Category: Edgewise

US charges 4 men in plot to blow up JFK airport, Boston Globe, 6/3/07 “[T]he alleged plot was never close to fruition. The FBI had been tracking the alleged plot since 2006, and a member of the group was an FBI informant. In addition, the suspects lacked both the expertise and equipment [explosives, for example]…

“Democrats accepted a GOP plan to establish 18 benchmarks….If Iraqis fall short, they could forfeit U.S. reconstruction aid.” Washington Post ———————- DKo: Forfeit U.S. reconstruction aid! Why should Halliburton have to suffer for Iraqi failures? We know that $16 billion in US reconstruction aid has provided negligible benefit to Iraqis. This won’t hurt them. But…

I have just seen a beautiful film, “The Constant Gardener.” (Based on a John LeCarre novel, it is both a thriller and a love story. Rachel Weisz won the Oscar for her role.) I remember years ago seeing the definitive James Bond farce “Our Man Flint,” and laughing myself silly at the punch-line of the…

Despite warnings, most U.S. babies watch TV Reuters, 5/7/07 About 90 percent of U.S. children under age 2…are regular watchers of television… —- Two year olds! It’s like talking to a wall. You warn them and warn them, but they just won’t listen!

Here’s a tip. It won’t make you a fortune, but it’ll be well worth your while. Take a look at the dollar bills in your wallet. To the right of George Washington (the first President of the United Sates), and downward and leftward of the round green seal, you will see a date. Most of…

It’s the people who have done the most dirt for you, who can do the most damage, if they should feel betrayed. Washington Post Wolfowitz Says He Is Target of ‘Smear’ Tactics

People without integrity have been indispensable to Bush, but they may also lack the internal loyalty that would make it safe to let them go. See Washington Post

I’ve had Kirkuk on the brain for quite a while now. Since I am not a pro, I figure I’m willing to be off base or completely wrong. Besides, it’s too long to read. So, since I have thought about it a lot, this is my Sharing Time contribution for today: It seemed like a…

“[K]ey Senate Democrats said Wednesday that hundreds of millions of dollars of new federal aid may be needed to assist homeowners at risk of foreclosure.” Washington Post, 4/11/07 (Link below.) So, the most progressive legislators in the country say home owners should get more public money. Renters, rolling in dough, will once again get nothing.…

“Tehran has released footage and letters that it says are confessions that the 15 entered Iranian waters.” I don’t know where this ship really was, but such confessions–by imprisoned people who have no legal recourse and no idea what is going to happen to them–are inherently an ugly business. That’s true for Tehran as well…

For those who have managed to avoid the “Law and Order” TV series all these years, the recent Presidential boomlet for Fred Thompson – who plays the DA, to whom the protagonists go for wisdom and tough choices – is probably not a big deal. But let me tell you, this guy is so palpably…

Back in 2002, I got this email from my brother’s brother-in-law, Josh Kiok. Kind of relevant. >Dear David, >Once again I’m shocked, shocked! I suspect you already know about this, but just in case you don’t, a recent series of articles appeared in the SF Chronicle about the FBI/CIA spying on the Free Speech Movement.…

A lot of people have said that the Bush/Cheney White House re-established Presidential powers that had been eroded since Watergate. How could they tell? Congress has not been testing Presidential power, because it was backing Presidential policy. Now there are two fighters in the ring, and we may at last get to see whether it…

Defense Secretary Sends Stern Message About Accountability WP, 3/3/07 DKo: Shouldn’t they investigate the reporters for divulging the Army’s methods and resources for protecting the wounded? Jail the Walter Read reporters! WP Article Edgewise Readers. I’m duplicating this to make Edgewise links show up in the WP pages for both of their stories. They display…

Army Secretary Ousted Second Firing Follows Walter Reed Revelations; Bush Vows a Probe, WP, 3/3/07 DKo: Shouldn’t they investigate the reporters for divulging the Army’s methods and resources for protecting the wounded? Jail the Walter Read reporters! WP Article

In light of stories like this one, I can’t resist reprising part of an Edgewise post from 11/9/06. Of course, it’s still just a start, and this week’s zig can be next week’s zag. First, the current story: The White House Gets Neighborly in the Middle East, WP, 2/28/07 “On Jan. 11,…Rice…explain[ed] why ‘those who…

[T]he neocons seem ready now to start acting unilaterally again [against Iran]….[A] grand bargain wouldn’t serve America’s purpose in the middle east…” DKo, 2/23/07 Well, there is “America’s purpose in the middle east,” and there are the neocons–increasingly two different animals. “America’s purpose,” (as defined by the ruling elites, and represented by the Iraq Study…

Diplomats Seek Way to ‘Reengage’ Iran, WP, 2/27/07 Really? They’re not “seeking” very hard. Try this: 1. START TALKS, without preconditions. 2. If you can’t make a deal, STOP TALKS. The WP article

I think an attack on Iran has to be pre-opposed, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Sufficient in itself is the presence of American “hostage-troops” in Iraq. The vulnerable supply-lines from the south–and their personnel–would be ravaged by Iranians and Iraqi Shiites, including much of the Iraqi Army, cutting off the rest of…

U.S. holds out North Korea deal as model for Iran, Reuters …White House spokesman Tony Snow called the deal a “template…” But this is the precisely the template the US has refused! We talked with North Korea, both in the six-party talks and in bilateral meetings, without preconditions. We could start Iranian talks tomorrow morning,…