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December 29, 2005
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Saturday's Links
Activism
Network for Good. Acting against something bad (like corruption in the political majority) is good, but so is acting for something good. The Network for Good matches donors and volunteers to the charities they care about, with online tools to help you research the causes and charities you're looking to help out. Sign up for an account to keep track of your favorite charities and how you've donated, or keep a volunteer record of service for your more hands-on efforts. There's information about recent crises and crisis relief efforts, as well. If you're getting burned out by the GOP scandal mill (and, really, who isn't?), take a brief detour to the clean side of the street and lend a helping hand or two. Money and time are always in short supply, and for everyone who gives a little of each someone else gets to rest a bit easier. I'd say that's a pretty good deal.
News
Conflicting Stories. It was a leak that started us all down this path that seems to be heading in Karl Rove's direction, and it's new leaks that are helping keep the story alive in the press. Nobody really knows for sure how Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation will end, but information continues to dribble out. One of the newer pieces of info is that the stories Rove and Scooter Libby told the grand jury don't exactly match those of the reporters they've called. Rove and Libby both testified that they received Valerie Plame's identity from Bob Novak and Tim Russert, respectively, and both journalists say it simply isn't true. Also, Rove didn't come clean with investigators right away; first he neglected to mention his conversation with Time reporter Matt Cooper, then later said they'd primarily talked about welfare reform. Adding insult to injury: former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer initially denied seeing the classified memo that disclosed Plame's identity, but recent reports indicate he was among those on Air Force One who took a gander at it. One day, we hope, the full truth will come out; in the meantime, it's not looking so good for all these officials who, as Scott McClellan has stated, "enjoy the confidence" of President Bush.
London Alerts: At-a-Glance. BBC News UK has posted a comprehensive timeline of events in today's bombing attempt in London. While the attacks themselves appear to have been less than successful, one man was killed by police, two others arrested, and the photos of four others thought to be involved have been released. The timeline starts just after noon yesterday and runs until just after ten pm tonight. There's a map of the underground lines in the area, as well as a quick bullet-list of major points. This resurgence of domestic terror has not only pricked holes in Bush's "over there, not over here" theory but has also prompted a test of random bag searches in the New York subway system. The Washington Metro transit agency has tightened security and is studying the idea of bag searches, with an eye on how those searches go in New York.
Peace Treaty on N Korea's Wish List for Talks. North Korea is using a pretty big carrot to get what it wants, offering nuclear disarmament in exchange for a list of other demands including being taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism and the end economic sanctions against it. An unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman said North Korea wanted to "replace the fragile ceasefire mechanism by a lasting peace mechanism on the Korean peninsula with a view to doing away with the last leftover of the cold war era," claiming this was essential to the reunification of Korea as well as peace and security in the rest of the world. Unsurprisingly, analysts say North Korea is taking advantage of the current US involvement in Iraq to lay out its wish list, in the hopes that it will be met halfway.
Editorials
The Record of Judge John Roberts. Gene C. Gerard points out that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts may not be the milquetoast distraction he might seem at first glance. In 1990, he authored a brief on behalf of the government, stating "Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled." Later that year, in another brief, he wrote that the First Amendment does not prohibit Congress from declaring flag-burning illegal. In another brief, Roberts wrote that organizations physically blocking access to abortion clinics did not discriminate against women. He did, however, admit that only women can actually have abortions. So that's nice. Just last year, Judge Roberts ruled it was within a "legitimate goal of promoting parental awareness and involvement" with delinquent children to uphold a law mandating a child should be arrested for a crime an adult would merely be ticketed for.
