tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74962461560219886362011-04-21T14:35:54.491-04:00Blowing everything into proportion.VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.comBlogger381100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-30832014659561349622007-11-09T11:10:00.000-05:002007-11-09T11:15:34.758-05:00

During a press conference about the situation in Pakistan, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino was asked if it was "ever reasonable to restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism." Her response? "In our opinion, no."Swampland's take on this is priceless:She also came out against invading other countries without a plan for what's next, putting cronies in charge federal

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-63401005411468895922007-11-09T10:58:00.000-05:002007-11-09T11:08:06.582-05:00

Project Censored lists the 25 most censored news stories of 2007. The one I find most horrifying is #14, "Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the U.S." These detention centers built under the guise of rounding up immigrants could be easily be used to detain American citizens.According to Peter Dale Scott:The contract of the Halliburton subsidiary KBR to build immigrant

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-9568356527257260092007-10-24T21:37:00.000-04:002007-10-24T21:51:45.288-04:00

Defending a "controversial photo ID requirement in Georgia" that would likely discriminate against minority voters, John Tanner, the "top-ranking voting rights official at the Justice Department," said that the ID requirement does not disenfranchise minority voters because it truly disenfranchises elderly voters, and minorities "die first." Send a letter urging the acting AG to dismiss Tanner at

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-84357667468688504972007-10-24T21:23:00.000-04:002007-10-24T21:36:27.529-04:00

Four days after J.K. Rowling told a Carnegie Hall audience that Dumbledore was gay Bill O'Reilly had this to say:O’REILLY: Now, Dumbledore is not overtly gay in the book.TINA JORDAN: Absolutely not.O’REILLY: So you wouldn’t know whether he was gay or not, right?JORDAN: And in fact, you don’t know anything about the sex lives of any of the teachers.O’REILLY: Of any of them. Although those wizards,

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-34210046113850330882007-10-22T18:44:00.000-04:002007-10-22T19:16:00.624-04:00

In chronological order:Story 1: Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte tried to spin al-Qaeda's resurgence in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a good thing. NEGROPONTE: It’s getting better. It’s definitely getting better. And I’ve heard some people suggest, go so far as to suggest, that al-Qaeda is getting discouraged in Iraq and is thinking more of concentrating their efforts on Afghanistan and

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-23537430257852045692007-10-20T18:33:00.000-04:002007-10-20T18:56:35.234-04:00

In a recent Swampland article, Joe Klein details how the United States is becoming increasingly ignored overseas:[1][T]he Iraqis [are] turning to China and Iran to construct electric power plants. This is particularly significant because America's inability to provide electricity in Iraq has been, for average Iraqis, the most infuriating daily evidence of our ineptitude...[2]Russian President

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-55154203138336550932007-10-20T18:05:00.000-04:002007-10-20T18:33:03.171-04:00

Nothing against Barack Obama, but I find this whole situation hilarious:When asked about Hillary Clinton during an October 16, 2007, MSNBC interview, Lynne Cheney said that she had a "certain bias" as "Dick [Cheney] and Barack Obama are eighth cousins." When asked if that meant that she was supporting Senator Obama, Cheney replied, "No.""The Obama campaign's response? 'Every family has a black

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-48161644043319225182007-10-19T11:23:00.000-04:002007-10-19T11:41:55.244-04:00

Thank you, New York Times, for letting me know.The beginning of the very first episode with Jon Stewart at the helm: (Look how young both he and the Comedy Central logo look!) Oh, TheDailyShow.com, you are getting favorited. I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl.

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-85582469848129881842007-10-17T21:11:00.000-04:002007-10-17T21:26:31.918-04:00

This from the Swampland blog over at Time.com:Over the summer, I took an informal poll of Iraq analysts at various US intelligence agencies about how and whether the Iraq war would spill over into neighboring countries....The near unanimous opinion was...that the border to watch was Turkey-Kurdistan. The mega-fear is that the Turks will move in to "protect" the local Turkmen population if the

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-10116503428335358622007-10-17T20:56:00.000-04:002007-10-17T21:09:47.835-04:00

Last night on The Colbert Report, Stephen announced that he was running for president in the South Carolina primaries: Now the New York Times' Caucus blog is reporting that he "is apparently serious enough that his staff reached out to the state’s Democratic and Republican committees in advance of his announcement." Joe Werner, the head of the South Carolina Democratic Party, said, "From what I

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-38064793294113856492007-10-16T12:08:00.000-04:002007-10-16T12:19:30.214-04:00

Today's Washington Post reveals that Verizon provided data to the federal government without a warrant at least 720 times between January 2005 and September 2007. The FBI's administrative subpoenas requested not only "information identifying...a person making a call, but [also] the people that customer called, as well as the people those people called." Luckily, Verizon does not keep that kind of

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-56782531539730810312007-10-15T15:36:00.000-04:002007-10-16T12:19:02.424-04:00

