Looking Ahead to January One

In the New York Times.  Most interesting piece.

NYT public editor/ombudsman rips paper over stonewalling on NSA story

Sunday's New York Times's explanation of its decision to report, after what it said was a one-year delay, that the National Security Agency is eavesdropping domestically without court-approved warrants was woefully inadequate. And I have had unusual difficulty getting a better explanation for readers, despite the paper's repeated pledges of greater transparency. For the first time since I [...]

Last Post on Iraq for 2005

From the NBC news crew that blogs inbetween stories. 

Horrific daily tragedies  

A years of accomplishment, made of daily tragedies.
Sometimes I am horrified by what happens on Baghdad's unforgiving streets, but today more than usual [...]

Tax Break!!

Really.  Not kidding about this one.

Hybrid Car Buyers to Receive Tax Breaks  

AP - Hybrid cars are a good bet for tax breaks in 2006. The new year will bring more savings for buyers of at least 13 gas-electric vehicles, with those showing the most improvement in fuel efficiency securing bigger tax breaks [...]

Happy New Year!

And, thanks for stopping by!  This is an hour early for the central time zone in the US, but I know that we'll be sound asleep long before the true midnight hour.  For those of you who watch our program, thanks for doing so.  Spread the word. Let your friends know that we're just a little bit different from most.  For those of you who have found us via internet searches, references, or blog explosion - please check back. Don't be afraid to beat us up over something we post.  Read. React.

And, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Watch for improved podcasts in 2006 (my kid got a video IPod for Christmas, so I have new software to make the posts better!)

And, always, suggestions are welcome.  Hit the comments.  And, welcome to 2006.

New Year. New Target?

We've been linking to posts about this possibility for some time now.  Look for it to become a major topic very soon.

Downer of the Year: Report Bush May Be Planning Military Strike on Iran  

What a way to end the year. Where is the U.S. media on this? It's all over the European newspapers. Der Speigel: Recent reports in the German media suggest that the United States may be preparing its allies for an imminent military strike against facilities that are part of Iran's suspected clandestine nuclear [...]

Musical Fun

For your New Years' Eve fun.  I played with this a bit today and it IS pretty impressive!

Pandora - The Music Genome Project  

This is my new favorite thing, at least for today. Pandora is a customizeable radio station utilizing the results of the Music Genome Project. Just start by typing in a song or an artist and Pandora will then begin playing other songs that it feels fits into the genre you have created based on factors such as melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement and lyrics. Usually these sorts of things (like say Amazon's recommendations) deliver up predictable and redundant results but based on my experience so far I've been hearing [...]

2006 Predictions

From the Conservative side of things.  Liberal guesses to follow, when I find them!

RedState Predictions 2006  

You want to know what's in the crystal ball for 2006? Look no further - RedState knows the truth. Our regular cast of beloved editors are joined by RS friends Josh Trevino, Jeff Goldstein, Jim Geraghty, and more.  Read on, if you dare [...]

Iraq Email

President Bush was talking about all the postive things he sees happening in Iraq again this morning (during his weekly radio speech).  It would probably be good if somebody could slip him a copy of this -

Open Letter From an Iraqi  

I recently received this letter from an Iraqi friend who lives in Baghdad. It is written as an open letter to Mr. Bush [...]

How Good is the Economy?

Pretty darn good, if you buy into these numbers -

2005's Story of the Year: U.S. Economy  

It didn't get much respect (would the MSM have covered it better with a Democrat in the White House?), but the U.S. economy was the story of 2005. Because it gets no respect, the Wall Street Journal calls it the Dangerfield economy. The 3.5% to 4% rate of growth in 2005 has been especially remarkable given eight Federal Reserve Board interest rate hikes, oil prices as high as $70 a barrel, and one of the most devastating natural disasters in American history [...]

