Securing Wal-Mart

It is the governmentalization of the world’s biggest retailer…

Wal-Mart Recruits Fmr Intelligence Officers To Identify Company Threats, "Suspect Individuals"

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been recruiting former military and government intelligence officers for a branch of its global security office aimed at identifying threats to the world’s largest retailer, including from "suspect individuals and groups". Wal-Mart’s interest in intelligence operatives comes at a time when the retailer is defending itself against allegations by a fired security employee that it ran surveillance operations against targets including [...]

Tags: Wal-Mart Security

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It’s Getting Nasty

Dick Cheney has jumped right into the middle of the ongoing battle between Harry Reid and the White House.  The Veep has been thrust into the spotlight to push the Administration talking points.  Watch as the folks at Think Progress systematically dismantle all of them…

‘Attack Dog’ Cheney Unleashes Litany Of Misleading Claims About Reid

Vice President Cheney and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) exchanged words today in back-to-back news conferences. Cheney accused Reid of “defeatism” and called Reid’s speech yesterday “uninformed and misleading.” Reid assailed President Bush for against sending out his “attack dog, also known as Dick Cheney.” Watch it: [...]

UPDATE:  Now, it’s a three-man "battle royale" -

Cheney Swipes Reid on Iraq – Kerry Rips Cheney’s “Interpretative History”

Dick Cheney took a swipe at Harry Reid today saying that Reid’s comments were “uninformed and misleading.” and accused him of “defeatism” on Iraq. Watch the video of Dick Cheney here: John Kerry hit Cheney back, ripping Cheney’s attacks on Reid “as disturbing as they are disingenuous” and he dismissed the vice president as “the [...]

Tags: Dick Cheney, Harry Reid, Iraq War

Tags: John Kerry

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So, Is It A Wall?

Or just a "barrier"?  And, what the heck is the difference when you’re building it to fence in a group of people?

The Wall

Here’s the latest on those large concrete things the U.S. Army is building in Baghdad: "U.S. and Iraqi military officials scrambling to deflect criticism of a wall being erected to separate a volatile Sunni Muslim neighborhood from surrounding Shiite areas [...]

Wondering why the wall isn’t working?  AJ over at AmericaBlog has some answers that make sense -

Repeating failures, volume 32,491: building walls in Iraq

Over the past week, we learned that the U.S. was building a wall in Baghdad to separate Sunni Arabs in Adhamiya from Shia to the east. The wall was described by U.S. officials as "one of the centerpieces of a new strategy," and was apparently supposed to provide security. If this news sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve tried [...]

Tags: Baghdad, Wall, Barrier, Sunni

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Friendly Fire

It doesn’t get much more "real" than this: family emotions.  This is singularly the most important story we’ve seen in a long time.  Pay attention.

Tillman: Administration lied to distract from Abu Ghraib.

In “explosive testimony” today, Kevin Tillman, brother of Cpl. Pat Tillman, the former NFL player who was killed in action in Afghanistan, “accused the Bush administration of twisting the facts of his brother’s death to distract public attention from the prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib.” The U.S. Army fabricated a story of his brother’s heroism [...]

Here’s more – Army Ranger ordered to lie re Tillman death

And, then came Jessica Lynch – Jessica Lynch: I don’t understand why Bush & Pentagon lied about me being a hero

Tags: Friendly Fire, Pat Tillman, Kevin Tillman, U.S. Army

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New Neighbors

Well, now.  Looks like there may be another planet where life could exist.  Really.  Consider the possibilities…

First habitable Earth like planet outside Solar System discovered

Zee News has a story on a “super-Earth, which has a mass about five times that of the Earth and orbits a red dwarf already known to harbour a Neptune-mass planet.” An international team of astronomers from Switzerland, France and Portugal have discovered the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date. The planet has a [...]

Tags: Super-Earth, Planets, Astronomers

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Lessons in Fascism

More than a bit disconcerting, it helps explain much of what we’ve been seeing lately.  In this place called "America"…

The fascism 10-step guide

Worth noting is Naomi Wolf’s long dystopic piece in the Guardian this morning on the rise of fascism in the USA. Chilling quotes: “Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that,” asked the airline employee… Elsewhere, a CIA contract worker who said in a closed blog that “waterboarding [...]