Wilson's Iraq Assertions Hold Up Under Fire From Rove Backers. "Joe Wilson's a liar!" You see it repeated often enough on those righteously indignant right-wing blogs. "His wife arranged the trip! He told everybody it was Cheney's office!" And so the case for Wilson's guilt in a smear campaign against the revered President Bush is a slam dunk. Or, well ... not. A week after Wilson wrote an article debunking the administrations claim's concerning Hussein's attempts to get uranium from Niger, Valerie Plame was outed as political payback. Wilson's claims have, for the most part, been upheld by the very Senate Report his detractors reference in their arguments against him. It doesn't hurt his case that U.S. and United Nations weapons inspectors sort of, y'know, agree with him. Even the White House backed down, the day after his column appeared. People tend to believe things they hear repeated often enough, and this White House knows how to stay on message. The one thing we're all really waiting for is to hear what SP Fitzpatrick digs up; he's been at it for two years, so it has to be something with teeth.
Rights Wronged. Robert Kuttner writes about "relentless accumulation of arbitrary authority" in the increasingly authoritarian War on Terra. With citizens and immigrants both being detained indefinitely in the ongoing terror-related investigation, the ideals this country was founded upon are being slowly but surely eroded. All of this is shaping up to be what Kuttner calls the "perfect authoritarian storm," combining Orwell's premise of permanent warfare with Kafka's unchallengable denial of rights. This bitter argument over the leaking of a classified information (as political payback or no), between two greatly divided political bases, highlights the very real danger we all face today: an unbridled grab for the reins of absolute power, returning us to the exact kind of rulership that early Americans sacrificed their lives to save us from.
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December 29, 2005
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Saturday's Links
Activism
Network for Good. Acting against something bad (like corruption in the political majority) is good, but so is acting for something good. The Network for Good matches donors and volunteers to the charities they care about, with online tools to help you research the causes and charities you're looking to help out. Sign up for an account to keep track of your favorite charities and how you've donated, or keep a volunteer record of service for your more hands-on efforts. There's information about recent crises and crisis relief efforts, as well. If you're getting burned out by the GOP scandal mill (and, really, who isn't?), take a brief detour to the clean side of the street and lend a helping hand or two. Money and time are always in short supply, and for everyone who gives a little of each someone else gets to rest a bit easier. I'd say that's a pretty good deal.
News
Conflicting Stories. It was a leak that started us all down this path that seems to be heading in Karl Rove's direction, and it's new leaks that are helping keep the story alive in the press. Nobody really knows for sure how Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation will end, but information continues to dribble out. One of the newer pieces of info is that the stories Rove and Scooter Libby told the grand jury don't exactly match those of the reporters they've called. Rove and Libby both testified that they received Valerie Plame's identity from Bob Novak and Tim Russert, respectively, and both journalists say it simply isn't true. Also, Rove didn't come clean with investigators right away; first he neglected to mention his conversation with Time reporter Matt Cooper, then later said they'd primarily talked about welfare reform. Adding insult to injury: former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer initially denied seeing the classified memo that disclosed Plame's identity, but recent reports indicate he was among those on Air Force One who took a gander at it. One day, we hope, the full truth will come out; in the meantime, it's not looking so good for all these officials who, as Scott McClellan has stated, "enjoy the confidence" of President Bush.
London Alerts: At-a-Glance. BBC News UK has posted a comprehensive timeline of events in today's bombing attempt in London. While the attacks themselves appear to have been less than successful, one man was killed by police, two others arrested, and the photos of four others thought to be involved have been released. The timeline starts just after noon yesterday and runs until just after ten pm tonight. There's a map of the underground lines in the area, as well as a quick bullet-list of major points. This resurgence of domestic terror has not only pricked holes in Bush's "over there, not over here" theory but has also prompted a test of random bag searches in the New York subway system. The Washington Metro transit agency has tightened security and is studying the idea of bag searches, with an eye on how those searches go in New York.
Peace Treaty on N Korea's Wish List for Talks. North Korea is using a pretty big carrot to get what it wants, offering nuclear disarmament in exchange for a list of other demands including being taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism and the end economic sanctions against it. An unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman said North Korea wanted to "replace the fragile ceasefire mechanism by a lasting peace mechanism on the Korean peninsula with a view to doing away with the last leftover of the cold war era," claiming this was essential to the reunification of Korea as well as peace and security in the rest of the world. Unsurprisingly, analysts say North Korea is taking advantage of the current US involvement in Iraq to lay out its wish list, in the hopes that it will be met halfway.
