The Washington Post - Timely Reporting When You Need It Most

It's a blustery winter January morning here in DC, so I strap the Timbs up, get out the puffy coat and alla that, and head out for the Metro. On the way I see our beloved local/wanna-be-respected newspaper, The Washington Post. My eyes are directed to the headline, then the sub-headline...and then my eyes squint up, my forehead furrows, and my head turns awkwardly to the side like a dog who is just baffled by whatever it is you are trying to communicate to him.

Water in D.C. Exceeds EPA Lead Limit. Random Tests Last Summer Found High Level in 4,000 Home Throughout City. Water in D.C. Exceeds blah blah blah. Random Tests Last Summer Found High blah blah blah. Random Test Last Summer... Last Summer?! Last f***in' summer?!! The article begins:

Tap water in thousands of District houses has recently tested above the federal limit for lead contamination, a new phenomenon that has baffled the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority and forced the agency to begin replacing service pipes.

Recently? Recently, mother-f****r?! Let me come down there to the Post and recently put a foot up your ass, recently. So, it looks like the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority waited three months to start letting residents know about the contamination, and then the Washington Post waited three months to let the rest of D.C. know about it. Nice.

Find a pdf of the front page here.

UPDATE: High-ranking manager who reported lead problems to EPA fired... More...

Dominate. Intimidate. Control.

OK, I'll admit it, James Bovard is my hero. He just penned another scathing critique of the TSA in Reason magazine. I'll leave you with just a taste. It's brutal, but they deserve it.

Here’s a more sobering measure of the agency’s effectiveness: The New York Daily News celebrated the first anniversary of 9/11 by sending two reporters around the country, taking 14 flights on six airlines, and passing through 11 major airports during Labor Day weekend 2002. The reporters carried box cutters, razors, knives, and pepper spray in their luggage. They took their contraband through the checkpoints at all four of the airports used by the hijackers on 9/11. "Not a single airport security checkpoint spotted or confiscated any of the dangerous items, all of which have been banned from airports and planes by federal authorities," the paper revealed. The reporters were selected for hand searches several times, but even then nothing was found. There were more security personnel and searches than a year before, "but it amounted to nothing more than a big show."

Warlock Saves GI Lives

Flipped on the C-SPAN tonight and caught a glimpse of a House Armed Services Committee meeting that apparently took place today.

General Peter J. Schoomaker, United States Army, Chief of Staff of the Army, was being questioned by Gene Taylor, a Democrat from Mississippi. Taylor seemed to be going pretty tough on Schoomaker - saying things like [not necessarily verbatim]:

...well, is it because that information is classified or is it because you don't want the American people to know [what this information is that might make the Army look bad]...

So, right away, my interest was piqued. When this particular line of questioning was done, I left my TV and headed over to the web to get see the home page of the House Armed Services Committee. Right away I was struck by how partisan the page was - it seemed to read like a Bush propaganda tool because links like that shown in the image in this post, "Success Stories: Building Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan". Calling Iraq and Afghanistan a success at this stage is like calling me a successful cook because I am currently able to boil some Ramen noodles in the microwave. Some part of the claim could be technically true, but in reality, it is just misleading. I was a bit surprised, but not overly surprised, to see the propagandizing - but I thought it was tasteless. I mean, I expect it from the Pentagon, but the HASC? C'mon. The HASC should be a place of solemn seriousness where old white guys are determining how much each of our soldiers is worth in monetary terms (literally), not a place to pimp Bush's Reelection Campaign.

Back to the original topic. Congressman Taylor was questioning General Schoomaker about the use of an electronic signal jamming device that can be used to temporarily disable IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices - i.e. homemade bombs) - thus saving the lives (and arms and legs) of GIs. Apparently, Taylor had visited Iraq and his Humvee was equipped with this jamming equipment, but of course, the vehicles of our soldiers are not - or, a very small percentage of their vehicles are. Taylor said that every one of the soldiers from his state that he tracked - and who knows which ones he decided to 'track' - was a victim of an IED. Dead or wounded, every single GI from his state that he was tracking was a victim of an IED, and to him, it seemed that every one of them need not have been victims if the Army had done its job properly and planned for the use of IEDs like it should have. That was the 'behind the lines' meaning of the conversation, as I took it, and that was why the Schoomaker was actually taking B.S. from Taylor, I figure.

