"I don't think the report is true, but these crises work for those who want to make fights between people." Kulam Dastagir, 28, a bird seller in Afghanistan
Sally's Song - Fiona Apple
Topic: Arts
8:36 am EDT, Jun 24, 2008
Interesting Cover. Somehow the deeper voice fits the song better than the original.
Rickrolling is a prank and Internet meme involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a bait and switch: a person provides a Web link they claim is relevant to the topic at hand, but the link actually takes the user to the Astley video.
Like a Morricone-style dirge recorded by The Mamas and The Papas, Violent Femmes’ cover of Gnarls Barkley’s infamous “Crazy” is like nothing you’ve heard from the legendary alt-rock trio before. Their oft-imitated folk-punk sound is flavored with surf-rock guitar and Theremin, creating a tranquility that is somber and otherworldly.
Strange Bedfellows: The Progressive-Libertarian Alliance | Freedom Democrats
Topic: Surveillance
12:41 pm EDT, Jun 23, 2008
However, it should be noted that a more encompassing movement effort has recently sprung up, forged by both progressive and libertarians that will be using the Blue America PAC as a Phase I of of a multi-Phase strategy. It's being dubbed the Strange Bedfellows alliance. The headliners in this alliance are the ACLU, Glenn Greenwald, The Ron Paul Money Bomb team over at Break the Matrix, Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake, Matt Stoller of Open Left, and Ari Melber of The Nation.
Last winter political ads targeted opponents of telecom immunity. I felt the campaign was dishonest and in poor taste and spoke about it at Interz0ne. Spending huge amounts of money lying to people on television is a poor substitute for having a rational argument that stands up to criticism. Its interesting to see real money supporting a counter campaign. Is it any different? I think the real money funding the previous ad campaign came from Republican operatives who really don't know shit about the balance of civil liberties and national security in wartime and merely saw a political opportunity to put their allies in power. Clearly a lot of the money on the side of the issue is coming from the other side of the coin, but the mix of this coalition suggests that there may be some genuine non-partisan concern here about the incentives created by this immunity. I hope so.
The more John McCain is right on Iraq, the more he loses | Andrew Sullivan - Times Online
Topic: War on Terrorism
1:32 pm EDT, Jun 22, 2008
Andrew Sullivan has a different take on the electoral consequences of recent developments.
The “success” of the surge is less a vindication of the entire enterprise than an opportunity to get the hell out with less blowback than previously feared. Moreover, the less chaotic the situation in Iraq, the easier it is for the Democrats to persuade Americans that the relatively inexperienced Barack Obama is not that big a risk as commander-in-chief.
Big Gains for Iraq Security, but Questions Linger - NYTimes.com
Topic: War on Terrorism
12:53 pm EDT, Jun 22, 2008
Violence in all of Iraq is the lowest since March 2004. The two largest cities, Baghdad and Basra, are calmer than they have been for years. The third largest, Mosul, is in the midst of a major security operation. On Thursday, Iraqi forces swept unopposed through the southern city of Amara, which has been controlled by Shiite militias. There is a sense that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s government has more political traction than any of its predecessors.
Radical policy shifts on Iraq seem less reasonable with each passing month. A number of previous threads on this subject are easy to search for. I think this is going to present a problem for Obama, as previous Dem positioning in Iraq is going to get squeezed against improving news from the ground. McCain will easily capitalize on this.
Martha Stewart Denied Visa to Travel to Britain - NYTimes.com
Topic: War on Terrorism
5:25 pm EDT, Jun 20, 2008
Celebrity homemaker Martha Stewart has been denied entry to Britain because of her 2003 U.S. conviction for lying about a stock sale.
The stupid reciprocal information sharing about criminal records for the purpose of implementing visa denial policies bites Martha Stewart. She is not allowed to travel to the UK. Freedom is on the march.
Balkinization: What the Dems DID save in the FISA capitulation
Topic: Miscellaneous
2:24 pm EDT, Jun 20, 2008
Interesting point from the thread:
Nancy Pelosi did remove one joker from the deck, quite pointedly: the PAA's Orwellian definition of "electronic surveillance" to exclude the electronic surveillance it authorized. (No, this is not a typo.)
This created a hole so vast that it appeared that even the PAA's lame procedures were not mandatory for the new surveillance but only an option that could be bypassed.
Back in March, in rebuffing the attempted ram-through of the Senate bill, Pelosi denounced the subterfuge in the strongest terms, calling it "very important" to notice and to keep out of the next FISA amendment. She even put the point on parity with exclusivity. (It is her third and final point at 6:10:
.
The current bill is free of this piece of hucksterism. I was pleased to see the House get on top of the issue, call it out explicitly, and stay focused on its expungement.
Looking at the new bill, I come away with two lessons. It is never a waste of time to call out a travesty; and if it's not one thing, it's another.
