saturday reads

Personal information on about 650,000 customers of J.C. Penney and up to 100 other retailers could be compromised after a computer tape went missing.


The Texas Observer: Replacing Ronnie Earle (The Race to Become the Most Important Prosecutor in Texas)


QOTD: Martin Schram in The Sacramento Bee (via Crooks and Liars)

Along with the handful of presidential candidates who dropped out so far, voters might be better served if a hundred or so of my political-reporter and pundit colleagues dropped out as well – and were replaced by journalists whose beats are about national security, economics, environment and health care.

AlterNet: Dennis Kucinich's Fight to Bring Credibility to the Democratic Party


Montana Governor Foments Real ID Rebellion


McClatchy: Deep problems plague U.S. economy, stimulus plans notwithstanding.


Game Theory: The Waist and the Knees

Abu Ghraib, The Sequel

Scott Horton: The Official Story Unfolds

I doubt severely that this is a complete portrait of what occurred. The official story is a meticulous cherry-picking of the facts to pull out every nugget and detail which serves the ultimate purpose: exculpate the White House and scapegoat Rodriguez. And let’s not forget the fact that this is already the third official account put out for public consumption by the Bush Administration, at odds with prior accounts on vital points, including the level and nature of authorization given for the destruction.

In Argentina in early eighties, in the wake of the Dirty War, the regime presented la historia oficial–the formal account of what had transpired, which reached even to provide false backgrounds for the children of the Dirty War’s victims who were given up for adoption. Everyone was bound to accept it. And everyone knew it was a lie. We are now witnessing the crafting of the official story of the destruction of the CIA tapes. The scope and meticulousness with which it is being presented are truly impressive. Yes, let’s be impressed with the Machiavellian ingenuity of this process. But the severest skepticism is warranted when it comes to the truth and completeness of the account. Even when the words appear in the hallowed pages of the Washington Post and New York Times. We are watching a grand bamboozlement, and the integrity of our government is at stake.

friday reads

An official Canadian government document has put both the United States and Israel on a watch list of countries where prisoners run the risk of being tortured, CTV television reported on Thursday.


A recent change in voter registration law has left hundreds and possibly thousands of Travis and Williamson county residents temporarily ineligible to cast their ballots here.


Glenn Greenwald: Lawbreaking telecoms still conniving to obtain immunity from Congress

Senator Russ Feingold: It's Not Just About Immunity


Oakland Post Publisher Paul Cobb is putting out the black-oriented weekly under the watchful eye of police, following an informant's report that there is a contract on his life.


The Japanese team on the International Space Station will launch a paper airplane (co-designed with the Japan Origami Airplane Association) into the Earth's atmosphere -- the plane's been treated with heat-resisting stuff and is expected to survive reentry.


Give your Valentine some Republican Conversation Hearts

thursday reads

Brad Blog: Numbers are now being posted from both the Democratic and Republican hand-counts in the NH Primary Election contest. So far, only wards in Manchester (Hillsborough County) have been hand-counted, and disparities between the original counts from the Diebold optical-scan machine and the hand inspections seem to be occurring in many wards, and for many candidates.


How the Pentagon planted a false story


The waters of the Yangtze have fallen to their lowest levels since 1866, disrupting drinking supplies, stranding ships and posing a threat to some of the world's most endangered species.


Dave Neiwert: Jonah and the Klan


Media's Political Coverage Like Kindergartners Playing Telephone


Several states and communities are moving to provide universal health coverage for their residents, but a federal law is blocking their efforts.


QOTD: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

I am so proud to be from the state of Minnesota. We’re the workingest state in the country, and the reason why we are, we have more people that are working longer hours, we have people that are working two jobs.

wednesday reads

A roadside bomb tore through a Sri Lankan bus killing 26 people and wounding dozens on Wednesday, officials said, as a six-year ceasefire between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels formally expires.


FDA: Don't Ask, Don't tell on Cloned Meat

After four years of deliberation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that meat from cloned animals and their offspring is safe to eat.

But despite public unease and lingering scientific uncertainty, the FDA won't require such meat to be labeled or tracked.

Why is it that George W. Bush gets only a 12 percent favorability rating in Saudi Arabia?


Justice Department officials have told Congress that they face serious legal difficulties in pursuing criminal prosecutions of Blackwater security guards involved in a September shooting that left at least 17 Iraqis dead.


Activists battle to save New Orleans public housing.



Ayatollah Huckabee Condemns US Constitution with new Fatwa


Unconstitutional Acts to protect the Preznit from Protesters


Did Columbus and his men introduce the syphilis pathogen into Renaissance Europe after contracting it during their voyage to the New World?


The Future of Ideas is now Free


Facebook's growing dominance reflects a society that is increasingly complacent with spying.

tuesday reads

Federal mortgage fraud convictions have more than doubled in the past year, and the FBI expects a growth in foreclosure scams as the crisis over substandard, high-interest home loans escalates.


NBC News said Monday it will appeal a judge's ruling rather than include Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich in a candidates' debate in Nevada.


Asia Times: Gulf allies turn their backs on Bush


Stress...

Stress is when you have been no with water and no electricity for over 5 years. That is stress.

Stress is when you have no job because some fucking backward retard came and occupied your country, pillaged it and stripped you of your livelihood. That is stress.

Stress is when you run from hospital ward to hospital ward, from prison to prison, from militia to militia looking for your loved one only to recognize them from their teeth fillings in some morgue...That is stress alright.

FBI seeks international database for iris, palm and finger prints.


The American Marketing Association Releases New Definition for Marketing

Bill Hicks on Marketing

monday reads

Tomgram: Is Religion a Threat to Democracy?


Paul Krugman: Responding to Recession


P2P Consortium interviews Rick Falkvinge, the founder and the leader of the Swedish Pirate Party.


Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona, who is the target of a federal corruption case, retired Monday to focus on defending himself against the charges.


President Bush, on his first visit to this oil-rich kingdom, delivered a major arms sale Monday to a major ally in a region where the U.S. casts neighboring Iran as a menace to stability.


Federal and state forestry officials say at current rates, mountain pine beetles will kill the majority of Colorado's large-diameter lodgepole pine forests within three to five years.


Sovereign Bancorp Inc. said Monday it expects to take about $1.76 billion in charges in the fourth quarter related to a range of issues, from goodwill impairments to rising loan-loss provisions.

Citigroup plans to announce a writedown of as much as $24 billion and layoffs that could total as much as 24,000 due to subprime and credit-related losses, CNBC has learned.

The $200 billion Kuwait Investment Authority had no immediate comment on Monday on a report it may buy into Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (MER.N) and Citigroup Inc (C.N), two U.S. banks hit by credit market losses.


Democrats for Mitt

just dropped in

Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
Die Haut (w/Nick Cave on vocals)
Headless Body in Topless Bar (1988)

mog.com

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sunday reads

The New York Times found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment — along with alcohol abuse, family discord and other attendant problems — appear to have set the stage for a tragedy that was part destruction, part self-destruction.


Lavish Payout, Perks for Failed Mortgage CEO

Guess who's helping Bank of America pay for its $4.1 billion purchase of Countrywide Financial? Answer: The taxpayers of the United States.


Scientists fear losing access to intelligence data.


In what is surely the biggest legislative victory for the blogosphere ever, it now seems that there won't be any new FISA bill as long as Bush is in office.