Editorials
The Record of Judge John Roberts. Gene C. Gerard points out that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts may not be the milquetoast distraction he might seem at first glance. In 1990, he authored a brief on behalf of the government, stating "Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled." Later that year, in another brief, he wrote that the First Amendment does not prohibit Congress from declaring flag-burning illegal. In another brief, Roberts wrote that organizations physically blocking access to abortion clinics did not discriminate against women. He did, however, admit that only women can actually have abortions. So that's nice. Just last year, Judge Roberts ruled it was within a "legitimate goal of promoting parental awareness and involvement" with delinquent children to uphold a law mandating a child should be arrested for a crime an adult would merely be ticketed for.
Wilson's Iraq Assertions Hold Up Under Fire From Rove Backers. "Joe Wilson's a liar!" You see it repeated often enough on those righteously indignant right-wing blogs. "His wife arranged the trip! He told everybody it was Cheney's office!" And so the case for Wilson's guilt in a smear campaign against the revered President Bush is a slam dunk. Or, well ... not. A week after Wilson wrote an article debunking the administrations claim's concerning Hussein's attempts to get uranium from Niger, Valerie Plame was outed as political payback. Wilson's claims have, for the most part, been upheld by the very Senate Report his detractors reference in their arguments against him. It doesn't hurt his case that U.S. and United Nations weapons inspectors sort of, y'know, agree with him. Even the White House backed down, the day after his column appeared. People tend to believe things they hear repeated often enough, and this White House knows how to stay on message. The one thing we're all really waiting for is to hear what SP Fitzpatrick digs up; he's been at it for two years, so it has to be something with teeth.
Rights Wronged. Robert Kuttner writes about "relentless accumulation of arbitrary authority" in the increasingly authoritarian War on Terra. With citizens and immigrants both being detained indefinitely in the ongoing terror-related investigation, the ideals this country was founded upon are being slowly but surely eroded. All of this is shaping up to be what Kuttner calls the "perfect authoritarian storm," combining Orwell's premise of permanent warfare with Kafka's unchallengable denial of rights. This bitter argument over the leaking of a classified information (as political payback or no), between two greatly divided political bases, highlights the very real danger we all face today: an unbridled grab for the reins of absolute power, returning us to the exact kind of rulership that early Americans sacrificed their lives to save us from.
|
December 29, 2005
Network for Good. Acting against something bad (like corruption in the political majority) is good, but so is acting for something good. The Network for Good matches donors and volunteers to the charities they care about, with online tools to help you research the causes and charities you're looking to help out. Sign up for an account to keep track of your favorite charities and how you've donated, or keep a volunteer record of service for your more hands-on efforts. There's information about recent crises and crisis relief efforts, as well. If you're getting burned out by the GOP scandal mill (and, really, who isn't?), take a brief detour to the clean side of the street and lend a helping hand or two. Money and time are always in short supply, and for everyone who gives a little of each someone else gets to rest a bit easier. I'd say that's a pretty good deal.
News
Conflicting Stories. It was a leak that started us all down this path that seems to be heading in Karl Rove's direction, and it's new leaks that are helping keep the story alive in the press. Nobody really knows for sure how Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation will end, but information continues to dribble out. One of the newer pieces of info is that the stories Rove and Scooter Libby told the grand jury don't exactly match those of the reporters they've called. Rove and Libby both testified that they received Valerie Plame's identity from Bob Novak and Tim Russert, respectively, and both journalists say it simply isn't true. Also, Rove didn't come clean with investigators right away; first he neglected to mention his conversation with Time reporter Matt Cooper, then later said they'd primarily talked about welfare reform. Adding insult to injury: former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer initially denied seeing the classified memo that disclosed Plame's identity, but recent reports indicate he was among those on Air Force One who took a gander at it. One day, we hope, the full truth will come out; in the meantime, it's not looking so good for all these officials who, as Scott McClellan has stated, "enjoy the confidence" of President Bush.
