It is now a matter of record that Bush, Cheney, Rice, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Tenet, and Powell were all directly involved in authorizing the use of torture. The group called itself the National Security Principals Committee. It held dozens of top-secret decisions in the White House. This according to an ABC News investigation, sourced with unnamed, high-ranking officials. The Principals included… Read more →
Tag: politics
Aside
So, I didn’t get the complete and utter McCain meltdown or doddering that I was hoping for, but if the numbers at MediaCurves are right Obama grabbed the biggest slice of the undecideds on every issue. That makes me feel better.
I like Art
I also the The Arts. Of course I’m an elitist liberal scum, but this just gives me one more reason to despise Stephen Harper. I could rant, but let’s let George at BookNinja do it instead, since he’s so good at it: First, he tried to set up arts and culture producers, from dance companies to music groups to writers… Read more →
A Disorganized Office Is A Sign Of…
Did you see any of the new stories about John Jost and teams’s forthcoming research paper? The one about how “behavioural residue” can be used to predict political leanings? “Conservative rooms tended to be cleaner, more brightly lit, better organized, less cluttered, and also more conventional and ordinary in terms of decoration,” Jost said during a panel discussion on “The… Read more →
Really Not A Suprise
You are a Social Liberal (76% permissive) and an… Economic Liberal (15% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test Read more →
US Election Much Less Scary This Week
I’m pretty confident in Obama pulling it off at this point. I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but with McCain imploding, Palin being more of a joke every day, and this latest round of Hail Mary bullshit, I’m feeling pretty good. And, you know, almost every time I hear Obama speak I find myself agreeing with him. I… Read more →
Spreading The Word On Harper
A surprising number of people have asked me why I am so strongly opposed to Harper and his lot getting a majority government. It’s like they weren’t paying attention. I would think that anyone who has had their eyes open for the last eight years would have had an object lesson already in what happens when you give a bunch… Read more →
Aside
I love that the Progressive Conservative Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is spearheading an “Anything But Conservative” anti-Conservative campaign in the election. I wish it was more because of the ReformConservatives’ scary policies, and less because of them screwing over the Atlantic provinces on resource revenues, but I’ll take it anyway.
Aside
I am still desperately miserable about the upcoming (Canadian) election. Every time I check out Elect-o-pinion.ca I want to pound nails into my eyes, even if it sometimes does bring me lovely things like 100+ Reasons Not to Vote for Harper.
The Harlequin Is Out
Today, as my grandfather would say, the sadness is upon me. Let’s just say that my growing fear that McCain’s Big Lie tactics will work, combined with my stark and utter terror at the nearly inescapable certainty of a Harper majority, have made me miserable today. I’ve lost faith in my fellow man. Maybe I’ll be chipper tomorrow. Read more →
Two Americas
David Simon, the man behind The Wire, had an interesting piece in the Guardian earlier this week, where he helps the British look at the way the idea of “the American experience” is essentially a non-sensical term, as there are now (at least) two distinct Americas. As usual, Baltimore is his lens, and he has the ability to sharpen the… Read more →
Context
Have I spoken of the Lapham’s Quarterly blog? It’s a fine, fine thing–they take current topical news stories, and link them to something contextual from history to provide a different view, or highlight a particular nuance, etc. A recent piece, contrasts some US election pandering with… well, that would be telling, but anyway you should check it out. The editors… Read more →
It’s actually not a joke, although it’s easy to come up with a punchline
I’ve been quick to criticize American history for HUAC, and CoIntelPro, and the general internal espionage of the early FBI, as well not recognizing the lessons of history when they swing around again, so I should probably also point out that we do a lot of the same stuff. As you can see in the story that broke this week… Read more →
Those JibJab guys are funny
Organizational Pathology
Did you see the ACLU press release today about how the American terrorist watch list now has more than one million people on it? “America’s new million record watch list is a perfect symbol for what’s wrong with this administration’s approach to security: it’s unfair, out-of-control, a waste of resources, treats the rights of the innocent as an afterthought, and… Read more →
