Year-End Link Dump (Part 2)
OK, OK, this column was really supposed to go out yesterday. I plead "end-of-year stuff to do" creeping up on me, and to make up for it we will be running not just one but two columns on this last day of 2014.
This is the second part of Monday's article, which consists of a "link dump" of all the stories I really meant to write about last year, but never got around to. Before I get to the second part of the list, though, I have to address a comment from Monday. Here's a second link on a subject mentioned earlier (to an extensive New Yorker article) about "asset forfeiture," also known as "highway robbery by the police." Got too much cash in your car? Well, why don't you just sign it over to our local police force, and you can be on your way (and we won't call Child Protective Services to take your kids away).... This is beyond outrageous, and has been happening in some places in America for a very long time now.
Anyway, today's links are for the most part pretty serious ones, on some serious issues. But before we get to that, let's start with a few links of particular note.
Of particular note
Ben Bradlee, the Washington Post editor responsible for allowing Woodward and Bernstein run their Watergate series, died this year. The Post dug into its archives and ran a great editorial written by Bradlee, on liars. Well worth a read.
Also of note was an article on Al Franken, which made me green with envy over the access the reporters got with Al. [Washington Post]
And, just for fun, here's a cool graphic of the top websites of the year for the past few decades, and how the "hot" companies have changed, over time. There are more than a few names on the lists that I had all but forgotten about, personally. [Washington Post]
Human rights
In Native American news, Barack Obama is only the third sitting American president to visit a reservation. The second was Clinton. A very sobering report was released during this year on the state of Native Americans in general, and children in particular. [Washington Post]
Abroad, Saudi women who defied the ban on women drivers had their cases moved to terrorism court. Think about that for a moment -- one of our closest allies in the Middle East is treating women with the temerity to drive a car on their own as terrorists. If the country in question was Iran (for instance), America would be outraged. Since it is instead Saudi Arabia, little was said about it here. [Huffington Post]
National security / Spying on Americans
First, two historical notes. Not only were ex-Nazis welcomed into America's space program after World War II (see: Wernher Von Braun), the C.I.A. was also making use of hundreds of ex-Nazis during the Cold War. [New York Times]
And someone found an unredacted copy of the letter J. Edgar Hoover wrote to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., where Hoover tries to convince King to commit suicide. Yes, this is what the F.B.I. used to spend its time doing. [Salon 1, 2]
The F.B.I. hasn't entirely given up on stupid ideas, however, as this year it was revealed they had set up a fake site where they impersonated journalists at the Seattle Times to catch wrongdoers. Journalists were, quite rightly, outraged at this deception. [Huffington Post 1, 2]
In interviews, Edward Snowden indicated that there was a second leaker out there, and the F.B.I. has searched at least one suspect's house trying to identify him or her. [Huffington Post]
The federal government admitted that they lied to a court about the use of national security letters. [Huffington Post] This is another form of warrantless snooping that really should be consigned to the dustbin of history. In another case, ISPs are suing to lift a 10-year-old gag order on national security letters -- since it is illegal for anyone to even talk about getting one. [Washington Post]
The feds are also apparently flying planes which hack into cell tower data in America, again without the benefit of actually getting a warrant first, as the Constitution requires. [Huffington Post]
The National Archives thinks letting the C.I.A. destroy emails is a bad thing. Ya think? [Huffington Post]
War
Just to begin with, in case anyone missed it, yet another House committee issued a report on Benghazi, which found exactly zero wrongdoing by anyone in the White House. [Washington Post]
The Pentagon has long had an obsession with Star Wars. This isn't really news to anyone who remembers the days of Ronald Reagan, but still an interesting read. [Washington Post]
Speaking of the future of warfare, we now not only have drones that can fly patrols without human intervention, we've also got smart bombs which choose their target without a human's help. Maybe we should have an ethical discussion about this sort of thing before using them? [New York Times]
Torture
The end of the year brought big new on torture, after the release of Dianne Feinstein's report. [Huffington Post; Washington Post 1, 2, 3, 4, 5] The most revealing was a side-by-side comparison of what the report exposed and C.I.A. director Michael Hayden's testimony before Congress, showing how many times he flat-out lied to the public about what had gone on. [Washington Post] A Senate staffer apparently was busy during all of this scrubbing the word "torture" from Wikipedia -- the Ministry of Truth in action! [Huffington Post]
Public opinion on torture has come down from post-9/11 highs, but still remains disturbingly supportive. Maybe it was that half-season of 24 that ran this year, who knows? [Salon]
Possibly the most interesting opinion piece on what Obama should do about it all came from the A.C.L.U. The piece supports the idea of Obama pardoning Bush, Cheney, and anyone else involved in torture -- because by pardoning those responsible it would provide legal closure and would admit that wrongdoing did indeed take place. A very interesting article, in fact. [New York Times]
Miscellaneous
Finally, the grab-bag of the grab-bag -- articles which didn't really fit into any of our categories.
A Massachusetts town tried to ban tobacco sales entirely, but had to back down in the face of vociferous objections at a public meeting. [Huffington Post]
Trent Lott (of all people) says Republicans in Congress should just clarify the Obamacare law, so that the case before the Supreme Court goes away. [Huffington Post]
And, finally, the PolitiFact "Lie Of The Year" -- all the fearmongering on Ebola -- and the biggest "Pinocchios" of the year from the Washington Post.
That's it for now, my bookmarks are now cleared out for 2015!
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Michale -
You'll notice, there are a few "Michale-comment-bait" items in there...
:-)
-CW
Test. Please do not respond.
Speak2 -
I think I fixed your problem on the banished words article. See comments there.
