I Heart Patti Smith

Eine Ansprache von der Künstlerin und Sängerin Patti Smith, gegen die Bush Regierung. [Patti Smith Indicts the shrub] (h/t Eureka Springs at Late Late Night FDL)

saturday reads

The Nation joins the ACLU in challenging the constitutionality of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008.


IndyMac Bancorp Inc. became the second- biggest federally insured financial company to be seized by U.S. regulators after a run by depositors left the California mortgage lender short on cash.


British travellers hoping to visit the US will face yet another bureaucratic obstacle next year, under new laws due from the country's Department of Homeland Security.


Get married out-of-state, go to jail.

friday reads

A US air strike in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday killed 47 civilians, 39 of them women and children, an Afghan government investigating team says.


In a secret report last year, the Red Cross found that the CIA's interrogation techniques were "categorically" torture, a new book reveals.


Glenn Greenwald interviews Jameel Jaffer, the Director of the ACLU's National Security Project, on challenging the constitutionality of the new FISA law.


Bill Moyers: Is the Fourth Estate a Fifth Column?


10 Reasons Why Your Economic Pain Isn't 'Mental'


Christ on a cracker! The loathsome Bill Donohue is on a witchhunt against PZ Myers.


Bhasin: Maliki and the Timetable: It's all about Blackwater

friday random ten

Photo by Ryan McManus




Blue Boy
Orange Juice
NME C81 (1981)




You! Me ! Dancing!
Los Campesinos!
Sticking Fingers Into Sockets (2007)




Freddie and the Trojan Horse
The Radio Dept.
Freddie and the Trojan Horse (2008)




Die
Bratmobile
The Real Janelle




Chosen One
The Concretes
In Colour (2006)




Leilani II
Hoodoo Gurus
Leilani / Leilani II 7"




Get On With Your Life
The Purrs
The Purrs (2006)




Macbeth
Ciccone Youth
The Whitey Album (1989)




Eisiger Wind
Liliput
Kleenex / LiLiPUT (1993)




Lights
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
Fear Is On Our Side (2006)


Bonus tracks




Scoundrel Days
Sissy Wish
Tuning In (2005)




They Lie, We Die
Flux of Pink Indians
Strive to Survive Causing the Least Suffering Possible (1982)

listen

Impeachment on the House floor TODAY

Rep. Dennis Kucinich

Dear Friends,

Congressman Dennis Kucinich will present a single Article of Impeachment to the House of Representatives sometime between 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm (EDT) today, Thursday, July 10th.

Sessions of the House of Representatives are broadcast live on C-SPAN (check your local cable listings for channel) and streamed live via the Internet (www.cspan.org).

The article of Impeachment will deal directly with President Bush fraudulently obtaining support for an attack on Iraq by creating a false case for war. Full details of the Article of Impeachment will be available after they are read on the floor of the House by Congressman Kucinich.

Please spread the word and continue to circulate the online petition that Congressman Kucinich will personally present to members of Congress.

Thank you.
Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee

Sign the petition

thursday reads

Sen. Feingold: A Black Mark on the History of Our Country



ACLU

“With one vote, Congress has strengthened the executive branch, weakened the judiciary and rendered itself irrelevant,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. “This bill – soon to be law – is a constitutional nightmare. Americans should know that if this legislation is enacted and upheld, what they say on international phone calls or emails is no longer private. The government can listen in without having a specific reason to do so. Our rights as Americans have been curtailed and our privacy can no longer be assumed.”

In advance of the president’s signature, the ACLU announced its plan to challenge the new law in court.

“This fight is not over. We intend to challenge this bill as soon as President Bush signs it into law,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. “The bill allows the warrantless and dragnet surveillance of Americans’ international telephone and email communications. It plainly violates the Fourth Amendment.”

EFF

"We thank those senators who courageously opposed telecom immunity and vow to them, and to the American people, that the fight for accountability over the president's illegal surveillance is not over," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. "Even though Congress has failed to protect the privacy of Americans and uphold the rule of law, we will not abandon our defense of liberty. We will fight this unconstitutional grant of immunity in the courtroom and in the Congress, requesting repeal of the immunity in the next session, while seeking justice from the Judiciary. Nor can the lawless officials who approved this massive violation of Americans' rights rest easy, for we will file a new suit against the government and challenge warrantless wiretapping, past, present and future."

emptywheel asks: "What ABOUT that Anthrax Terrorist?"


Juan Cole on the FBI's plan to "profile" Muslims


Think Progress: Arlington Whistleblower Fired For Trying To Grant Media Access To Military Funerals


Foreclosures Rose 53% in June, Bank Seizures Triple


Wiffle-ball Fenway

Senate Gives One Finger Salute to the Rule of Law

FISA Cave-in

H.R. 6304, the FISA amendments act of 2008 passes.
Yeas 69 - Nays 28


UPDATE II:

Motion to Invoke Cloture on H.R. 6304
Yeas 72 - Nays 26

UPDATE: "The Senate is not in order"...

Dodd Amendment #5064 (strike immunity) fails
Yeas 32 - Nays 66

Specter Amendment #5059 (allows broader court review) (60-vote threshold)
Yeas 37 - Nays 61

Bingaman Amendment #5066 (delays immunity until completion of IG report) (60-vote threshold)
Yeas 42 - Nays 56

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Rachel Maddow interviews Jonathan Turley on Countdown