Leadership Failure: Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division"[At FOB Mercury] they said that they had pictures that were similar to what happened at Abu Ghraib, and because they were so similar to what happened at Abu Ghraib, the soldiers destroyed the pictures. They burned them. The exact quote was, 'They [the soldiers at Abu Ghraib] were getting in trouble for the same things we were told to do, so we destroyed the pictures.''

This has got to be stopped. And I guess it is just an amazing coincidence that The White House counsel writes a memo outlining what is considered torture and our Army proceeds to institutionalize it. Oh that's right, it was all Lyndie England's fault.

Pharyngula::Singularly Silly Singularity
...Or "Future Shock Redux". I think Kurzweil has some pretty interesting ideas, but he falls in love with them too easily. If his premise was correct, why don't we have all those jetpacks we were all promised back in 1965? In 1972 the average automobile fuel economy was something close to 30mpg. Today, 33 years later? About the same. Yes, we have super computers of yesteryear available in handhelds today and what do we use it for? Phones and games. Progress! We may someday build artificially intelligent robots and have them play solitaire for us and answer our phones. Some singularity that will be.

UNDERNEWS: RATHER SEES CLIMATE OF FEAR IN NEWSROOMS
This should really be filed under the "dog bites man" section. But what really ticks me off is that these people always rail about the demise of their "profession" WHEN THEY RETIRE! Why don't they take a stand when it could actually matter, when someone might be actually listening like oh I don't know ON YOUR NEWSCAST? And you know all that talk about reporters finally getting a backbone? That was very short-lived. Once they got out of NOLA and back to their comfortable homes that went away QUICK. On to the next "story"!

The New York Review of Books: The Body Hunters: "Yet the story is based on the premise that a pharmaceutical company would be so threatened by disclosures of its activities that it would have someone killed. That is what is fantasy. In fact, many of the practices that so horrified le Carre's heroine are fairly standard and generally well known and accepted. They seldom provoke outrage, let alone murder. A company like KDH would not kill someone like Tessa even if it were willing to do so; it wouldn't have to. Her concerns would have seemed isolated and futile, and the companies would hardly have taken notice of them."

And this is what is so frustrating today. It just seems like 20 years ago or so if a journalist could find someone to blow the whistle and tell the truth he could almost bring down a government. Today, not so much. We have whistleblower after whistleblower on every issue under the sun from the Iraq War to Pentagon corruption to the travesty of Katrina to all sorts of corporate scandals one seemingly more unbelievable than the next. All the evidence is there. All the evidence has been published in mainstream newspapers, magazines you name it.

And no one seems to give a shit.

Roberts will be appointed without even a QUESTION about his failure to recuse himself from the Salim Ahmed Hamdan case. Rove is still employed by the White House and his outing of Valerie Plame is forgotten. Bolton is destroying the UN and wreaking havoc with our allies and no one does a thing. Billions are going unaccounted for in Iraq and also in the USA thanks to the Pentagon's refusal to use basic accounting principles and nobody forcing them to do so. Drug companies and oil companies continue to gouge the system without recourse.

And who are you going to turn to for help? The Democrats? Please. They are in this up to their eyeballs. Forget them. There is no one. Do you ever talk to your fellow citizens on the plane or bus or at the ballgame? It is frightening. It's like listening to Bill O'Reilly. No, this is all over.

onegoodmove: Incompetence
Finally, FINALLY, the MSM gets a backbone. Also see this.

NOLA.com: LEVEE BREACH SWAMPS CITY FROM LAKE TO RIVER:"As the day wore on, the only dry land was a narrow band from the French Quarter and parts of Uptown, the same small strip that was settled by Bienville amid the swamps. On Tuesday night, it appeared the city was returning to swamp when a daylong effort to shore the levee near the Hammond Highway failed. Mayor Ray Nagin said pumps were being overwhelmed and warned that a new deluge would bury the city in up to 15 feet of water. With solid water from the lake to the French Quarter, the inundation and depopulation of an entire American city was at hand. "Truth to tell, we're not to far from filling in the bowl," said Terry Ebbert, the city's director of homeland security. The waters were still rising at 3 inches per hour, and eventually could move close to the French Quarter levee."

Matador Records | The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

Buy this. Their best so far.

The Brothers Grimm

It's obvious Terry Gilliam's heart was not in this picture. It is comparable to Sleepy Hollow and
The Pirates of the Caribbean except there is no Johnny Depp who might have saved the picture. Monica Bellucci nearly saves the day just by showing up. I have enjoyed nearly all of Gilliam's work except Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and now this one.