London Alerts: At-a-Glance. BBC News UK has posted a comprehensive timeline of events in today's bombing attempt in London. While the attacks themselves appear to have been less than successful, one man was killed by police, two others arrested, and the photos of four others thought to be involved have been released. The timeline starts just after noon yesterday and runs until just after ten pm tonight. There's a map of the underground lines in the area, as well as a quick bullet-list of major points. This resurgence of domestic terror has not only pricked holes in Bush's "over there, not over here" theory but has also prompted a test of random bag searches in the New York subway system. The Washington Metro transit agency has tightened security and is studying the idea of bag searches, with an eye on how those searches go in New York.
Peace Treaty on N Korea's Wish List for Talks. North Korea is using a pretty big carrot to get what it wants, offering nuclear disarmament in exchange for a list of other demands including being taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism and the end economic sanctions against it. An unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman said North Korea wanted to "replace the fragile ceasefire mechanism by a lasting peace mechanism on the Korean peninsula with a view to doing away with the last leftover of the cold war era," claiming this was essential to the reunification of Korea as well as peace and security in the rest of the world. Unsurprisingly, analysts say North Korea is taking advantage of the current US involvement in Iraq to lay out its wish list, in the hopes that it will be met halfway.
Editorials
The Record of Judge John Roberts. Gene C. Gerard points out that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts may not be the milquetoast distraction he might seem at first glance. In 1990, he authored a brief on behalf of the government, stating "Roe was wrongly decided and should be overruled." Later that year, in another brief, he wrote that the First Amendment does not prohibit Congress from declaring flag-burning illegal. In another brief, Roberts wrote that organizations physically blocking access to abortion clinics did not discriminate against women. He did, however, admit that only women can actually have abortions. So that's nice. Just last year, Judge Roberts ruled it was within a "legitimate goal of promoting parental awareness and involvement" with delinquent children to uphold a law mandating a child should be arrested for a crime an adult would merely be ticketed for.
Wilson's Iraq Assertions Hold Up Under Fire From Rove Backers. "Joe Wilson's a liar!" You see it repeated often enough on those righteously indignant right-wing blogs. "His wife arranged the trip! He told everybody it was Cheney's office!" And so the case for Wilson's guilt in a smear campaign against the revered President Bush is a slam dunk. Or, well ... not. A week after Wilson wrote an article debunking the administrations claim's concerning Hussein's attempts to get uranium from Niger, Valerie Plame was outed as political payback. Wilson's claims have, for the most part, been upheld by the very Senate Report his detractors reference in their arguments against him. It doesn't hurt his case that U.S. and United Nations weapons inspectors sort of, y'know, agree with him. Even the White House backed down, the day after his column appeared. People tend to believe things they hear repeated often enough, and this White House knows how to stay on message. The one thing we're all really waiting for is to hear what SP Fitzpatrick digs up; he's been at it for two years, so it has to be something with teeth.
Rights Wronged. Robert Kuttner writes about "relentless accumulation of arbitrary authority" in the increasingly authoritarian War on Terra. With citizens and immigrants both being detained indefinitely in the ongoing terror-related investigation, the ideals this country was founded upon are being slowly but surely eroded. All of this is shaping up to be what Kuttner calls the "perfect authoritarian storm," combining Orwell's premise of permanent warfare with Kafka's unchallengable denial of rights. This bitter argument over the leaking of a classified information (as political payback or no), between two greatly divided political bases, highlights the very real danger we all face today: an unbridled grab for the reins of absolute power, returning us to the exact kind of rulership that early Americans sacrificed their lives to save us from.