I did some Googling and found an article from The Chicago Tribune:

Some U.S. military vehicles in Iraq are using a system known as Warlock, which blocks radio frequencies that set off remote-controlled explosives. On Dec. 29, the Warlock's manufacturer, EDO Corp., announced that the Army has agreed to spend $27 million for at least 1,000 additional units to be shipped in 2004.

The Warlock system consists of a suitcase-size device with an antenna that essentially provides a protective bubble around vehicles as they travel, William Walkowiak, head of EDO investor relations, said in an interview from New York.

The new batch of Warlocks, which will be stripped-down versions tailored to specific dangers in Iraq, was added to a fast-track purchase of military equipment under the $87 billion appropriation for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Electronic jamming technology was believed to have thwarted a recent attempt in Pakistan to blow up the limousine of a key U.S. ally, President Pervez Musharraf.

So, Schoomaker refused to discuss, in the public hearing today, how few of our Humvees and other vehicles in Iraq were actually equipped with these Warlock systems - thus, the contentious exchange I quoted at top of this post. He did offer to discuss it 'somewhere else' or something like that.

Did you notice that Musharraf line above? Further searching turned up a more detailed story from the AP about that attempted assassination of Musharraf. Apparently, his convoy had this jamming equipment, thus enabling him to cross a wired bridge safely. The bridge blew with 500 pounds of dynamite about 30 seconds after his convoy passed.

EDO Corp. has apparently received a contract to hurriedly produce and ship a bunch of these Warlock systems (which are updated versions of a product called Shortstop Electronic Protection System - SEPS), but I don't know numbers and timelines. Let's really light a fire under their asses. Man, first the wrong color uniforms, then no Kevlar, now no jamming equipment. Sh*t.

Go to it. Senate Armed Services Committee. House Armed Services Committee.

One last note - a bit of intellectual honesty on my part - not always the easiest thing to do. You might have noticed that the appropriations (dinero, greenbacks, Benjamins) for these Warlock devices was set aside in that gargantuan $87 Billion 'emergency funding bill' or whatever The White House called it back in the day. Well, a certain Senator from Massachusettes actually voted 'nay' on that bill after voting 'yes' to go to war with Iraq. I don't think it takes a genius to figure out that Rove is gonna hammer this one like a roids-aided Sammy Sosa waiting on a fastball down the middle. "Kerry Responsible for the Death and Disfigurement of GIs" reads the headline. Niiiiice. Anyone got some Vaseline? Think Kerry's gonna want all he can get.

ReDefeat Bush

I've been seeing these folks around at local (DC) commy-type events. Their purpose, according to their website:

Our purpose is to conduct an Internet-enabled voter registration drive that will secure one million new Democratic voters in battleground states. Our activities are financed through the sale of merchandise from our online store. Please purchase buttons, bumper stickers, lawn signs, T-shirts, condoms, and novelties for yourself and all of your Democratic friends, family, and colleagues.

Sounds good to me. I'll have to make sure I buy a bumper sticker or something at my next event.

get your war on

There is a funky comic strip-type thing called get your war on that has to be the funniest take on the absurdity of George Bush's foreign policy I've seen yet. It's unbelievably crude and unbelievably in your face. The main characters are office professionals in their cubicled environment - all seem to be about 32 years old. What is so crazy is their almost complete lack of facial and body expression as they describe, in very powerful terms, using 'hip-hop' language, the latest horrors of the Bush Administration's 'global war on terror'. Maybe this 'expressionlessness' is the strip's author's way of telling us how desensitized we've become to the horrors of war and violence.

Here is just one of my many favorites:

Seems like there's a new strip about every week or so, and apparently it appears in Rolling Stone magazine. There's also a print edition of the strip.

Bloggers to Take On Traditional Media?