Tom Delay and the U.S. Family Network

Just a little end-of-the-year "revelation" to spice up the Tom Delay story.  What a tangled web it seems they try to weave -

The U.S. Family Network  

To a limited extent, The U.S. Family Network, primarily a project of Tom DeLay, was already somewhat controversial. In April 2004, a Federal Election Commission investigation found that the group had illegally received $500,000 from the National Republican Congressional Committee. (The U.S. Family Network then funneled the money to another group, Americans for Economic Growth, [...]

Don't Forget Jack

It's crunch time for Jack Abramoff.  Down to the wire.  Make up your mind.  Probably not a calm New Years' Eve around his place.

To Plead or Not to Plead...  

Jack Abramoff has been given a come to Jesus last ditch ultimatum from the trial judge -- plead or go to trial, and give an answer by Tuesday. If no agreement is reached on a plea deal, then Abramoff stands trial in Miami beginning on January 9th, 2006. The judge has ordered that a hearing be set for 3:30 pm ET on Tuesday, regardless of whether the deal is reached or not, presumably to go over [...]

Prescription Drug Plan

If you're 65 or older (or know someone who is) - here's a good bit of information on the new Medicare Prescription Drug plans.  They are confusing to most.  And that makes knowledge all the more important.

Boston Globe Identifies Flaws in Medicare Prescription Plan  

The Boston Globe has an excellent summary of the problems we are seeing so far with the Medicare prescription drug plan. The problem stems from the initial political goals: It was clear back in 2003, when the Bush administration rammed this bill through the Republican Congress, that the purpose was not to devise an affordable prescription [...]

Iran is Next?

Oh, it's just so impossible. Isn't it?

German Press reports Bush getting ready to attack Iran  

Should get interesting when 350,000 Irani army members come swarming across the boarder into Iraq as a counterpunch. This is why you don't start frivolous wars, so you're ready and able to fight the ones that matter. I don't necessarily have a problem taking out Iran's nuclear facilities, but for one itty bitty catch. Iran's army was half a world away, now it's literally on our border (i.e., [...]

Merry Christmas

Another of those Holiday pieces that needs to be passed along.  Consider it passed. You do the same.

Larry Beinhart: Christmas in Woodstock  

I used to be a "bah humbug" guy. When I was kid, Christmas was the time when the radio was invaded by demented trolls who drove out the good music and replaced it with the worst music in the world. The same worst music that [...]

Employed in Louisiana

Welcome Home.

Louisiana Guard: The Few, The Proud, the Employed  

AP - At a cost of as much as $20 million, more than 200 National Guard soldiers returning to Louisiana from Iraq are staying on active duty for up to a year so they can have full-time work in their [...]

New Orleans Horror

Watching football and basketball and working the blogs.  This one caught my eye.  Another horrifying tale from New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina -

Imagine This Was Your Mother - Unbelievable.

(Front-paged at my/ Left Wing and my/ blog) This is the Green Family Tree. At first glance, they look remarkably similar to many American families.  Only the Green's are different in one very significant way: they have all been uniquely affected by Hurricane Katrina. Make the jump [...]

Who Leaked the NSA Story?

The Justice Department wants to know.  Malkin is pleased.

FINALLY: JUSTICE DEPT. OPENS NSA LEAK PROBE  

It's about time. Via Breitbart/AP: The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak of classified information about President Bush's secret domestic spying program, Justice officials said Friday. The officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the [...]

Liberal bloggers aren't all that pleased:

New Year, New Scandal  

We knew it was coming but it has now been made official. The Justice Department is set to launch an investigation into who leaked the secret eavesdropping program to the press. This is according to the Associated Press...The hypocrisy of the administration shines through in this action. The President was eager to get an investigation going, which he made obvious in his press conference last week. I keep wondering what would happen if this was leaked by a close adviser of Bush. Will he once again resort to a song and dance changing the story of what would merit an [...]

Another Year End List

But, it's fascinating.  Take a quick look.

Goodbye, 2005  

As the year winds down, the Pew Research Center has released its list of the Top Ten Opinion Trends of 2005: 1. Presidential popularity plunge 2. Hurricane blowback 3. Iraq disillusionment 4. Pump shock and economy anxiety [...]

Setting the Record Straight

Good talking points for your New Years Eve party discussions.