One other thing: when I saw it, the picture seemed very dark and grimy. This could have been the theatre's fault as they barely had it aligned properly (some sub-titles were not shown completely) and the colors looked faded. I can't believe Gilliam intended this and chalked it up to poor projector lighting. It would have been a much more enjoyable viewing experience if it had been lit properly. I will re-review it when it comes out on DVD.

Newsday - Roberts meeting 'illegal': "The article changed the mind of Hofstra University law professor Monroe Freedman, who at first backed the White House. He said Roberts probably broke the law but that it wasn't enough to disqualify him from the high court."

Certainly not nearly enough for THIS court! In fact, if things go to form, Roberts should be the next Chief Justice because of this!

It must be tough at places like The Onion to keep up with this stuff.

Four in 9/11 Plot Are Called Tied to Qaeda in '00 - New York Times (reg. required): "In a telephone interview from his home in Pennsylvania, Mr. Weldon said he was basing his assertions on similar ones by at least three other former intelligence officers with direct knowledge of the project, and said that some had first called the episode to his attention shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The account is the first assertion that Mr. Atta, an Egyptian who became the lead hijacker in the plot, was identified by any American government agency as a potential threat before the Sept. 11 attacks. Among the 19 hijackers, only Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi had been identified as potential threats by the Central Intelligence Agency before the summer of 2000, and information about them was not provided to the F.B.I. until the spring of 2001."

The NY Times article is a bit confusing, but the upshot is military intelligence had some double super secret operation that used data mining techniques and had apparently identified 4 of the 9/11 hijackers, among others not involved, and did not tell the FBI about it until Spring 2001. The article is trying to say that there was some sort of problem with that. Sounds to me like everything was working fine. FBI was given the information well in advance of the attacks. I don't think civil laws/rights were violated. There may have been a breakdown in the FBI itself in using this information though. They may be indifferent to information that comes from outside the bureau. At any rate, this refutes the need for The Patriot Act doesn't it? We were able to gather information to prevent an attack without it weren't we? And the information was shared among military and domestic intelligence. If this report is to be believed then, the FBI fucked up big time. Maybe Richard Clarke is right that a little "shaking of the trees" from the top in the Summer of 2001 may have produced some action from the FBI on this information.

The article says there is no mention of this incident in the 9/11 Commission's report and hints that they did know about it. That in itself is very curious. Yet another commission designed not to get to THE truth, but to give them SOME truth.

Snow isn't so cool on Fillmore / Neighbors unhappy with ski jump plans: "Neighbors are afraid Icer Air 2005 spectators, like bike race enthusiasts, will trample flowers, litter and sit on front steps, rooftops, railings and porches to watch the festivities, Scott said.

'It's strange -- you buy into a quiet residential neighborhood thinking this won't happen,' he said. 'There are people who are less than happy about all this.'"

Now let's be honest here. They didn't move to Pacific Heights to escape hordes of folks watching events from rooftops, railings and porches. They moved there to feel exclusive, above the fray, "special". And when the fray gets a little too close for comfort for half a day, they become "less than happy".

Tough shit.

This is a part of what is known as A SOCIETY. You don't like it? Move to Montana and buy a few thousand acres and you can be as exclusive as you want. But cities involve OTHER PEOPLE and in order to make a city work, not all other people are going to be exactly like YOU. Get over it.

Senate Makes Permanent Nearly All Provisions of Patriot Act, With a Few Restrictions - New York Times(reg. required)

Folks, this was a UNANIMOUS vote. Bye, bye Democratic party!

Informed Comment - On How US Troops Aren't Coming Home Any Time Soon "Mind you, I'm all for withdrawing US troops from Iraq as soon as humanly possible. I think they have the wrong rules of engagement and the wrong tactics for waging counter-insurgency in a clannish society like Iraq, and it is a toss-up whether they are keeping some peace or making things worse. (Fallujah last November demonstrably made things much worse). But I think you need some sort of realistic bridge from that withdrawal to the time when the new Iraqi army can stand on its own. I don't know where you get that bridge, but nature abhors a vacuum. If the US is gone and the Shiite Iraqis are under siege from Sunni guerrillas, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards will certainly come in to help the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the Dawa Party. Even a covert Iranian military presence in Iraq would provoke even more Sunni jihadis to go fight there. A regional war could easily break out, with dire consequences for us all."