The blogging phenomenon is indeed that - and it is quickly gaining influence in the traditional media world. As with most internet movements, some people are quick to write off the legitimacy of anything so radical - shoot, sometimes it's the bloggers themselves - but I'm not convinced yet. One of the primary arguments that the Blogosphere (refers to all bloggers, collectively) will never be able to compete with 'Big Media' is that bloggers simply don't have the resources and breadth to cover live events - news - in the way traditional media does. I would argue that this plays to the Blogosphere's strengths - worldwide representation, ability to reports on events, live, from almost anywhere in the world - from the biggest events to the smallest. Already there are all sorts of ideas popping up in the blogging world - from news aggregator sites to blogs which accept input from more than one author. These institutions will take time to grow and mature, but one might eventually act as the Associated Press of the Blogosphere, one the UPI, etc.





Picking up on the concept of 'source reporting' - that is, bloggers having an actual presence at live events where things are happening, as opposed to just critiquing articles from the mainstream press, here is a small sampling of the types of source reporting (or live commentary) that the Blogosphere has been responsible for - some recent, some not:

• Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit posted a report from a reader on the summer 2002 Colorado wildfires.


• Dean bloggers creating their own news covering the Iowa caucuses.


• Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of Daily KOS reporting from New Hampshire Primaries.


• Joshua Micah Marshall of Talking Points Memo reporting from New Hampshire Primaries.


• Christopher Allbritton of Back to Iraq reporting from Baghdad.


• billmon of Whiskey Bar at the Davos World Economic Forum.


• Tal G. of Tal G. in Jerusalem on the affairs of that land.


• Kevin Drum of Calpundit doing live commentary on the State of the Union.

It's not a brilliant list, I know, but the real-time/live blogging thing is picking up all the time. Sometimes the role is filled by real reporters, like Kerry Sipe covering the John Allen Muhammed trial. But even big media has limited resources - that's where bloggers can fill in.

For an interesting discussion on the emergence of the Blogosphere from some of its most prolific authors, listen to this Minnesota Public Radio broadcast.





Historical link to article in the USA Today that launched blogging into the mainstream consciousness (article is topheavy with right-wingers).

Reparations Lawsuit Dismissed

A Chicago court dismissed a slavery reparations case. It's not surprising, but there were a couple of things I didn't like about the way the whole thing went down. For instance, the Judge gave the following convoluted reasoning as part of his basis for dismissing the case:

But he [the Judge] said longstanding doctrine in matters involving political questions "bars the court from deciding the issue of slavery reparations, an issue that has been historically and constitutionally committed to the legislative and executive branches of our government."

What, exactly, does this mean, in English? That because the issue of slavery reparations in America is a political issue the Judge's court is 'barred' from deciding the issue? WTF? So, I guess the recent Miranda decision is not political either? C'mon judge - damn.





There's also this reason, which may be perfectly valid - and if it is perfectly valid, then I'd be perfectly pissed:

And he [the Judge] said the suit alleged no specific connection between the plaintiffs and the companies named as defendants.

Now, if the plaintiffs submitted this complaint without making a strong evidence-based cause/effect link, then how could they ever expect to win the case? Better, how could they expect it to not get thrown out immediately? The Judge has said that there was no link, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt at this point.





What, then, would be the point of filing a lawsuit of such shoddy quality? To gain some attention? Sure, I guess that could work. But why not put some effort into it - get some civil rights and other groups behind you - put some money into building a real case, and then take it to the courts? I mean, wouldn't that make a whole lot more sense? Obviously I don't understand this whole comingling of politics/law thing yet, because there are obviously some other dynamics going on here that I am wholly unaware of. Either that, or the judge got it wrong, or the plaintiffs and their lawyer are wasting my and everybody else's time.

Mystery Email from 'links@michaelmoore.com'

I got this email tonight - looks like a little virus action:

---

Return-Path: <links@michaelmoore.com>

Received: from michaelmoore.com (63-225-221-39.phnx.qwest.net [63.225.221.39])

           by lmin07.st1.spray.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 997FD6E4D2

           for ; Tue, 27 Jan 2004 00:45:37 +0100 (MET)

From: links@michaelmoore.com

To: shmooth@lycos.co.uk

Subject: Hello

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 16:45:34 -0700

MIME-Version: 1.0

Content-Type: multipart/mixed;

boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0010_AC66A9F0.5C10A036"

X-Priority: 3

X-MSMail-Priority: Normal

Message-Id: <20040126234537.997FD6E4D2@lmin07.st1.spray.net



The message contains Unicode characters and has been sent as a binary attachment.