Debunking Myths  

There were two excellent posts in the blogosphere this week on debunking myths. Media Matters for American debunks “Top 12 media myths and falsehoods on the Bush administration’s spying scandal.” Juan Cole, Professor of History at the University of Michigan (go blue!) debunks “Top Ten Myths about Iraq in 2005" [...]

 

Selling the War in Iraq at Home

We'll let you come home, but....

Operation Homefront  

We can't vouch for Capitol Hill Blue, though it clearly includes links to legitimate reporting among its own work. But here's a current post. (Follow that link to read it all)  

Good soldiers follow orders and hundreds of American military men and women returned to the United States on holiday leave this month with orders to sell the Iraq war to a skeptical public. The program, coordinated through a Pentagon operation dubbed “Operation Homefront,” ordered military personnel to give interviews to their hometown newspapers, television stations and other media outlets and praise the American war effort [...]

Shifting Iraq Troops

On one hand, we announce a plan to trim our forces in Iraq - down to 138,000 by March.  Then, there is THIS:

Troops To Increase Supervision of Iraqi Police  

A key aspect of Bush's non-plan for "Victory in Iraq" was having Iraqi police and military take control of the security situation. As the Iraqis stand up to secure their country, we would stand down. Well, it seems we don't want them to stand up quite yet: 

BAGHDAD -- U.S. officials announced plans Thursday to rein in Iraqi special police forces, increasing the number of American troops assigned to work with them and requiring permission for Iraqi raids in Baghdad after a series of prison abuse scandals that have inflamed [...]

Untitled - Entry

I was surprised to see the Washington Post article on the front page of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this morning. That simple fact tells me the story has "legs" and is now officially "mainstream" -

Take the Cannoli  

“In the past, presidents set up buffers to distance themselves from covert action,” said A. John Radsan, assistant general counsel at the CIA from 2002 to 2004. “But this president, who is breaking down the boundaries between covert action and conventional war, seems to relish the secret findings and the dirty details of operations.”

It’s sooo much fun pretending to be president. Oh, wait The paragraph above is from an article by Dana Priest in today’s Washington Post, “Covert CIA Program Withstands New Furor: Anti-Terror Effort Continues to Grow.” Priest describes a CIA program called “GTS,” which has “grown into the largest CIA covert action program since the height of the Cold War [...]

 

Unsettling Explanation

You remember this press conference, don't you?  This is not a very good "spin" on what happened.

Pace's odd explanation for Rumsfeld contradiction  

It was pretty embarrassing a month ago when Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace publicly, and awkwardly, contradicted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over whether American troops have a responsibility to intervene if they witness torture by Iraqi authorities. Indeed, the two were standing side by side at a Pentagon press briefing when they [...]

 

More Torture Memos

And, the hits just keep on comin'.

Confidential British memos show how information procured by torture in Uzbekistan is being used by US and UK, in violation of international law  

Markos has the story, and I'm repeating the gist of it here to help get it out there. Feel free to copy and past this entire post on your blog. Basically, the former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, is livid about the fact that the US and the British governments have been gladly accepting information from Uzbekistan procured by torture. You may remember that Amb. Murray was none [...]

Yeah, the Economy is Doing Great

Early New Year's Present.  Is this what 2006 will be like?

U.S. reaching its credit limit.  

Treasury Secretary John Snow warns that the federal government will exceed the statutory debt limit of $8.18 trillion by Feburary, asks Congress to authorize [...]

Slow Blogging

Well, it's really not quite this bad, but he has a point.  Even watching Countdown is tough - it's all year end compilations.

I'd Blog More But...  

There’s precious little to blog about. The week between Christmas and New Years day is filled with more fabricated news than any other week of the [...]

Tom Delay Money Troubles

Must have been a really big Christmas around the Tom Delay camp.

DeLay's Money Troubles  

The Wall Street Journal: "New monthly report from Rep. Tom DeLay's political action committee shows it took in eight November contributions totaling $39,000 while paying $62,671 in expenses. Those expenses included more than $20,000 in legal fees. The PAC reported $69,322.79 cash on hand and $145,931.81 in debts." [...]

