The Failed Pacifist: July 2008

"Sous-veillance"

In our Big Brother times, people are turning their own cameras on to the authorities. A perfect example is the video of a NYC policeman attacking a bicycle rider last week. It seems the officer lied in his report about what happened, but without the video his version would probably be difficult to disprove.

White House Must Preserve Emails

From the National Security Archive:

Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola of the U.S. District Court today denied a motion by the White House to reconsider his earlier recommendations and reaffirmed his recommendation that the court order the Executive Office of the President (EOP) to search individual workstations used between March 2003 and October 2005 and preserve any e-mails located on those workstations or on portable media used by EOP employees.

via rawstory

McCain's Elite Feet

Yea, it's stupid. But if McCain is going to compare Obama to Britney and Paris, complaining that the Illinois Senator is too popular and therefore out of touch with us common folk, he probably shouldn't be walking around in $520 Ferragamo shoes.

IOC Cut Censorship Deal With China

From Reuters:

Some International Olympic Committee officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive websites despite promises of unrestricted access, a senior IOC official admitted on Wednesday.

NRA Mole Outed

Mother Jones is saying anti-gun activist Mary McFate and corporate "research consultant" Mary Lou Sapone are the same person.

"It raises the question," says Paul Helmke, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, "of what did she find out and what did they want her to find out."

via huffpo

McCain Campaign Admits Ad is False

From Ben Smith at Politico:

McCain's camp, accused in the New York Times and the Washington Post this morning of distorting Obama's canceled trip to a military hospital in German, seems to have backed off the core of the charge: That he canceled the trip because "the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras."

via kos

Karadzic Extradicted to The Hague

From AFP:

Serbia sent Bosnian Serb war leader Radovan Karadzic into UN custody early Wednesday after a night of clashes between police and his supporters in Belgrade, the justice ministry said.

Army Recruiters Threaten Recruits

Army recruiters in Texas have a long and continuing pattern of lying to High School Students who pre-enlist.

via rawstory

TSA Training "Behavior Detection Officers"

The program is known as SPOT, or Screening Passengers by Observation Technique, and is similar to what is done in Israel.

In the TSA version, she said, uniformed officers in and around security checkpoints scan passengers for "involuntary physical and psychological reactions" that behavioral scientists say may signal stress, fear or deception. (The TSA declined to be more specific about reactions it monitors.)

via rawstory

More Taser Deaths

Add these to the list.

via digby

Hulk Smash!

Senator Ted Stevens has been indicted for ~~lying~~ failing to disclose more than a quarter of the million dollars in gifts.

Largest. Deficit. Evar.

Heck of a job, Bushie.

Injured Boy Tasered 19 Times

A 16 year old boy who apparently broke his back and heel in a 30 foot fall was Tasered 19 times by police. His family wonders how the boy was an immediate threat to the officers.

"He refused to comply with the officers and so the officers had to deploy their Tasers in order to subdue him. He is making incoherent statements; he's also making statements such as, 'Shoot cops, kill cops,' things like that. So there was cause for concern to the officers."

LAT Editor: Keep Mum About Edwards

Tony Pierce, editor for the LA Times blogs has sent out an email asking LAT bloggers to refrain from any mention of the John Edwards thing.

There has been a little buzz surrounding John Edwards and his alleged affair. Because the only source has been the National Enquirer we have decided not to cover the rumors or salacious speculations. So I am asking you all not to blog about this topic until further notified.

The Opinion L.A. blog apparently didn't get the memo.

via laobserved and romenesko

Any Counterinsurgency is a Surge

McCain is now redefining what he's meant by Surge.

Leading the Press by Their Nose Rings

Drudge is still the master.

via atrios

"Splayed Onto the Windshield"

Robert Novak hit a pedestrian and kept driving, apparently ignorant of what happened. Should he still be allowed behind the wheel?

"I didn’t know I hit him. I feel terrible," a shaken Novak told reporters from Politico and WJLA as he was returning to his car. "He's not dead, that's the main thing." Novak said he was a block away from 18th and K streets Northwest, where the accident occurred, when a bicyclist stopped him and said, "You hit someone." He said he was cited for failing to yield the right of way.

USAID Puts Hold On Cuba Funds

From the Miami Herald:

Congress has put the U.S. Agency for International Development's $45 million Cuba program's 2008 funding on hold, following a series of troubling audits and cases of massive fraud, The Miami Herald has learned.

via kos

The Love Child Might Have Legs

Oh-oh. Even considering the source, this might be a problem.

Fencing Off Free Speech

Following the example set by U.S. political parties and others, China has announced it will set up "Protest Zones" during the Olympics.

Are TSA Agents Pervs?

The humiliating personal searches are raising a lot of questions.

CBS Edits Out McCain Error

On the same day John McCain complained about a "Love Affair" between the media and Barack Obama, the CBS Evening News apparently edited out McCain's erroneous assertion that the Anbar Awakening was a direct result of the "Surge". According to reports, CBS News instead substituted an answer from a different question.

When questioned about this, the McCain campaign ignored the edited-out gaff and instead attacked Democrats for debating the past.

McCain Spills the Beans

It seems the old guy said too much.
Let's hope nobody gets hurt.

Phil Gramm is Back

It was just a week ago John McCain lambasted Phil Gramm's whiny America interview, saying the former soft-core porn producer "would be in serious consideration Ambassador to Belarus, but I'm not sure that the people of Minsk would welcome that,". Now it seems everything is all kissy-kissy again. The PoD notes McCain and Gramm are BFF.

UPDATE: Gramm is stepping down as Co-Chair of the campaign. His future role in Senator McCain's quest remains unclear.

"The Right Wing Freak Machine"

Wesley Clark says it nailed him.

GOP Threatens CafePress

It seems there are some trademark issues.

Electrocutions in Iraq

Are a major problem.

"A total failure"

Nancy Pelosi tells CNN what she thinks of President Bush.

"You know, God bless him, bless his heart, the president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject."

2010 Census: No Gay Marriages

Gay marriages won't be recognized in the 2010 census.

Neo-Nazi Mom Loses Kids

Canadian authorities took custody of the children after the daughter showed up at school with a swastika drawn on her arm.

"A Nation of Whiners"

That's what Phil Gramm thinks of us.

Iran Photoshopped Missile Image

A photo released by Iran's government showing missiles being launched appears to have been heavily modified.

Bush is a Proud Polluter

President Bush "punched the air while grinning widely" after ending a private meeting with G8 leaders by saying "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

One official who witnessed the extraordinary scene said afterwards: "Everyone was very surprised that he was making a joke about America's record on pollution."

via wonkette

Foster Child Denied Transplant

From the Miami Herald:

A disabled foster child whose liver is failing has been removed from a Central Florida hospital's organ-transplant waiting list because hospital administrators fear the state's shaky child-welfare system cannot ensure he has a permanent home in which to recover.

"I Hate The Bloggers"

Yuck Yuck.

McCain is Awfully Forgetful

Either that, or the guy said "Senator Obama's word cannot be trusted" is just lying about what he's said.

via daily kos

Limbaugh is More Elite Than You

The gasbag signs a deal worth "north of $400 million".

Rewarding Good Behavior

Kos explains why he won't be contributing to the Obama campaign, at least for now.

The Failed Pacifist

Thursday, July 31, 2008