-CW
You'll notice, there are a few "Michale-comment-bait" items in there...
I noticed that.. :D Gonna keep me busy for a while.. :D
Michale
412
The F.B.I. hasn't entirely given up on stupid ideas, however, as this year it was revealed they had set up a fake site where they impersonated journalists at the Seattle Times to catch wrongdoers. Journalists were, quite rightly, outraged at this deception. [Huffington Post 1, 2]
Why should journalists be outraged???
It's not as if they are, yunno, doing their JOBS!!
Michale
413
The federal government admitted that they lied to a court about the use of national security letters. [Huffington Post] This is another form of warrantless snooping that really should be consigned to the dustbin of history. In another case, ISPs are suing to lift a 10-year-old gag order on national security letters -- since it is illegal for anyone to even talk about getting one. [Washington Post]
And here is the raise the roof, cry to the heavens outrage from the entirety of the Left against the Obama Administration:
{{chiirrrrppppp}} {{chiiiirrrrrrrrrrrpppppppppp}}
Kinda puts all the "moral outrage" from the Left during the Bush years in it's proper context, eh?? :^/
Michale
414
The feds are also apparently flying planes which hack into cell tower data in America, again without the benefit of actually getting a warrant first, as the Constitution requires. [Huffington Post]
And here is the raise the roof, cry to the heavens outrage from the entirety of the Left against the Obama Administration:
{{chiirrrrppppp}} {{chiiiirrrrrrrrrrrpppppppppp}}
Kinda puts all the "moral outrage" from the Left during the Bush years in it's proper context, eh?? :^/
Michale
415
Yea, shameless padding of the Comment Count :D
Just to begin with, in case anyone missed it, yet another House committee issued a report on Benghazi, which found exactly zero wrongdoing by anyone in the White House. [Washington Post]
Just because the report came from a Republican committee doesn't mean it's accurate..
Ya'all, of ALL people, should know that!! :D
Besides, the clown who heads the committee is obviously an alumni of the same Report Writing School that DiFi graduated from..
His committee didn't talk to ANY of those present at the incident. He simply relied on reports from the Obama Administration...
Yea, THERE is a valid and accurate source, eh?? :^/
Michale
416
The Pentagon has long had an obsession with Star Wars. This isn't really news to anyone who remembers the days of Ronald Reagan, but still an interesting read. [Washington Post]
"THAT... was awesome!"
-Margo, DESPICABLE ME
Pretty good read...
From Saint Ronnie's humble beginnings, eh? :D
Michale
417
Speaking of the future of warfare, we now not only have drones that can fly patrols without human intervention, we've also got smart bombs which choose their target without a human's help. Maybe we should have an ethical discussion about this sort of thing before using them? [New York Times]
The problem with having "ethical" discussions on this kind of warfare is that this kind of warfare is against an enemy that HAS no sense of ethics or morality..
Therefore such discussions would only serve to hamstring the good guys and give the bad guys a much wider latitude..
Michale
418
The most revealing was a side-by-side comparison of what the report exposed and C.I.A. director Michael Hayden's testimony before Congress, showing how many times he flat-out lied to the public about what had gone on.
Yea, we can't have Administration officials LYING to Congress, can we!!!???
Unless, of course, it's the OBAMA Administration who is doing the lying.. :^/
We really need to have a sit down and determine once and for all if lying is a good thing or a bad thing... :D
Michale
419
Public opinion on torture has come down from post-9/11 highs, but still remains disturbingly supportive. Maybe it was that half-season of 24 that ran this year, who knows? [Salon]
Or maybe it's because the American people realize it's a dangerous world and that in the world of Counter Terrorism and the threat of nuclear terrorism ever-present, that the ends DO justify the means..
To put the matter succinctly, if all we have to do is make some scumbag mass murder uncomfortable for a while to save hundreds, thousands and maybe even millions of innocent lives...???
Well, most Americans don't have a problem with that... Especially since we are talking "people" who are barely a step up from cockroaches on the civilized scale...
"You know how I feel about them. They're animals. DON'T trust them... DON'T believe them."
"Jim, they're dying."
"LET THEM DIE!!"
-STAR TREK VI, The Undiscovered Country
Michale
420 Take a hit, pass it on ROFL
Possibly the most interesting opinion piece on what Obama should do about it all came from the A.C.L.U. The piece supports the idea of Obama pardoning Bush, Cheney, and anyone else involved in torture -- because by pardoning those responsible it would provide legal closure and would admit that wrongdoing did indeed take place. A very interesting article, in fact. [New York Times]
And then the NEXT GOP POTUS could "Pardon" Obama and Biden for their Drone Campaign and their brutal genocide of innocent civilians..
Where does it end??
Michale
421
A Massachusetts town tried to ban tobacco sales entirely, but had to back down in the face of vociferous objections at a public meeting. [Huffington Post]
Seems to me that Human Caused Global Warming acolytes would be all over this...
Eliminate all smoking products all over the world..
Imagine the clean air!!! :D
Michale
422
Trent Lott (of all people) says Republicans in Congress should just clarify the Obamacare law, so that the case before the Supreme Court goes away. [Huffington Post]
I said it then and I'll say it again...
"Marge, that rhymes and you know it!!!"
-Homer Simpson
Why should Republicans pull Democrat's cajones out of the fire??
Now maybe if Obama had proposed the deal where he would forgo his immigration crap in exchange for Republicans fixing the Democrats' mess, the Left wouldn't have to worry about TrainWreckCare fulfilling it's moniker...
But he didn't so they do...
Michale
423
Just for sheets and greens..
http://sjfm.us/temp/bookmarks.jpg
There is my list of 2014 CW.COM bookmarks.. :D
Michale
426