Where The 9/11 Money Went

Somebody always finds a way to beat the system.  You'd think a government that has a tax system in place that knows if you fail to report $100 in income could track big loans.  Guess not.

Bush Appointee Approves 9/11 Loan For Nevada Tanning Salon...  

WASHINGTON - A Texas golf course, a Nevada tanning salon and an Illinois candy shop were among small businesses that may have improperly received U.S. subsidized loans intended for firms hurt by the September 11 attacks, an internal government [...]

Daniel, the Bible and NBC

This could be interesting.  With the conservatives going after it, the new NBC show "The Book of Daniel" will certainly have a lot of eyeballs for the premier (January 6th).

A New Christian NBC Series  

The American Family Association is urging members to write to NBC at once because a new series, "The Book of Daniel" is written by a practicing homosexual, there will be a homosexual as a regular in the series and what's more the whole family of the Episcopal priest is dysfunctional. "The main character is Daniel Webster, a drug-addicted Episcopal priest whose wife depends heavily on her mid-day [...]

King Kong. He Liked it More Than I Did

Maybe I was too critical.  John makes some good points here and I don't want to be TOO critical!  King Kong.  The remake.  He is right (as you'll note from my original post) the female lead is great.

Back from "Kong"  

I liked it a lot. Granted, it's a bit of a Jurassic Park meets Superman (the original TV show) meets Brokeback Mountain, but it was really good. It's long as hell, 3 hours, but I didn't really notice. The acting was great, the lead actress was really good, no clue who she is, and Kong was amazing. Special effects rock. I didn't appreciate the sequences that reminded me of Jurassic Park [...]

Technorati Tags

We're going to try a change in the Technorati Tags. Instead of creating links at the end of each post, key words WITHIN the post will be linked to Technorati, so you can find more information.  Let me know if this works for you!

Interesting Interview

Back from Iraq.  The impromptu interview.

Saved by a Soldier  

I've spent all day at the unemployment office, finding out that there are no jobs in three counties that match my qualifications (which I already knew) and taking the most absurd standardized tests in the world, sitting next to a meth addict whose leg was bouncing around like it was on fire. A waste of a day, which would have been more productive had I spent it in my usual way -- reading job listings, sending out resumes, and blogging, which at least engages my mind, as opposed to tests with questions like "If you purchase three widgets that each cost $1.99 including tax, what is your total?" Not only am I not exaggerating, I also got issued a calculator to figure out the answer. The day may have been a total waste had a guy not sat down across from me and starting chatting me up. It turned out he'd just returned from a two-year tour in Iraq [...]

Excellent Katrina Blogs

Hat Tip to Daily Kos.  This is excellent stuff.  Print it out.  Save for the kids and grandkids.  It's true history from those who lived it.  Hurricane Katrina.

2005: Never Forget ...  

The comments below were collected from the Katrina Diaries. They've been edited slightly for brevity, most of the proginators have given their consent to have them reprinted. They're brutal, they're real, they're amazingly ahead of traditional media. Offered here on behalf of those who can now never be heard, so that we never forget them [...]

Technorati Tags: Hurricane+Katrina Bloggers Traditional+Media

Rolling Stone on Bush

Another of those "blood pressure alert" posts - if you're a conservative supporter of Bush.  A new Rolling Stone piece gets downright viscious.

Bomb the Map  

Via Buzzflash — you’ll get a kick out of this Rolling Stone article by Matt Taibbi.  Best line: “It was classic Bush-think: Instead of bombing the insurgency off the map, he bombs the map.” [...]

 

Aw, Give Me a Break

Michelle Malkin has jumped WAY too quickly on her latest little "item".  They were holding a news conference, for gosh sakes.  The kid didn't "out" her.  Please, somebody tell me she wasn't being serious.

KIDS SAY THE DARNEDEST THINGS  

Reuters: The Washington couple at the heart of the CIA leak investigation had their cover blown by their small son as they tried to sneak away on vacation on Thursday. "My daddy's famous, my mommy's a secret spy," declared the [...]