There was an attachment called 'data.exe'. Someone is not liking the Bush/AWOL story?

Judith Brings the Mo'!

I'm gonna float a theory here - let's see which mainstream press organizations pick up on it. Dean wins big tomorrow in NH - say 7 or 8 percentage points - and it has everything to do with Mrs. Howard Dean. The press is eatin it up - can't get enough of that lady.





UPDATE: Ummm...I couldn't have been more wrong. I think Judith (Judy?) did help the cause, but Dean still got rocked in NH. Holy cow. Where to go from here?

Female GIs Report Rapes (By Fellow GI's)

I don't even know where to go with this, but it had to be mentioned.

The women, ranging from enlisted soldiers to officers, have reported poor medical treatment, lack of counseling and incomplete criminal investigations by military officials. Some say they were threatened with punishment after reporting assaults.

I mean, I knew that rape (male and female) was a part of regular wartime activities, but raping your fellow soldiers? Shouldn't that be, like, against the rules or something? And all of this in the wake of the Air Force Academy Rape Scandal. One would be inclined to think that our politicians would do something about this continuing tragedy, but we can only expect them to act if we pressure them do so. They do, after all, work for us, represent us, but they can't read our minds, so let them hear it.

Bush Says: Don't Hate

Seeking to lure the young 'Hip Hop' crowd to his message this fall, George W. Bush began practicing his 'street talk' in Little Rock, Arkansas today. Speaking about the capture of an alleged Al Qaeda opertive in Iraq recently:

"He was a killer. He was moving money and messages around South Asia and the Middle East to other al-Qaida leaders. He was a part of this network of haters that we're dismantling," Bush said.

And there you have him, folks, George "The Original O.G." Bush, and his message for the future leaders of tomorrow: Don't Hate.

Give Micah the Mic!

Yeah, you know, always lookin' out for those corny headlines that scream 'READ ME!', or in this case, read Joshua Micah Marshall. Today, Joshua has once again taken the opportunity to pimp his own work - the master of the mic and master of self-promotion, apparently. He's told us about an article he just finished that will be in tomorrow's New Yorker. I read it, and as Odd Todd would say, it's Good!

The title of the article is Power Rangers, Did the Bush Administration create a new American empire -- or weaken the old one? With the War on Iraq looming large in the political arena and presidential elections just around the corner, it's a timely and serious question. Joshua, the learned historical scholar-type, methodically dismantles the Neoconservative position on global dominance through use of force by pointing out how Neocons like Richard Perle fundamentally misunderstand the underpinning of America's dominance. Perle & co., Joshua notes, also fail to understand the role that the Cold War had in legitimizing America's power, and how things changed with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Very interesting article.

My favorite part of the article is the last half of the last line of the artilce - which I've bolded. Here's the setup - England has just defeated france in the Seven Years War - a.k.a. the French and Indian War. In its financially wounded state, England leans heavily on the American colonies to restore the Kingdom's economics:

The result was a dozen years of contention over taxes, which exploded into arguments over principle, and the loss of Britain’s most valuable imperial possessions. Britain believed that the reins of monarchical allegiance would keep its colonies secure; but when it pulled back on those reins, they fell apart. The truth is that, once Britain got to the point of holding on to its colonists by force, it had already all but lost them. Vengeful France, using its runner-up navy to such effect at Yorktown, merely provided the coup de grâce. Britain thought it was at its strongest. Yet by knocking out the rival that drove the colonies into its arms, and then changing the rules, Britain had actually become weaker.

Historical analogies are never perfect. America’s power is far too great to be easily or quickly dislodged. But there are lessons to be learned here, and not just about the French gift for making trouble for great nations at the apex of their power.

Charles Krauthammer: I Am Bereft

Yes, Chuck, you are bereft - of talent, intellectual honesty, good looks. But let us not waste time on the obvious. The country is searching for a new president, and our man, Howard Dean, had a bad day in Iowa last week, about which you have this to say in your column 'Paradise Lost':

I am bereft. I yield to no one -- not a single orange-cap-wearing, twentysomething vegan Deaniac -- in my disappointment over Howard Dean's Iowa debacle.

