Langston Hughes, on Egypt

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Not good

More bad papers as we poke through the closet.
Our friend in Egypt, the #2 beneficiary of our foreign aid,
intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is a sociopath.

Diego Garcia

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Luckily, uninhabited.

The War On Terror

"The war to end all peace." Norman Solomon

Juan Bosch, President of the Dominican Republic

During the uprising to restore Juan Bosch, Johnson says: "we are really going to have to set-up that government down there, run it, and stabilize it, some way or another. This Bosch is no good."
Tom Mann, assistant, says: "The man to get back is Balaguer."

Free Speech

in Egypt, is dial-up.
====
Dmitri says
"American leaders appear to be following the Soviet playbook for the imperial end-game quite faithfully: cringing behind high walls and locked doors, looting the treasury like there's no tomorrow, and, of course, lying their heads off. ..."

When Tunisia announced that it was free

Mrs Hillary Clinton was silent

The worst of

the worst of the worst.
=====================================

How Uyghurs got to Guantanamo

This is most of it.
Plus money paid to finger suspicious characters.

The second rhetorical war

RW1: The War on Poverty
RW2: The War on Terror
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas [wikipedia]

Maybe this is the Second War on Poverty.

WMD is probably a lie

Nuclear explosions could kill millions.
Biological and chemical weapons, not so.
Commercial decisions are more dangerous:
antibiotics in feed, medical errors.

Are these islands part of Cuba

Some argue no. [here]

Tom Perez, Asst Attorney General for Civil Rights

On Social Justice Sunday, Tom met with a group after the 10:30 mass at St Aloysius in DC. He opened by saying that when he took the oath of office in October 2009, he placed his hand on the bible and swore to uphold the Constitution; he did not swear to uphold the bible. This is a deft way of making the distinction between legality and morality, with the implication that when laws are thought to be moral, it makes compliance more general, and his job of enforcement somewhat easier, but that's mostly it.

His presentation was an uplifting and heart warming recollection of the dreams of his youth, and the achievements of the department in the recent past; among which, the program to reduce playgound bullying and the recent conviction of the Chicago officer who long obtained confessions through torture.

At the question period, the talk shifted to the bullying and torture committed by the previous administration, and would they ever be arrested. He said that after some discussion at the highest levels, it was decided not to pursue that course, an example of the principle of prosecutorial discretion.

He listened, without objection, to the notions that
1. international treaties, once ratified by the Senate, are law
2. the Attorney General recognizes that waterboarding is torture,
3. Bush admitted establishing a program of waterboarding.
It was discreetly not mentioned that the convention against torture, article 4, puts that crime beyond reach of the application of prosecutorial discretion.

He refused to reveal his opinion on the decision to not proescute, most likely because he took part in the dicussions, and it is impolite to reveal one's own contributions. But doubtless there is considerable cognitive dissonance at the highest levels of the DoJ, which may constitute a workplace hazard.

To avoid this risk, the current president should issue a blanket pardon for all white collar crimes committed during the last administration within the White House or at the DoJ. This would bring our actions into a nice conformity with our obligations, although it would raise two troubling thoughts:
1. what is the effect of a national pardon on an international crime
2. might this not suggest that people in power can be expected, in the absence of a pardon, to explain their actions.
On the positive side, it would eliminate the embarrassing possibility that a judge would issue a writ of mandamus to require the Attorney General to uphold the law.

If you see something

say something.

Close the SOA

[story] ¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!

Hal Lindsey's Two State Solution

Show=179

Vlast

Power in Russia

Hippies Say

and Free Tommy Chong.
See the promo here. It's pro-democracy. Yea.

Annual Estate Tax + End the War Mongers

Chris Matthews on Salon, happy as ever.

History Lesson - First President

Presided over the Continental Congress
during the Declaration of Independence.
Probably why his signature is so large.
Big man on campus.

Hear the one about Julie Sirrs?

I didn't think so

The Stones

Esther and Izzy

Hope I dont die

too late

Is it a violent religion?

Islam? Christianity?

Actionable intelligence gathering

Actionable means "able to be prosecuted", criminal.

Coptics in Egypt

Been there a long time. [something]
Protest in DC, Dec 15th. Be there.