Technorati Tags: CIA+Leak Michelle+Malkin

U.S. Forces in Iraq. The Future.

From the NBC Iraq reporters' blog.  Two scenarios for our troops in Iraq.

U.S. troops will still be here in three years  

A senior U.S. military commander, familiar with strategic plans, told me today there are two possible longish-term scenarios for Iraq, which I am conveniently listing below. Optimistic scenario: In three years, the U.S. will be down to 20,000 troops. Their main mission will be to [...]

Technorati Tags: US+Troops Iraq+War NBC+News

Updates From Iraq

A trio of stories from Iraq. None of them very optimistic.

Iraq: US Prison Riot, 20 Reported Dead  

At least nine prisoners and guards were killed in a gun battle at a Baghdad high-security jail on Wednesday after detained guerrilla suspects, some of them foreign, grabbed weapons and tried [...]

Iraqis Pummeled at the Pumps 

Iraq's government has sharply raised the price of fuel and other petroleum products this month, sparking discontent and protests and worrying international observers who say the increases could hurt millions of poor Iraqis and throw the country [...]

Many Iraqi Soldiers See a Civil War on the Horizon 

Kirkuk lies just a few miles from one of the nation's largest oil fields, worth billions of dollars. Arabs figure that the city's oil wealth should belong to Iraq, while ethnic Kurds see it as part of a [...]

Technorati Tags: Iraq+War Gas+Prices Iraq+Civil+War

Even the Spies Aren't Happy

There are enough red flags all over the NSA spying story now.  Even people inside the spy agencies aren't happy.

Bush's Actions Endanger US Spy Agencies  

Although Bush is incapable of understanding how damaging his secret war on American institutions has been, according to Knight-Ridder, people within the spy agencies are shocked and unhappy about finding out about Bush's deception. They believe that rather than making [...]

Technorati Tags: Spy+Agencies NSA+Wiretap President+Bush

Strategery Rethought

Big debate, apparently, in the White House - How to change the spin.

Bush Team Rethinks Strategery  

Peter Baker and Jim VandeHei: President Bush shifted his rhetoric on Iraq in recent weeks after an intense debate among advisers about how to pull out of his political free fall, with senior adviser Karl Rove urging a campaign-style attack on critics while younger aides pushed for more candor about setbacks in the war, according to Republican strategists [...]

Technorati Tags: White+House Karl+Rove President+Bush

New Orleans and the President's Speech

I know I keep harping on the New Orleans situation, but it's just so outlandish that we need to keep talking about it.  Maybe, someday, somebody will wise up and actually DO something.

Doug Brinkley: Bush's speech in Jackson Square was a phony

Historian Doug Brinkley, appeared on Scarborough Country and hit the President hard over his apparent abandoning of the people and the region that has been decimated by Hurricane Katrina. The residents are fuming down there because the politicians that talked tough after being embarrassed by the initial response have since not followed up to help the region [...]

Technorati Tags: New+Orleans Hurricane+Katrina President+Bush

Tom Delay - Reporters, Check Your Sources

Here's a slap up aside the head for some reporters.  Rule Number 1 - Check your sources.

Tom DeLay's glimmer of hope  

It seemed like a big deal for Tom DeLay in his never-ending drive to reclaim his House leadership post. In an email to reporters, DeLay's office said, "The state Court of Criminal Appeals has agreed to hear Mr. DeLay's habeas motion that was filed at the end of last week." The message added that the [...]

Iraq Conspiracy?

Not all the liberal-leaning newspapers are getting on-board the "Iraq Conspiracy" bus.  Case in point - the Chicago Tribune -

Liberal Newspaper: We Don't See The Iraq Conspiracy  

This was a refreshing change: a liberal newspaper taking a critical look at the administration's rationale for the Iraq war, and examining each argument carefully without inserting the spin so often found in opinion/editorial pieces on the Iraq war from [...]