I think the dire consequences have already occurred. Furthermore, it seems apparent that Iraqi civil war is inevitable, just like Yugoslavian civil war was inevitable when Tito was toppled. I know it will look bad if we pull out now, but I don't see how it will EVER look good for us no matter what we do. Given those parameters I think the best course of action now is to pull out as soon as the Iraqi government tells us to. I know we want some permanent bases there but those plans have GOT to be scrapped. There are ways of getting what you want OTHER than violence. It is time we admit our mistake, offer to help, but get out of the way and stop making war.

Bush Aide Learned Early of Leaks Probe: "Asked on CBS why he did not investigate the leak when it first became public, Gonzales said: 'This is the kind of issue that I felt that we should wait and see whether or not there would be some kind of criminal investigation. And of course, there was.'"

Because as we now know, according to the EXTREMELY high moral standards in place in the Bush administration, if it ain't criminal, it's all right. And even if it IS criminal, if you can beat the rap it is all right.

The New Yorker: Shouts and MurmursLest anyone reading this blog should think I am all about GM food problems, Bush's stupidity, pit bull attacks, etc., I present a very funny essay from Mr. David Sedaris. Enjoy!

STLtoday - News - Polish bishop's visit fails to resolve rift: "'I will go to this church because we're supposed to follow our shepherd,' he said. 'The church was built for God and the archdiocese, not for us.'"

Exactly wrong, Mr. Mendyka, and this is the crux of the matter. The archbishop believes the sentiment expressed by Mr. Mendyka. The people of St. Stanislaus parish understand that the people ARE The Church. If Mr. Burke expressed one-THOUSANDTH of the actual humility necessary to be a capable and compelling bishop, this issue could be resolved quickly. But authority is what gives his life meaning it seems.

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | GM crops created superweed, say scientists: "A reviewer of the paper has appended to its front page: 'The frequency of such an event [the cross-fertilisation of charlock] in the field is likely to be very low, as highlighted by the fact it has never been detected in numerous previous assessments.'

However, he adds: 'This unusual occurrence merits further study in order to adequately assess any potential risk of gene transfer.'

Brian Johnson, an ecological geneticist and member of the government's specialist scientific group which assessed the farm trials, has no doubt of the significance. 'You only need one event in several million. As soon as it has taken place the new plant has a huge selective advantage. That plant will multiply rapidly.'"

The scary thing is these people were surprised by this. SURPRISED! Oh, well then, that's all right. Not your fault. YOU DIDN'T EXPECT IT! Who could. huh?

Unbelievable. I would mind so much but they are tinkering around with our FOOD SUPPLY is all. What else are they not expecting?

Bush: CIA leaker would be fired if crime committed - Yahoo! News: Gee that Bush is TOUGH on those leaks! I would have thought that if a crime was committed the person would be in jail so they COULDN'T come to work in the administration anyway. But as we all know, Karl Rove would probably have to stab an 8 year old child to death on the front steps of the White House in broad daylight in order to get even a reprimand from Bush. As it is, I would not be surprised if Rove was Bush's nomination for the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Look at what Rove says when he talks to Cooper though: "I've said too much", "more WILL BE declassified". This is an admission that he is telling Cooper something he shouldn't and that it is currently classified. Part of that information was the identity of a CIA agent.

Informed Comment - Rove Unfit For Public Office: "Rove can only have thought it would discredit Wilson to associate his missiion with the CIA if he viewed the CIA as the enemy. This is the Richard Perle line. If Wilson was sent to Niger on the recommendation of a CIA operative, then he was not an objective ex-ambassador but a CIA plant of some sort, attempting to undermine the Bush administration and the military occupation of Iraq."

This is exactly right. They can parse this all they want to escape criminal prosecution, but the fact of the matter is that Rove was trying to tear down Wilson. He's done this countless times before to others but we never had a smoking gun. We could see his fingerprints, but now we have evidence of his despicable behavior.

Bloomberg.com: U.S. - Time Reporter's Testimony Is Needed, CIA Leak Prosecutor Says: "Miller hasn't turned over any information and contends that incarceration won't force her to change her mind. She conducted interviews related to the leak but didn't write any article about it."

I want an explanation as to why 2 reporters who DID NOT write about the Plame case and about to be sent to jail and the columnist who DID sits back smugly and just laughs and laughs. I don't even really care who in the White House was the leaker because they will get off. But I want to know why Bob Novak is walking around a free man.