolete predictions of how quickly Earth's oceans will rise over the next century, scientists said yesterday."

The new data come from satellite imagery and give fresh urgency to worries about the role of human activity in global warming. The Greenland data are mirrored by findings from Bolivia to the Himalayas, scientists said, noting that rising sea levels threaten widespread flooding and severe storm damage in low-lying areas worldwide."

St. Louis Columbus Dispatch "Rapid Rise in Global Warming a Dire Threat, Scientists Warn"

Humans are burning fossil fuels so rapidly that Earth is headed toward its warmest period in 55 million years, a panel of scientists warned yesterday.

...

Burning coal, oil and naturalgas reserves at the current rate is expected to release 5,000 gigatons of carbon dioxide ? a gigaton is 1 billion tons ? into the atmosphere and push carbondioxide levels to more than five times current levels.

The last time the atmosphere was laced with that much carbon dioxide the world?s oceans stagnated with dead vegetation and life in the sea and on land was fundamentally altered, the researchers say.

"That?s exactly the amount we will add to the atmosphere if all fossil fuels are combusted," Zachos said.

Why are all these Senators getting in line to kiss the President's law-breaking ass?

Pat "don't call me Robertson" Roberts R-Kansas, Chair of the SenIntCom (maybe just SentCom?) claims that he's working on a deal with the whitehouse that would elminate the need for any investigation into NSA's domestic spying activities. Isn't this an admission that it was and is still illegal?

Ditto for Mike "I don't like red" DeWine, R-Ohio and his proposal:
"DeWine's proposal would exempt Bush's program from FISA. That law set up a special court to approve warrants for monitoring inside the United States for national security investigations." Washington Post, Feb. 17th

And the one I really don't understand, John Warner (R-Va), who says,
"It seems that's a logical place to start, to upgrade FISA given the extraordinary expanse of technology in the 30 years that have lapsed." Yeah, 'upgrade.' While were at it why don't we 'upgrade' the 4th and 5th Amendments? It's just like upgrading your computer. You take out that old RAM and just stick in new RAM. Totally painless....

Even Jay "yeah, that's right I'm a Rockefeller" Rockefeller (D-WV)just wines about not being able to vote on whether to conduct an investigation.

The only one who seems to have an ounce of integrity on this is Arlen Specter R-PA.

From the Post, again.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told a forum at Georgetown University Law School Thursday night, "You cannot have domestic search and seizure without a warrant." He is drafting legislation to require the foreign surveillance court to review Bush's program and determine if it is constitutional.
Well at least those liberals at the NYT are complaining:
Doing the President's Dirty Work
[snip]
For more than a year, Mr. Roberts has been dragging out an investigation into why Mr. Bush presented old, dubious and just plain wrong intelligence on Iraq as solid new proof that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was in league with Al Qaeda. It was supposed to start after the 2004 election, but Mr. Roberts was letting it die of neglect until the Democrats protested by forcing the Senate into an unusual closed session last November.

Now Mr. Roberts is trying to stop an investigation into Mr. Bush's decision to allow the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans without getting the warrants required by a 27-year-old federal law enacted to stop that sort of abuse.

Mr. Roberts had promised to hold a committee vote yesterday on whether to investigate. But he canceled the vote, and then made two astonishing announcements. He said he was working with the White House on amending the 1978 law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, to permit warrantless spying. And then he suggested that such a change would eliminate the need for an inquiry.
[snip]

Iraq Investigates Alleged 'Death Squads' - Yahoo! News:

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry announced an investigation Thursday into claims of death squads in its ranks as police found a dozen more bodies, bringing the number of apparent victims of sectarian reprisal killings here to at least 30 this week."

"I'm picking up your mentational processes by way of your cephalic tranmitter." In the man's ear Quail saw a white-plastic plug. "So I have to warn you: anything you think may be held against you." He smiled. "Not that it matters now; you've already though and spoken yourself into oblivion." -We can remember it for you wholesale, PK Dick

Cheney setting up own defense in Libby indictment.
The question is totally out of left field, too. Every question up to that point is about hunting, shooting people in the face, drinking at lunch, etc. Why would Brit Hume ask this unless he was told to by the VP's handlers? I guess one might argue he's just being "fair and balanced." "See I'm really truly a legitimate journalist. I ask the tough questions."