Joseph P. Nacchio, former CEO of Qwest, the telecommunications company that refused to participate in the NSA's warrantless surveillance program, said that the NSA first approached him six months before 9/11, according to a recent WaPo article. Not only does this discredit the Bush administration's claim that 9/11 was "the main impetus for" implementing the surveillance program, but also the fact

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-64588977198634702612007-10-12T12:17:00.000-04:002007-10-12T16:23:38.826-04:00

"In what's been the year of the upset in college football, Stanford's stunner just might top them all." This is ridiculous. Don't get me wrong--I relish USC's loss as much as the next guy--but here are three reasons why the App State game was much worse:USC lead for all but the last 42 seconds of the game. Michigan was behind for most of the Mountaineers game.Stanford ended USC's home-game

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-34018626161123953542007-10-05T11:46:00.000-04:002007-10-05T11:58:19.055-04:00

In a recent Alternet article, Raed Jarrer & Joshua Holland argue that a U.S. withdrawal would be the best way to end al-Qaeda's presence in Iraq. Iraqis of all ethnic groups despise al-Qaeda, but tacitly support their attacks on coalition forces. Such support would collapse as soon as those forces withdraw. A majority of Iraqis also believe that withdrawal would lead to a more secure Iraq (as

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-11150442345564776772007-10-05T10:52:00.000-04:002007-10-05T11:02:04.573-04:00

The Army is enlisting cultural anthropologists in the war in Afghanistan with the thinking that "understand[ing] subtle points of tribal relations" could allow the army to combat the Taliban more easily. Winning hearts and minds by understanding how the people feel and think? How quaint. And yet it seems to be working; "the unit’s combat operations had been reduced by 60 percent since the

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-83855787453531764492007-10-03T22:11:00.000-04:002007-10-03T22:38:17.582-04:00

A la Ahmadinejad at Columbia, Ferdowsi University (in Mashhad, Iran) has invited Bush to speak and answer questions. Bush has--you'll never guess--declined, claiming he'd only be willing to travel to a democratic Iran. Ironically, (in a sad sort of a way) the actions of Bush and his fellow conservatives have made a democratic Iran less possible: As The Washington Post reported in June of 2006,

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-78918269651150625432007-10-01T19:37:00.000-04:002007-10-01T19:45:12.448-04:00

Following the United States' decision to label Iran's armed forces, the Revolutionary Guards, as a terrorist organization, Iran's Parliament has voted to designate the U.S. military and CIA as terrorist organizations. The statement cited Hiroshima & Nagasaki, the Vietnam War, and the war in Iraq as examples.

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-70272978212484058262007-09-12T17:43:00.000-04:002007-09-12T17:49:20.964-04:00

“Never forget.” That’s what the sign said by the flags memorializing the victims on the northern part of the Diag. That’s what the poster said depicting various “terrorist” acts leading up to 9/11. Challenging these words seems to be unpatriotic, but the phrase has always struck me as cliché, unnecessary, and offensive.Could anybody really forget what happened six years ago today, even if they

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-65438939653513043922007-08-25T13:45:00.000-04:002007-10-05T11:58:56.880-04:00

A new Think Progress article speculates that withdrawing from Iraq could actually be the best move for the nation's security:Much of the touted security gains have come in the Anbar province,...while troop numbers were being reduced in the region....Many Sunnis, for their part, are less inclined to see the soldiers as occupiers now that it is clear that American troop reductions are all but

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-86507494573543018432007-08-24T14:32:00.000-04:002007-08-24T14:41:30.629-04:00

Jon Stewart recounts our great nation's history of great errors in foreign policy (Reagan-present) and why foreign policy experience is so important:

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-74158152826113347852007-08-16T13:20:00.000-04:002007-08-16T13:31:24.003-04:00

Jon Stewart is referring to this clip of an interview with Dick Cheney in 1994 following the first Persian Gulf War that recently appeared on YouTube:

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-34880978801792646392007-08-14T14:31:00.000-04:002007-08-14T14:37:14.218-04:00

Tax breaks from the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act (2005) are being used by investors "[to rent] out luxury condos in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which 'got only heavy rain and scattered wind damage from Katrina.'”More information here.

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-23436999535229558212007-07-06T15:23:00.000-04:002007-07-06T17:13:16.639-04:00

According to a recent poll, 45% of Americans favor "beginning impeachment proceedings" against President Bush, with 46% opposed. The number rises to 54% in favor of beginning proceedings against Vice President Cheney, with 40% opposed. Only 36% favored holding hearings to impeach President Clinton in 1998. Even William Odom, head of the NSA under Reagan, has laid out his strategy for Dubya's

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-70550209000502480982007-07-05T12:47:00.000-04:002007-07-05T13:00:41.385-04:00

Following George W. Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's 30-month prison sentence, defense lawyers across the nation are preparing a "My client should get what Libby got" defense. One of the first defendants to try this, according to the New York Sun, is "an alleged Hamas operative," Mohammed Salah, who will be sentenced on obstruction of justice charges next week and faces up to 22 years in

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-63906883081239823752007-07-05T12:32:00.000-04:002007-07-05T12:45:59.254-04:00

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-80452752546550482982007-07-05T12:01:00.000-04:002007-07-05T12:31:10.912-04:00

Mitt Romney, along with Fred Thompson has called Scooter Libby's commutation "agreeable." 272 requests for pardons or commutations were filed with the state of Massachusetts during Romney's four years of governor. All were denied. For more links, click here.