Technorati Tags: Chicago+Tribune Iraq+War 

 

NSA Ooops

I'll cut them a little slack.  Maybe it was an accident.  Still, it doesn't look good, given the recent events.

NSA Web Site Spies On You  

NSA Web Site Places 'Cookies' on Computers The NSA claims it made a mistake when it was discovered that cookies (files placed on a visitors computer to track their activity) from the NSA website didn't expire until 2035. "Don Weber, an NSA spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday that the cookie use resulted from a recent software upgrade. Normally, the site uses temporary, permissible cookies [...]

Technorati Tags: NSA+Wiretap Computer+Cookies

Trouble in the Sky

Now, this truly would be frightening.  Great post, as the blogger says -

Panic at 30,000 Feet  

This is what I like most about blogs. They’re real life. And this is as real as it gets [...]

 

New Wiretapping Poll

I've stumbled on this poll a couple of times today and came up thinking that way the questions were phrased really didn't reflect what could be happening with the NSA Wiretaps.  I was starting (in between continued family things) to write a post and then discovered this one - which pretty much nails what I was thinking.  Feel free to argue away.

New domestic spying poll numbers are very bad for Bush  

Some right-wingers have been crowing over a new poll that shows: Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans believe the National Security Agency (NSA) should be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 23% disagree.I've got news for you. That's an abysmally low number for [...]

If you need proof of the debate going on over this poll, here's one blog from the Conservative side of things -

Americans Favor the NSA Program  

According to Rasmussen. 

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans believe the National Security Agency (NSA) should be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 23% disagree.

I'm not big on polls, but I know many on the Left rely on them heavily to decide how they will think about an issue today. This one might leave a mark [...]

Technorati Tags: NSA+Wiretap Rasmussen+Reports

Tricky Times Coming in Iraq

One of those little articles that just never seem to make it to the front page.  Or anywhere close.

Kurds have infiltrated the Iraqi army and plan on seizing northern Iraq and declaring independence

Have we won yet?

It's The Economy, Stupid

Here we go.  It all depends on how you read the numbers, doesn't it?  Conservatives are pounding the table, shouting that all the economic trends are postitive.  The Stock Market has yet to respond.  Could it be that investors are feeling more like this?

The Economy Is Doing Very Well, NOT!  

Don't let the people whose job it is to make (Bush) look good convince you things are going well [...]

An Easy Retirement. Right? Probably Wrong.

Think you're all set for retirement?  401K in place.  All systems go.  Not so fast, my friend.  Not so fast.

Busting The Retirement Balloon 

As our wrong-wing friends like to tout, "It's easy to save for your own retirement! So why worry about the privatization of Social Security?" As I hope to demonstrate, there is PLENTY to worry about! Let's start with what I [...]

Hey Boomers- We Will Work Til We Drop it Looks Like

Well Crap. I hope this is just more doom and gloom media stuff, but it has me fearful. Guess I'll be working til I drop dead. Yipppppeeeeee! [...]

Technorati Tags: retirement+planning 401K Pensions

NSA Wiretaps - Talking Down

Somehow, this just didn't come out right.  It's more of that "talking down to the people" that we see so often. We're smart enough that we don't need over-simplification -

Now Bush says he was only spying on people with "a history of blowing up trains, weddings and churches"  

From Reuters:In Crawford, Texas, where Bush is spending the holidays, his spokesman, Trent Duffy, defended what he called a "limited program." "This is not about monitoring phone calls designed to arrange Little League practice or what to bring to a potluck dinner," he told reporters. "These are designed to monitor calls from very bad people to very bad people who have a history of blowing up [...]

Technorati Tags: NSA+Wiretap President+Bush

New Orleans - The Right Says it's All Okay

Oh, I won't get into what I've heard from friends and relatives, but this just doesn't ring right. Not at all. -

The year of revenge  

Remember how, during Hurricane Katrina, FEMA chief Mike Brown was ridiculed for not knowing about the plight of those gathered at the New Orleans Convention Center until he belatedly heard about it from the MSM? This column by Mona Charen suggests that FEMA might have done better had it never tuned the MSM in [...]