Tags: Fascism, Naomi Wolf

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Riding The Plunge

Times are tough…

Housing Update

More bad news in the housing market. Blamed on the weather, natch. Feel free to believe that or not depending on your own personal mood [....]

Tags: Housing Market, Housing Prices

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Two Sides to Every Story

From the right, the attack blogs are busy working over Harry Reid.  I’m thinking the stories reflected here are not indicative of the big picture.  However, in the interest of fairness, I read them.  You should too.

White Flag Harry Reid: We’re Losing This War, and the Troops are Liars

"Senator Lost" Harry Reid, has unilaterally declared that the Iraq War is lost. Uh, Senator… how would you know and other top Democrats know, when you continue to skip briefings? What’s curious is that congressional Democrats don’t seem much interested [...]

Did you notice the reference to how great things are in Ramadi?  Well…

Truck bomb kills 25 near Iraq’s Ramadi – police

More RAMADI, Iraq, April 24 (Reuters) – A suicide truck bomb killed 25 people and wounded 44 others near the Iraqi insurgent stronghold of Ramadi on Tuesday, police said. The attack took place in the Albufarraj area east of Ramadi and [...]

And, this…

Iraq’d

Bloomberg: Nine U.S. soldiers were killed and 20 others injured in one of the deadliest attacks on coalition forces in Iraq this year when a suicide car bomb exploded at a base northeast of Baghdad. The attack took place yesterday in Diyala province, a region that has seen increased fighting between U.S.-led coalition troops and insurgents in [...]

Tags: Harry Reid, Iraq War

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Robbing Peter To Pay Paul

No surprises here.  Just another example….

Air Force feels pinch of Iraq ground war

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon’s bolstering of its ground forces in Baghdad by borrowing money and people from its sister services is further straining an already tightly stretched Air Force, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley [...]

Tags: Air Force, Iraq War, Michael Moseley

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Dropping The Ball

It certainly looks like the ball WAS dropped, with absolutely horrible results in this case.

Sickening report on ABC of an American soldier who killed himself

Just watched one of the most sickening, infuriating reports ever on ABC (transcript here). ABC’s Bob Woodruff reported on a great American soldier who ended up trying to kill himself while serving in Iraq. His duty in Iraq seriously messed with his head, he tried to seek help, didn’t really get it, and then ended up in that fateful building 17 at Walter Reed – the one that the Washington Post reported on a few months ago. Well, the military then ignored [...]

Tags: ABC News, Bob Woodruff, Walter Reed, Iraq War

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Simply Fed Up

That’s Joe Biden. Fed up and speaking out.  However, unless you were watching C-Span, you probably didn’t see his empassioned speech.  It is worth a few minutes of your time.  Definitely worth a few minutes…

An Angry Democratic Candidate…and One You Might Not Expect

Tags: Joe Biden, Iraq War

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McGovern On The Attack

Here’s one to pass along.  I’d say George McGovern still has what it takes to win a debate…

George McGovern: "I Expect To See Cheney And Bush Forced To Resign"

Vice President Dick Cheney recently attacked my 1972 presidential platform and contended that today’s Democratic Party has reverted to the views I advocated in 1972. In a sense, this is a compliment, both to me and the Democratic Party. Cheney intended no such compliment. Instead, he twisted my views and those of my party beyond recognition. The city where the vice president spoke, Chicago, is sometimes dubbed "the Windy City." Cheney converted the chilly wind of Chicago into hot air. Cheney said that today’s Democrats have adopted my platform from the 1972 presidential race and that, in doing so, they will raise taxes. But my platform offered a [...]

Tags: George McGovern, 1972 Presidential Campaign, Dick Cheney

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Some Things You Didn’t Know

I’m betting that many of you will be surprised at what’s in the Iraq Supplemental Funding Bill that’s headed for a vote in Congress.  Things that go far beyond funding for the war….read on.

