Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it. ~~Mark Twain
By John on Sep 12, 2008 in General | 0 Comments
I know I’m late with this. I knew plenty would be written and said on 9/11, so I’ve waited a couple of days to offer my thoughts. Much was lost on 9/11, and much has been lost in the seven years since.
By John on Apr 1, 2008 in General | 0 Comments
Speaking at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco last week, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said one of the dumbest things ever to come out of this scandal ridden Administration. He was making a speech trying to stir up support for the FISA bill with telecom immunity, where he basically claimed that U.S. Intelligence apparently knew a call came from Afghanistan safe-house to a phone in the U.S.
By John on Dec 30, 2007 in Crime, Culture, Society, Travel | 0 Comments
The New York Times has a great Op-Ed about the foolishness of the TSA security screenings at airports. It points out, as most thinking people have to come realize that this is mostly feel-good theater that does no actual good at preventing another terrorist attack.
By John on Oct 31, 2007 in Politics | 1 Comment
According to a report in the USAToday, the Terrorist Watchlist now contains 755,000 names. Approximately 200,000 names have been added each year since 2004. Obviously this raises a ton of concerns by those interested in civil liberties. The list is quickly headed to a million, and it’s shear size makes it impossible to use it effectively.
By John on Oct 21, 2007 in Culture, Movies | 1 Comment
When a terrorist bomb detonates inside a Western housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an international incident is ignited. While diplomats slowly debate equations of territorialism, FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) quickly assembles an elite team (Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman) and negotiates a secret five-day trip into Saudi Arabia to locate the madman behind the bombing. Upon landing in the desert kingdom, however, Fleury and his team discover Saudi authorities suspicious and unwelcoming of American interlopers into what they consider a local matter.
By John on Jul 29, 2007 in Congress, Constitution, Corruption, Crime, Politics, Presidency, Society, War | 1 Comment
In his weekly radio address Bu$h demanded that Congress update the laws governing electronic surveillance. Now why would George give a damn about whether the law is up-to-date or not. It’s not like the Cheney/Bush Administration is following any of the laws anyway.
By John on Jul 19, 2007 in Constitution, Politics, Presidency, The Courts, War | 1 Comment
President Bush unveiled an executive order that allows the administration to block bank accounts and any other financial assets that might be found in this country belonging to people, companies or groups that the United States deems are working to threaten stability in Iraq.
By John on May 9, 2007 in Congress, Constitution, Crime, Politics, Society | 3 Comments
Sen. Kennedy’s bill, S. 735, the so-called Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007. The act would, among other things, attach civil liability to anyone whose actions were misinterpreted by authorities as being a hoax and who didn’t immediately notify those authorities about the actual nature of the incident.
By John on Apr 9, 2007 in Constitution, Politics, Society, Technology | 2 Comments
The master list the federal government keeps of known and suspected terrorists, from which other government agencies derive their own watch lists, already hundreds of thousands of names large, is growing out of control, filling with “fragmentary,” “inconsistent” and “sometimes just flat-out wrong” information, a top counterterrorism official said.
By John on Mar 9, 2007 in Crime, Places, Society | 0 Comments
On January 31, Boston and Massachusetts officials terrorized that city and made asses of themselves in the national news. And they extorted $2 million and almost ruined two people’s lives over a cartoon character they intentionally mischaracterized as a threat. Apparently trying to repeat their performance, they sent the bomb squad out again Wednesday to blow up another “suspicious device” in Boston’s financial district. Only this time, the plan to extort some other hapless company backfired in their faces.
By John on Sep 30, 2006 in Congress, Constitution, Politics, Presidency, The Courts | 1 Comment
Buried amongst the untold affronts to the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and the very spirit of America, the torture bill contains a definition of “wrongfully aiding the enemy” which labels all American citizens who breach their “allegiance” to President Bush and the actions of his government as terrorists subject to possible arrest, torture and conviction in front of a military tribunal.
By John on Sep 28, 2006 in Congress, Constitution, Election, Politics, War | 0 Comments
We’ve heard the rhetoric before. Republicans are repackaging their “tough on crime” speeches as “tough on terror” and complaining that anyone who stands in the way of increasing executive power at the expense of individual rights is “coddling” — criminals or terrorists, your pick.
And so we have Dennis Hastert saying:
“Democrat Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and [...]
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