From the Foxsnews interview:

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, it's brought me great pleasure over the years. I love the people that I've hunted with and do hunt with; love the outdoors, it's part of my heritage, growing up in Wyoming. It's part of who I am. But as I say, the season is ending, I'm going to let some time pass over it and think about the future.

Q On another subject, court filings have indicated that Scooter Libby has suggested that his superiors -- unidentified -- authorized the release of some classified information. What do you know about that?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's nothing I can talk about, Brit. This is an issue that's been under investigation for a couple of years. I've cooperated fully, including being interviewed, as well, by a special prosecutor. All of it is now going to trial. Scooter is entitled to the presumption of innocence. He's a great guy. I've worked with him for a long time, have enormous regard for him. I may well be called as a witness at some point in the case and it's, therefore, inappropriate for me to comment on any facet of the case.

Q Let me ask you another question. Is it your view that a Vice President has the authority to declassify information?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: There is an executive order to that effect.

Q There is.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q Have you done it?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I've certainly advocated declassification and participated in declassification decisions. The executive order --

Q You ever done it unilaterally?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I don't want to get into that. There is an executive order that specifies who has classification authority, and obviously focuses first and foremost on the President, but also includes the Vice President.

"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy -- they smashed up things and then retreated into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

--The Great Gatsby

"Whistleblower says NSA spies on millions...
A former NSA member told the House Government Reform Subcommittee about a 'special access' electronic surveillance program that he characterized as far more wide-ranging than the warrentless wiretapping recently exposed by the New York Times but he is forbidden from discussing the program with Congress."

Guardian Unlimited | Gallery | 15.02.06: Abu Ghraib index: "February 15 2006: Previously unpublished images showing apparent abuse of detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 as broadcast by Australian television station SBS.
"

Take Action Now - Tell the Truth about Torture

video on torture from Amnesty Int'l

325,000 Names on Terrorism List: "Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that he could not discuss specifics but said: "Information is collected, information is retained and information disseminated in a way to protect the privacy interests of all Americans."

uberprotection makes me sleep well at night...

globeandmail.com : Better living through video games?:

"A body of research suggests that playing video games provides benefits similar to bilingualism in exercising the mind. Just as people fluent in two languages learn to suppress one language while speaking the other, so too are gamers adept at shutting out distractions to swiftly switch attention between different tasks."

Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt: "Congress appeared ready to launch an investigation into the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program last week, but an all-out White House lobbying campaign has dramatically slowed the effort and may kill it, key Republican and Democratic sources said yesterday."

Fuck

Molly Ivins - Cheney Shoots a Texas Liberal:

"It?s not as though the ground in Texas is littered with liberal Republicans. I think the vice president winged the only one we?ve got.

Not that I accuse Harry Whittington of being an actual liberal?only by Texas Republican standards, and that sets the bar about the height of a matchbook. Nevertheless, Whittington is seriously civilized, particularly on the issues of crime, punishment and prisons. He served on both the Texas Board of Corrections and on the bonding authority that builds prisons. As he has often said, prisons do not curb crime, they are hothouses for crime: ?Prisons are to crime what greenhouses are to plants.?"

Foreign Affairs - Intelligence, Policy,and the War in Iraq - Paul R. Pillar:

"During the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, writes the intelligence community's former senior analyst for the Middle East, the Bush administration disregarded the community's expertise, politicized the intelligence process, and selected unrepresentative raw intelligence to make its public case.

PAUL R. PILLAR is on the faculty of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Concluding a long career in the Central Intelligence Agency, he served as National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005."

Mississaguga, Ontario (AP):

"Wayne Gretzky sidestepped questions about the gambling investigation that has engulfed him and his wife, and insisted Monday he won't distract the Canadian Olympic team despite a scandal that has shaken all of hockey.

Gretzky spoke for just 4 1/2 minutes in a news conference cut off by a Hockey Canada official when the NHL great repeatedly was asked about the integrity of the game.

'It's not like I shot a 78 year old man in the face'' Gretzky said."

CBS News | Reporting Lag In Cheney Shooting | February 13, 2006 16:34:38:

"CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports Texas authorities are complaining that the Secret Service barred them from speaking to Cheney after the incident. Kenedy County Texas Sheriffs Lt. Juan Guzman said deputies first learned of the shooting when an ambulance was called.

