The Krile Files

Amazing story. It really makes you wonder how many of your emails have been scanned, as the feds look for the bad guys, the terrorists.

FISA Fight: The driftnet exposed

Every member of Congress–but particularly the chairs of the intelligence committees–needs to read today’s explosive Wall Street Journal article before considering moving forward on any FISA legislation. “Five years ago, Congress killed an experimental Pentagon antiterrorism program meant to vacuum up electronic data about people in the U.S. to search for suspicious patterns. Opponents called it [...]

New York-style scandal and it goes right to the top.

Governor Spitzer Apologizes After New York Times Reveals Link To Prostitution Ring

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, a rising star in the Democratic party and a major force in his state until he hit some rocky political bumps, has now apologized after a New York Times report linked him to a prostitution ring. According to the Times, he was caught on a federal wiretap. His apology has the feeling of one shoe dropping. Because it’s likely [...]

The good folks at Blackwater have been pretty low-key lately. You’ve been in a bit of withdrawal, haven’t you? Any snippet of discussion usually leads to a scandal.  Some things never change:

Report: Blackwater Cost Government Millions by Saying Their Employees Weren’t Their Employees

…House oversight committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) released a memorandum this afternoon to committee  members that Blackwater is evading  tax and employment laws by deceptively labeling its armed guard employees as “independent contractors.” In March 2007, [...]

One of the big political blogs is taking note of what’s happening (or not happening) on the Arkansas political scene:

Republicans Leaving Mark Pryor Uncontested in Arkansas

What do you do if you’re the Republican Party of Arkansas and you have the potential to go up against Mark Pryor, a freshman Democrat representing a state that George W. Bush carried twice (by 6 points in 2000 and 9 points in 2004)? You [...]

Assuming this woman didn’t just make this incident up, it could well rank near the top of the list of the most nefarious acts by a police officer.

Albany, NY police allegedly sexually violate woman during ‘traffic stop’

Beyond speechless — as if police sadism with Tasers isn’t enough to give you agita, look at what occurred during a traffic stop in Albany, NY: It was early evening and already dark when the patrol car’s emergency lights flashed in the rearview mirror of Lisa Shutter’s Mitsubishi sedan on Quail Street, just off Central Avenue. Police [...]

Ch-ch-changes. Here’s your updated MSNBC scorecard, for those of you who are keeping track.  Bottom line?   Tucker Carlson’s show is gone.  He’s still around, kind of.  David Gregory gets Tucker’s old slot.  And….oh, there’s a bunch of other stuff happening: Countdown gets a second primetime airing, Abrams’ show gets a new name and a new focus, Andrea Mitchell will anchor the 1 pm hour.  But the Tucker story gets most of the attention:

Tucker Carlson: A True Washington Story

MSNBC is FINALLY taking a needed step, and not a moment too soon. David Gregory will replace Tucker Carlson. Now, instead of suffering through election season with an obnoxious dimwit, we will actually have some informed dialog and insight. I would have preferred Rachel Maddow, but MSNBC is trying to put forth more clout from [...]

For the longest time, Catholics have been taught there are 7 deadly sins.  The list just got longer - it doubled.

Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

Drug pushers, the obscenely rich, environmental polluters and “manipulative” genetic scientists beware - you may be in danger of losing your mortal soul unless you repent. After 1,500 years the Vatican has brought the seven deadly sins up to date by adding seven new ones for the age of globalisation. The list, published yesterday in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, came as the Pope deplored [...]

Those Hawkeyes didn’t like him.  They REALLY didn’t link him.

Rove: ‘I Fully Expect To Be Indicted By The End Of The Year’

Karl Rove, former senior aide to President Bush, spoke to a hostile crowd at the University of Iowa yesterday evening. Students and local citizens protested his appearance at the university and “staged a mock trial” for Rove inside the student union before the speech. During the lecture, Rove lashed out at hostile questioners, telling one [...]

For now, they have some spine.

House files contempt lawsuit.

AP reports: The House Judiciary Committee has filed suit to force former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten to provide information about the firing of U.S. attorneys. The lawsuit filed in federal court Monday says Miers is not immune from the obligation to testify and both she and Bolten [...]

And don’t plan on driving very far!  I truly hope Mark Hutcherson is wrong about this possibility. It’s really becoming quite frightening, what’s happening to America’s economy.

Will Gas Prices Exceed $5 Per Gallon By Summer?

In some parts of the United States gas prices are already well above $4 per gallon for premium and here in Central Texas the price for plain regular unleaded gas in already at almost $3.50 per gallon. While reading news about the slowing US economy and the inflationary effects of raising gas prices, I began to become more concerned about [...]

Oil passes $107, setting another record

Oil prices hit $107.44, a new inflation-adjusted record and their fifth new high in the last six sessions. Meanwhile, gasoline prices were poised Monday to set a new record at the pump, having surged to within half a cent of their record high of $3.227 a [...]

Before you go and get all worried about this, note that they say it’s not really enough to hurt you.  At least that’s what they say today…

Sex Hormones, Mood Stabilizers Found In Drinking Water Of 41 M Americans

A vast array of pharmaceuticals _ including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones _ have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows. To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are [...]

It seems she looks particularly good to “boomer” women.  Why?

The Invisible Women

The “Invisible Women” know that they are “Not Invisible” to Hillary Clinton and that is what draws them to her candidacy: “Much has been written about how boomer women have rallied to Hillary’s cause (she won an impressive 67 percent of the white women voting in Ohio; they were 44 percent of the total). It’s fashionable [...]

My goodness, but this little time change slugged me hard this year. It always seems to mess with my head (and body), but this year it really punched hard. Even the dogs didn’t want to get up when the alarm went off in the darkness of early morning today.  Mentally, it’s just difficult to get up in the dark, after it had just started getting light.

So, we’re off to the races.  Crawling, a bit, tonight.

Clinton campaign to target pledged delegates?

As campaign observers certainly know by now, Hillary Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s campaigns are, and have been, in the process of wooing superdelegates. It obviously makes sense — these party insiders will likely be in a position to ultimately choose the Democratic Party’s nominees. But targeting pledged delegates is something else entirely. These delegates were chosen [...]