Dispatches
The Worst Person for the Job
10.12.2005 13:12 | RUSS WELLEN
"When defense attorney Ron Safer heard that Patrick Fitzgerald would lead an inquiry into the leak of a CIA operative's name," Judy Keen reports in USA Today, "his first thought was that, from the Bush administration's perspective, 'they could not have pi...
When the Right Wing Resorts to French. . .
10.10.2005 07:24 | RUSS WELLEN
. . . to express its frustration with Bush, you know his administration is in trouble.
"There is now a distinctive fin de regime stink about Republican Washington."
As the editorial on TheBusinessOnline.com from which the above quote was excerpted c...
When Political Rockers Stop Raging Against and Become the Machine
10.07.2005 11:28 | RUSS WELLEN
The original members of the sophisticated, but stark, quasi-Marxist band, Gang of Four, have reformed according to a Slate article by Simon Reynolds. Their new album is faithful covers of their old songs. Say what?
Turns out, as Reynolds explains, that...
Justice in Case
10.06.2005 07:20 | RUSS WELLEN
Harriet Miers: crony--or crone? Were I to apologize for this glib sexist remark, it would be disingenuous, especially in light of my next comment: What's with the eyeliner? Is this her bid to become the first Goth SCOTUS? It does, however, match the judic...
A Scandal a Day Keeps Indictment Away
10.04.2005 07:41 | RUSS WELLEN
First there was Watergate, named after a hotel in Washington. Then "gate" was appended to the Iran arms for hostages to fund contras scandal (in which Reagan's White House breached the firewall that heretofore insulated the presidency from the Machiavelli...
The Burning Season
09.30.2005 14:38 | MICHAEL MANVILLE
I returned to Los Angeles yesterday from Washington, DC, to find that fire season had begun. Those who don't believe Southern California has seasons fail to appreciate the region's nuances. We don't have foliage, but in the fall the hills burn. The Santa...
Is Oil Shale the Answer?
09.30.2005 13:52 | MICHAEL MANVILLE
I don't know much about shale, but James Hamilton spells out a number of problems with one of the much-discussed alternatives to oil. It looks better than nothing. But not much better....
Let's Start by Drawing a Line in the Sand
09.30.2005 12:24 | RUSS WELLEN
According to the always enlightening Wayne Madsen, CIA Director Porter Goss's successor as House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence chairman, Representative Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, has coughed up a choice piece of information.
Some HPSCI me...
The First Good Use to Which American Forces in Iraq Have Been Put?
09.29.2005 11:43 | RUSS WELLEN
Withdrawal from Iraq is like another issue dear to our sense of national security--the autonomy of individual cells in the new Al Qaeda. In both cases, the heart of the matter is being overlooked.
When it comes to Al Qaeda, cells aside, their pet proje...
Energy and the Law of Large Proportions
09.27.2005 21:37 | MICHAEL MANVILLE
How do we conserve energy in the United States? That question has become more urgent in light of events in the Middle East, the brief gasoline shocks from Hurricane Katrina, and the new attention being given to Peak Oil...
FBox on the Radio
09.27.2005 11:27 | MICHAEL MANVILLE
Yours truly was interviewed last week by Bazooka Joe for his indyradio/podcast show, the Small World. Joe was an excellent interviewer and a kind editor -- he made me sound smarter than I am.
Anyone who wants to listen to the podcast can find it on the...
Every Citizen a Politician, Part II
09.27.2005 10:50 | RUSS WELLEN
". . . for liberty will never be safe or durable in a republic till every citizen thinks it as much his duty to take care of the state, as to take care of his family, and until an indifference to any public question shall be considered a public offence [e...
Every Citizen a Politician, Part I
09.27.2005 08:07 | RUSS WELLEN
"In a republican government [a democracy, that is] it is the duty incumbent on every citizen to afford his assistance, either by taking part in its immediate administration, or by his advice and watchfulness, [editor's italics] that its principles may rem...
Pat Tillman and Noam Chomsky--an Unlikely Pair or Two of a Kind?
09.26.2005 09:08 | RUSS WELLEN
When given news at Northcom headquarters in Colorado that Hurricane Rita was much less serious than Katrina, President Bush, as reported by Newsweek, "didn't look all that relieved or happy. . . seemed cranky and fidgety. . . . rocked back and forth in hi...
Premonitions of New Orleans Devastation by a Rock Icon
09.22.2005 14:39 | RUSS WELLEN
On September 7 in a TimesOnline article called "New Orleans -- the ideal place to get shot," the Kinks' Ray Davies told of his visit to New Orleans last year to raise funds for a local school's Mardi Gras instruments and uniforms. However, he was shot dur...
Administration Caught Dead to Rights Again
09.21.2005 08:37 | RUSS WELLEN
Optimism surged during the six-party talks in Beijing when North Korea vowed to give up its nuclear weapon program and rejoin the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in return for energy assistance from the other five nations and a promise not to attack. It...
More Astonishing Stupidity
09.19.2005 12:53 | MICHAEL MANVILLE
The religious right has now embraced the movie "March of the Penguins." Penguins, conservatives argue, are symbos of family values, and an argument for Intelligent Design. The Guardian reports:
Film critic Michael Medved was quoted by the New York T...
Hitchens/Galloway
09.19.2005 12:43 | MICHAEL MANVILLE
Eric Alterman watched the Hitchens Galloway debate and came away feeling sick:
I was disgusted to watch the Hitchens/Galloway debate on CSPAN yesterday. Both are brilliant debaters without much care whether the points they are making are consistent...
Stopping Abortion Protesters
09.19.2005 12:36 | MICHAEL MANVILLE
Steve Levitt reports on a new campaign by Planned Parenthood that will probably work. It will either stop protesters or raise money.
Oh, the Humiliation!
09.16.2005 08:10 | RUSS WELLEN
From an article on Alternet:
London-based writer Joseph Hanlon, writing for the Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Mozambique) in Maputo, says that in responding to flood crises, the United States has much to learn from Mozambique, one of the poorest...
|