But the Secret Service told a different story, saying agents had informed the local sheriff of the shooting about an hour after it happened and that the vice president had been interviewed about the accident by local authorities on Sunday morning"

2/13 Update: This section of the original CBS story has apparently "disappeared" from the article link. Just this section, though. Most of the rest of the story remains with a few other additions.

Sunday morning?

Some Republicans Tire of Bush?s Wiretap Stance - Newsweek Politics:

"The Senate intelligence committee is likely to vote to open an investigation into the NSA's wiretapping program, according to senior congressional aides who declined to be identified discussing sensitive matters. The chairman of the committee, Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, will probably follow the White House line and try to keep a lid on the hearings. But three Republicans?Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Olympia Snowe of Maine and Mike DeWine of Ohio?are expected to join with the Democrats on the committee to vote to demand more information about the secret eavesdropping program from the White House and intelligence agencies."

Bar association to oppose domestic spying:

"Contrary to polls showing Americans divided on the issue, 'our poll shows that average Americans and legal scholars alike agree that the awesome power of the government to penetrate citizens' most private communications must not be held in one set of hands,' ABA President Michael Greco said Friday at group's annual midyear meeting in Chicago. 'To prevent the very human temptation to abuse the power, there must be checks and balances in the form of oversight by the courts and Congress.'"

Wasn't Burr also the last vice-president to shoot someone?:

"'President promised two years ago that he would fire the leaker. He hasn't kept his promise. Karl Rove is not only still working in the White House, but he has security clearance. Now it turns out that the vice-president of the United States may have been responsible for those leaks for political reasons. That is the kind of thing that has not been done to my knowledge since Aaron Burr was vice president.' Howard Dean- Face the Nation, February 12th, 2006"

BobGeiger.com: "Dick Cheney?s Top 10 Excuses For Shooting Fellow Hunter"

ABC News: Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter: "Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday."

Op/Ed "The Trust Gap" - New York Times:

"We can't think of a president who has gone to the American people more often than George W. Bush has to ask them to forget about things like democracy, judicial process and the balance of powers, and just trust him. We also can't think of a president who has deserved that trust less."

Your suggestion of Pandora has made its way to me, Post Tot. I've made a new friend.

Americans say president shouldn't suspend rights - Yahoo! News: "Most Americans believe a president should not be allowed to suspend constitutional guarantees in order to fight terrorism, a poll released on Friday said."

Rockford's Newspaper Rock River Times | rockford illinois news information: "More than two dozen e-mails related to CIA agent Valerie Plame and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, are missing, according to investigative reporter Jason Leopold. The messages were sent to several senior members of the George W. Bush administration between May 2003 and July 2003.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald suspects these messages may have been destroyed."

Full House Committee Gets Briefing on Eavesdropping - New York Times: "WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 ? Under pressure from some Congressional Republicans as well as Democrats, the White House abruptly changed its position on Wednesday and provided a closed-door briefing on the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program to the full House Intelligence Committee.

The step was a major modification of a White House stance that has limited briefings on the highly classified program to no more than a small group of Congressional leaders, even since the existence of the program was disclosed late last year."

firedoglake: "Sources familiar with the potential witness list of the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings into the NSA wiretapping scandal say that Arlen Specter has asked James Comey to appear before the Committee, and that Comey has expressed concern that his testimony would bring about a situation where the White House would invoke executive privilege. "

If you get a chance, check out this great Daily Show bit on Gonzales testimony on Monday

A Young Bush Appointee Resigns His Post at NASA - New York Times: "George C. Deutsch, the young presidential appointee at NASA who told public affairs workers to limit reporters' access to a top climate scientist and told a Web designer to add the word 'theory' at every mention of the Big Bang, resigned yesterday, agency officials said.

Mr. Deutsch's resignation came on the same day that officials at Texas A&M University confirmed that he did not graduate from there, as his résumé on file at the agency asserted."

The Raw Story | Educators face blowback for protesting Iraq war in schools: "In November 2005, Alan Temes, an assistant professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against the college after he failed to get tenure. Temes said he would post the body count of US soldiers and Iraqi civilians next to a bulletin board filled with pro-military imagery, which included the words ?Operation Iraqi Freedom? next to a picture of the burning twin towers."