On the Iraq War Supplemental

The House/Senate conference committee has agreed on the final terms of the Iraq War supplemental funding bill. All in all, I have to say that I am impressed with the product. Here are the most important details: The legislation would maintain House-passed language that set strict requirements for resting, training and equipping troops. But they would grant the president the authority to waive those restrictions, as long as he publicly justified the waivers. The bill also establishes benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet, including the creation of a program [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Supplemental Funding Bill

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Targeting Rove

Looks like Karl Rove is in the crosshairs of another investigation.  A big one…

Karl Rove facing investigation that "could create a substantial new problem for the Bush White House"

The blogs are buzzing today about a major revelation from the LA Times. Karl Rove’s political operation is facing what appears to be a serious internal investigation: "Most of the time, an obscure federal investigative unit known as the Office of Special Counsel confines itself to monitoring the activities of relatively low-level government employees, stepping in with reprimands and other routine administrative actions for such offenses as discriminating against military personnel or engaging in prohibited political activities. But the Office of Special Counsel is preparing to jump into one of the most sensitive and potentially explosive issues in Washington, launching a [...]

Tags: Karl Rove, Office of Special Counsel

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Best Line of The Day

Dana Perino pretty much put the entire Alberto Gonzales testimony into sharp perspective today.  Here’s your Best Line of the Day -

Perino: At Least He Didn’t Make It Up

During the White House press briefing today, Dana Perino mounted the latest rousing defense of the attorney general. When asked how the president could have increased confidence in Gonzales after he’d pled a faulty memory some 64 times during the [...]

Tags: Dana Perino, Alberto Gonzales, White House Press Briefing

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Iraq=Vietenam

Is Iraq this generation’s Vietnam?  A surprising "yes" from one of our own soldiers. And, he’s apparently not alone….

Soldier Says War Can’t Be Won; Fellow Soldiers Call It "Our Vietnam"

It’ll be interesting to see what the wingers make of this one. Here’s someone else echoing the treacherous surrender rhetoric of Harry Reid and other Dems. Who is that someone else? Staff Sgt. Matt St. Pierre, who’s been in Iraq for two of the last three years. Check out this interview he gave today to [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Vietnam War, Harry Reid

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Today in Obama-World

It’s been a good Monday for Barack Obama.  First, a chance to deliver another major Foreign Policy speech..

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) said Monday that President Bush has fallen short in his role as leader of the free world, and the 2008 election is a chance to change that. "This president may occupy the White House, but for the last six years the position of leader of the free world has remained open. And it is time to fill that role once more," Obama said in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The Illinois senator was in his hometown to [...]

Then, the college crowd came through with strong support.  At least it was from the single campus surveyed…

Obama Wins College Straw Poll

A straw poll taken at Stanford University has found overwhelming support for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), who came in first with half the vote. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) placed second with 27%, followed by [...]

Not good enough, you say?  Here’s another.

Clinton, Obama Tied Nationally

The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in a dead heat amongst likely Democratic primary voters nationally. Both candidates receive 32% of the vote, followed by former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) with 17%. All the usual caveats about [...]

Tags: Barack Obama

Tags: Hillary Clinton, Rasmussen Reports

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Real Science

There’s gotta be a lawsuit waiting to happen right here…

Operation Spot: Airport Passenger Behavior Screening

A Transportation Security Administration effort to screen air travelers for suspicious behavior is on track to come to Denver International Airport this year, subjecting passengers to observation and small talk from agents looking for signs of deception. The SPOT program – short for "screening passengers by observation technique" – is modeled after Israeli security measures that pick up on facial expressions, body language and other involuntary reactions that occur when people lie. TSA officials won’t list which [...]

Tags: TSA, Transportation Security Administration, Airport Security

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Another Disastrous Plan

It might have been okay, in theory.  But, in reality, it was another nosedive for the Administration.

Homeland Security

…So how good are our domestic defenses? We do a fairly good job at airport security, even allowing for the massive holes in the screening processes (like airport employees and faulty and inadequate equipment). Our land borders are absolutely porous as evidenced by the great Mexican immigration debate (our Canadian border is even more porous). Port screenings are still nearly non-existent, relying on the Coast Guard to interdict on the open seas any suspicious ship. Well [...]

Tags: Homeland Security, Ports, Coast Guard

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Ignoring The Rules

That’s the nice thing. When you’re in power, you can play by the rules, or risk trouble by ignoring them.  Administration…meet trouble.

New Evidence of Security Problems at the White House

Current and former employees of the White House Security Office have reported to Chairman Waxman that there was a systemic failure at the White House to follow procedures for protecting classified information. According to the security officers, the White House [...]

Tags: White House Security Office, Waxman, Classified Information

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