Sure, he was their hope. But he was mine too. Dean as Democratic nominee promised not just happiness but glory: a Republican landslide of biblical proportions...

Why, Chuck, would you attack a man who is 'lost'? Because he is obviously not lost - isn't that correct Chuck? In all your sarcasm you barely manage to hide your deep fear of a Howard Dean candidacy. Karl Rove knows this, which is why he included a couple of jabs at Dean in the President's State of the Union speech. You both know that money wins - always.

One more critique of your buffoonery before we depart, Chuck:

When the late-night comics call you "a hockey dad" (David Letterman) and "the Incredible Hulk" (Conan O'Brien) and "Mr. Rogers with rabies" (Jay Leno), you've got trouble. The most difficult thing to recover from in politics is ridicule.

Funny, I thought ridicule of politicians was fairly common. Maybe I'm confusing politicians with columnists?

Dean, The Comeback Kid II?

The Washington Post runs a story today with the headline 'N.H. Shifts to Other Neighbor: Kerry/Dean Loses Lead as January Voters Look Ahead to November'. Now, I'd say that's an accurate headline, if we're being strictly literal about things, but it seems to ignore dramatic recent movements in the polls, some of which have Dean at only a couple of points behind Kerry, (from KOS) with Dean rising rapidly and Kerry continuing an easy decline. The article was posted on January 24 and will be in today's (Sunday's) edition of the Post. So, maybe the right arictle, but it's about a week late.

Next, I can't get over this Dean phenomenon of raising money whenever things get tough. I don't know how many internet-based instruments the Dean camp has introduced to the internet-campaigning phenomenon, but it's got to be quite a few. Let's take just one that I think may be appriately linked to Dean's campaign - the rally-funding-differential-image. For each 'drive', an image on the Dean for America home page is updated each hour on the hour with the total number of contributors to the pledge and the total amount of money raised. Here's an example of the current 'drive' (full disclosure: of which I am a small part):

01/25/04 at 8 am		01/25/04 at 9 am		01/25/04 at 10 am		01/25/04 at 9 pm

The number of new donations is fairly small for the early hours, smaller than would be average, because of the day and time of day we're talking about - Sunday mornings are not known for being prime donation times, I gather. My guess is that historical analysis (hmmmm....) would show that business hours during the week would be highest, with possibly weekday nights doing best. The small numbers are the reason you don't see the 'fill level' - the red part of the bat - rising very much in the early hours. You can see the fill level move when you compare the 8 am level on the left to the 9 pm level on the right.

A couple of quick stats based on the numbers above. Looking at the 8 am numbers, we have an average donation of $54.68 - that is, the average donation for the entirety of the drive thus far. I've seen this number fluctuate between $50 and $70 before, but it's fairly stable as far as I can tell, around the $55 mark.

Doing some hourly breakdowns, between 8 and 9 am there were 121 new contributions for a total of $6,130.46, or $50.66 average donation. Between 9 am and 10 am there were 160 new donors contributions for a total of $9,287.23, or $58.04 average donation.

Legalized Torture? The Case of Maher Arar

You've probably heard of this case - Maher Arar, Canadian citizen, while changing planes in JFK airport in New York City, is spirited-off by the FBI and the Department of Justice to Syria, where he is tortured for one year and released.





Well, an enterprising ex-journo picked up this important story for some practice at her ex-profession. She's done a wonderful job and is gaining more attention for the story. Check out her, so far, 18-piece blog on the case of Maher Arar. It seems clear that Ashcroft once again broke all sorts of US and international laws and deported Arar - a Canadian citizen - to Syria - to be tortured to get any information he had on Al Qaeda. Of course, he didn't have any information. His assumed guilt was based on the fact that he knew a couple of guys who were terror suspects. He knew a couple of guys who were terror suspects.





Arar most probably did not even know his acquaintenances were terror suspects, but that is besides the point. Many in the US have been trying to legitimize torture - I still haven't figured that out, but Arar's case brings home the brutality of what being brown and Muslim can be like, and the brutality of torture, and the lawlessness of our own Department of Justice. Everything about this case is wrong. This is not fairness - this is not American.