NATIONAL JOURNAL: Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information (02/09/2006): "Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been 'authorized' by Cheney and other White House 'superiors' in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records."

Another very weird piece from Insight Magazine (the Washington Times folks) that suggests a White House in a bit of panic. No reason to be from where I'm sitting, so what to make of this?

"... Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November.

'It's hardball all the way,' a senior GOP congressional aide said.

The sources said the administration has been alarmed over the damage that could result from the Senate hearings, which began on Monday, Feb. 6. They said the defection of even a handful of Republican committee members could result in a determination that the president violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Such a determination could lead to impeachment proceedings."

Something that Gonzales said yesterday that just floored me:

"Gonzales was given repeated opportunities to put to rest any fears that the administration may be using the wiretapping program for improper uses. At each instance, Gonzales failed to alleviate those concerns. Feinstein asked whether the program was being used to 'influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies or media.' Said Gonzales, 'Those are very, very difficult questions, and for me to answer those questions sort of off the cuff, I think would not be responsible.'"

ABC News: Ex-President Carter: Eavesdropping Illegal:

"Former President Jimmy Carter criticized the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program Monday and said he believes the president has broken the law."

"The former president also rebuked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for telling Congress that the spying program is authorized under Article 2 of the Constitution and does not violate the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act passed during Carter's administration. Gonzales made the assertions in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which began investigating the eavesdropping program Monday. "It's a ridiculous argument, not only bad, it's ridiculous. Obviously, the attorney general who said it's all right to torture prisoners and so forth is going to support the person who put him in office. But he's a very partisan attorney general and there's no doubt that he would say that," Carter said.

The former president said he would testify before the Judiciary Committee if asked.

"If my voice is important to point of the intent of the law that was passed when I was president, I know all about that because it was one of the most important decisions I had to make."

Exclusive: Can the President Order a Killing on U.S. Soil? - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com: "Feb. 13, 2006 issue - In the latest twist in the debate over presidential powers, a Justice Department official suggested that in certain circumstances, the president might have the power to order the killing of terrorist suspects inside the United States. Steven Bradbury, acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, went to a closed-door Senate intelligence committee meeting last week to defend President George W. Bush's surveillance program. During the briefing, said administration and Capitol Hill officials (who declined to be identified because the session was private), California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked Bradbury questions about the extent of presidential powers to fight Al Qaeda; could Bush, for instance, order the killing of a Qaeda suspect known to be on U.S. soil? Bradbury replied that he believed Bush could indeed do this, at least in certain circumstances."

Alright, this news is a few weeks old but Morales was a key leader in this movement back in 2000 and is a major victory for ordinary Bolivian people that shouldn't go unnoticed. Not to mention, with the NYTimes yesterday fixating on Evo's sweater,
it pays to mention how he is radical in something other than his choice of dress as a politician.

Historic Victory: Bechtel Vs. Bolivia

The Cochabamba water revolt, which began exactly six years ago this month, will end this morning when Bechtel, one of the world?s most powerful corporations, formally abandons its legal effort to take $50 million from the Bolivian people. Bechtel made that demand before a secretive trade court operated by the World Bank, the same institution that coerced Bolivia to privatize the water to begin with. Faced with protests, barrages of e-mails, visits to their homes, and years of damaging press, Bechtel executives finally decided to surrender, walking away with a token payment equal to thirty cents. That retreat sets a huge global precedent.

Even the cops are not safe from the....cops

Surveillance Prompts a Suit: Police v. Police
New York Times, Feb. 3, 2006

The lawsuit by the police union brings a distinctive voice to the charged debate over how the city has monitored political protest since Sept. 11. The off-duty officers faced a "constant threat of arrest," Officer Liddy testified, all but echoing the complaint by activists for other causes that the city has effectively "criminalized dissent."

Well, we knew that we needed an enemy. We knew that the adminstration was using 9/11 as a justification for all sorts of power grabs. But, now, it's actually being spoken about in public. We're in another Cold War, with, ironically enough, a title that alludes to the Long March. Yous guys boning up on those foreign language skills? (and apparently all those European ones aren't going to help, because they seem to consider racism a right).

I personally like how "long war," has to be decoded by "defense experts," and that they tell us it means, dahhda dada, "there is no end in sight."