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-55000738025625489312007-07-05T11:44:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:59:12.290-04:00

A new report from Think Progress examines where the architects of the war in Iraq are now. Some highlights:Paul Wolfowitz who "said the U.S. would be greeted as liberators, that Iraqi oil money would pay for the reconstruction, and that Gen. Eric Shinseki’s estimate that several hundred thousand troops would be needed was 'wildly off the mark'" was nominated by President Bush to head of the World

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-10435749700062747402007-07-05T11:20:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:44:14.463-04:00

In an interview with Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, Presidential Scholars Mari Oye and Leah Anthony Libresco recount their encounter with President Bush:

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-32510636277740203702007-07-04T17:23:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:18:01.540-04:00

A formerly 5-acre lake in the Magallanes region of Chile has disappeared. "Experts now say [water from] melting glaciers put pressure on an ice wall that acted as a dam, causing it to give way."Read the full article here.

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-63029851916177168322007-07-03T13:59:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:17:36.341-04:00

The greatest issue that we, as Americans, face today is terrorism. No other problem is capable of creating the confusion, division, and tragedy that terrorism has already caused. Even worse, terrorism is likely to continue to be an issue many years into the future. However, the president’s present course of action is not the solution to the problem. The biggest mistake of both the Bush

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-76755375228741596702007-07-03T13:23:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:18:23.285-04:00

Despite several editorials across the country disapproving Bush's decision to commute Scooter Libby's 30-month prison sentence, Presidential candidate Fred Thompson had this to say about it: I am very happy for Scooter Libby. I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children. While for a long time I have urged a pardon for Scooter, I respect the president’s decision. This will

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-57742159274956792622007-07-02T19:24:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:18:35.707-04:00

Bush Commutes Libby SentenceSenator Barack Obama responded with this statement, and I completely agree:This decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law. This is exactly the kind of politics we must

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-85119606687362125222007-07-02T19:14:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:18:46.680-04:00

Patrick Rogers is an Albuquerque lawyer who urged former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to pursue cases of voter fraud, even "where little evidence existed." Rogers worked for the American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund, which "sought to scrutinize voter registration records, win passage of tougher ID laws and challenge the legitimacy of voters considered likely to vote Democratic."

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-44935998084002526182007-07-02T17:41:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:19:05.087-04:00

The Roberts Court completed its first full term Thursday. Highlights from the New York Times article that examines the court's rulings and conservative bent:“This court has shown the same respect for precedent that a wrecking ball shows for a plate-glass window,” said Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way...The court explicitly overturned only three precedents...Other precedents

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-10214466644818816922007-07-02T17:11:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:19:20.781-04:00

The loss of urban trees is causing some cities to start feeling the heat, according to a recent article in Time:A high [tree] canopy prevents sunlight and heat from ever reaching the ground; by contrast, unshaded asphalt soaks up thermal energy and radiates it back, creating what is known as heat islands. In Atlanta, where developers bulldozed 380,000 acres from 1973 to 1999--much of it heavily

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-44246416369955915322007-07-02T16:54:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:19:35.595-04:00

This year's Independence Day also marks the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The act allowed citizens to submit requests for government documents and required federal agencies to provide at least an initial response within 20 days and pertinent documents in a "timely manner." Now, a survey shows that at least 16 FOIA requests have gone unanswered for at

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-1781085484460374042007-07-01T12:53:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:19:53.401-04:00

According to a recent article in the July 2, 2007, issue of Time magazine:Osama bin Laden has been urging Al-Qaeda followers to open up shop in Somalia for years, but there was always doubt about whether that call would resonate in a largely secular nation with a historic wariness of Arab interference. No longer. After January's attacks by Ethiopia--which were backed by U.S. air power and aimed

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7496246156021988636.post-53808365625389808582007-07-01T12:36:00.000-04:002007-07-05T11:20:10.316-04:00

An image courtesy bobharris.com: This map was shown on an episode of Anderson Cooper 360 concerning refugees from the war in Afghanistan. The country that is labeled Afghanistan is, well, actually Syria.Another map was broadcast on the AC360 episode following Larry King's interview with Michael Moore on Friday. The map showed Iraq and its neighbors with Syria again being mislabeled as Afghanistan

VanDynamitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09281902096714890114noreply@blogger.com0