Please check out Katherine's blog of Maher Arar's case and spread the word.

TalkingPointsMemo down...

Must be hectic up in NH! What to do when our favorite blog is blogo-dead? (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/) (01/23/04; 12.45 PM)

UPDATE: wow - that was quick. looks like we're back up again. (01/23/04; 12.50 PM)

UPDATE: maybe never down in the first place. Using the URL with the 'www' on front seems to have always worked, and the non-'www' URL still does not. Will it ever? Has it ever? Should it ever? Is it even supposed to be the same site?

UPDATE: oops - now the real site - 'www.talkingpointsmemo.com' - is definitely down, too.

UPDATE: well, my workplace has been having network issues today, so maybe that's what all this website-down stuff is today? no idea...didn't happen with other sites, like the ever-dependable Yahoo!. There were a few cases and brief time periods of not being able to reach Yahoo! and others, but never a regular HTTP error response page.

UPDATE: finally - confirmation from the source. The site actually was having some trouble, it seems.

How naïve could I possibly be?!

You know, just when I think I'm really starting to get the hang of reading between the lines of Bush Administration policy, the rug gets pulled out from under me. So many times. I suck. Ok, now that I've checked myself and my incredible gullibility, let's talk nuts and bolts. I and many others dismissed Bush's new immigration policy as pandering to the Latino vote, but of course, there may be other implications - high tech workers may be affected as well - not just those poor undocumented saps down at the local drive-thru car wash. Doh! You mean...<gulp>...this pandering might affect....me? Yeah, buddy, you.

But in a speech last week at the Cato Institute, an administration official indicated the program could extend to highly skilled positions as well. Margaret Spellings, assistant to the president for domestic policy, said details of the program have yet to be worked out. But she said the program will be "non-sector specific" and mentioned nurses and teachers as possible workers covered by the program.

Can you spell W-A-T-E-R-G-A-T-E?

One party spying on another? Undermining democracy? Hmmmm....sounds kinda familiar...

Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media, Senate officials told The Globe.

Dean Supporters, Don't Give Up ... from Michael Moore

Michael Moore posts a quick letter on his website trying to lift despirited Howard Dean fans. I was a Dean supporter only in money, really, but it was still depressing to hear how Iowans voted for war-loving, Patriot-Acting Kerry. Give me a break. F*ck those f*ckin corn-growin' freaks! :D

Event: 1/22, Politics and Prose, DC

Bush-lovers, you will not want to be around for this one:

KEVIN PHILLIPS, discusses and signs copies of American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Thu., 1/22, at 7 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.

UPDATE: This dude was good. Shorter presentation - abot 25 min I'd guess - another packed house at P&P - about 250 or so I guess. I actually got there 10 min before the event started and it was already packed up. Another standing-room-only event for the Bush-hatin crowd. Phillips was very Paul O'Neill-like. He was a life-long Republican-turned Independent. He was fairly harsh on all of the Bush's - 4 generations worth. He broke up his presentation into the three 'verticals' of the Bushs' influence - in order of increasing importance: 1) financial, 2) oil, 3) CIA/defense/military-industrial complex. He made a strong case that one or all of the Bushes were involved in all sorts of illicit activities, possible ties to Watergate, Bay of Pigs, Iran-Contra - you name it. Mentioned some stuff about how Yale was recruiting center for CIA - which would be why at least the last two Bushes went there - I don't remember about the others. The current president was born in Connecticut, apparently, but his folks moved to west Texas for oil-related schemes - as did many others from the Yale set. I was taken aback when he said that the evidence unearthed in the book was probably not enough to make a criminal case against any of the Bushes, and that most civil cases would be past their statute of limitations dates. That he would even link the words 'criminal' and 'Bush' was surprising to me - like I said, this guy is a Paul O'Neill type - very conservative looking and speaking. Also, Phillips essentially debunked the theory that one of the current President Bush's forefathers was a financier of the Nazis. There were real connections, Bush's bank was shut down in NYC, but no charges were filed, etc. Supposedly.





UPDATE: Found a CSPAN interview with Phillips here.