Oooo. And also, this is from the future, Feb. 3:

Washington Post, February 3, 2006
Rumsfeld Offers Strategies for Current War
Pentagon to Release 20-Year Plan Today

The United States is engaged in what could be a generational conflict akin to the Cold War, the kind of struggle that might last decades as allies work to root out terrorists across the globe and battle extremists who want to rule the world, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday.
[snip]
Military leaders and officials in the Bush administration have taken to calling the global war on terrorism the "long war," which defense experts say is a recognition that there is no end in sight.

Files May Be Lost in Leak Case - Los Angeles Times: "WASHINGTON ? Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald is raising the possibility that records sought in the CIA leak investigation could be missing because of an e-mail archiving problem at the White House. "

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Bush told Blair we're going to war, memo reveals: "A memo of a two-hour meeting between the two leaders at the White House on January 31 2003 - nearly two months before the invasion - reveals that Mr Bush made it clear the US intended to invade whether or not there was a second resolution and even if UN inspectors found no evidence of a banned Iraqi weapons programme."

The memo seen by Prof Sands reveals:

· Mr Bush told the Mr Blair that the US was so worried about the failure to find hard evidence against Saddam that it thought of "flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft planes with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours". Mr Bush added: "If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach [of UN resolutions]".

Knight Ridder Washington Bureau | 02/01/2006 | Administration backs off Bush's vow to reduce Mideast oil imports:

"WASHINGTON - One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally."

2Spare - Top 10 Most Peculiar Places in the World: "A Christian Chapel decorated by the bones of 40,000 people

The Sedlec Ossuary is a small Christian chapel, located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints in the Czech Republic.

The ossuary contains approximately 40,000 human skeletons which have been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel."

WKAR, the PBS station in the Lansing area, didn't even bother to show the State of the Union. Instead, they showed a Frontline on terrorism in Europe. Did your PBS stations show the State of the Union or did Jim Lehrer just decide to take the night off?

In the transcript of the State of the Union, Bush supposedly said, "We're on the offensive in Iraq, with a clear plan for victory." But as I watched the speech, I swear he slipped and said "defensive." Anyone else hear this or did I just project reality onto Bush's nonsense?

Google Confirms Using Ubuntu Linux, Won't Say Why

Reports are circulating about Google's readying a desktop competitor to Microsoft, but a Google spokeswoman says the Linux use is for "internal" use only.

By Antone Gonsalves
TechWeb News

Jan 31, 2006 05:25 PM

Google Inc. on Tuesday confirmed that it is using Ubuntu desktop Linux technology internally, but remained tightlipped about its purpose.

The Register, a U.K.-based technology news site, reported Tuesday that the Mountain View, Calif., search engine was developing its own Linux distribution for the desktop using the Ubuntu open-source operating system.

A Google spokeswoman confirmed that the company uses Ubuntu technology, but declined to say what for.

"We utilize the Ubuntu technology for internal use, but have no plans to distribute it outside of the company," the spokeswoman said. She also denied the company was using the name "Goobunto" internally for the software, saying, "It's just an internal system."

Ubuntu, an ancient African word meaning humanity to others, is an open-source project founded by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth, who also founded the Shuttleworth Foundation shortly after selling his Internet security company, Thawte, in 2000. The Ubuntu Linux distribution, which is available at no charge, is based on the Debian Linux distribution and the Gnome desktop.

The report led to speculation among bloggers that Google might be readying a desktop OS to take on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows, a scenario many experts consider unlikely.

"If there's any company that can pull off the open-source attack on Microsoft, I think Google is it," said the blog Dymaxion World.

Speculation on Google's plans for the desktop arises each time the company releases more software for Microsoft's home turf, the PC. The latest release, Google Pack, was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev., this month. The suite included Google's mapping software, photo organizer, screensaver, desktop search and toolbar for Internet Explorer, as well as products from third parties, such as Mozilla's Firefox browser.

Some analysts say its unlikely that Google would challenge Microsoft with a competing operating system on the PC, given the latter company's domination of the platform. Instead, Google could be using Ubuntu for developing software products, for its own infrastructure or for Linux research.

"If Google has decided to release a Linux product, then it would make sense to have an internal platform for (software) development," Joe Wilcox, analyst for JupiterResearch, said.

At this point, however, everything is speculation. "Google could be using (Ubuntu) for a lot of different things internally," Wilcox said.