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POPSBlackwater:Ain't Misbehaving, Saving My Contracts for You
Of course the US government was blind to this - they didn't want to know, they turned a blind eye to what Blackwater was doing because it would have been too hard to arrange for another contractor to do all the security missions that it had ongoing. In both Iraq and Afghanistan, there are as many private contractors as there are uniformed military personnel. Most of them are not security guards as Blackwater's most visible function was. The lack of oversight is abhorrent but not surprising; the State Dept's failure to can this company is inexcusable. My only observation on this article is to suggest how the US government got into this predicament, and it's pretty easy to see. The Bush administration wanted to hold onto the fiction of a few conservative principles, one of those being the concept of a small federal government. Since it already blew that "principle" with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, I'm betting there was White House guidance that directed "no mo
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POPSOur Tax Dollars At Work-Blackwater
More from the article as follows: "The Nisour Square shooting was the bloodiest and most controversial episode involving Blackwater in the Iraq war. At midday on Sept. 16, 2007, a Blackwater convoy opened fire on Iraqi civilians in the crowded intersection, spraying automatic weapons fire in ways that investigators later claimed was indiscriminate, and even launching grenades into a nearby school. Seventeen Iraqis were killed and dozens more were wounded." "Those responses deeply worried Blackwater officials. Before the Nisour Square shootings, the company had operated in Iraq without a license largely because the Iraqi government had never enforced the rules. Being blocked from the country would have been costly — the State Department deal was Blackwater’s single biggest contract. From 2004 through today, the company has collected more than $1.5 billion for its work protecting American diplomats and providing air transportation for them inside Iraq." "
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POPSFrom both sides of his mouth!!!!! This latest move by the administration follows a pattern replicated countless times by Obama since assuming the presidency in January: denounce the lawless behavior of his Oval Office predecessor while continuing, even expanding, the reach of unaccountable security agencies that subvert constitutional guarantees barring "unreasonable searches and seizures."
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POPSEven more lies, damned lies and stimulus jobs So we've now seen reports of goosing stimulus job stats in Georgia, Illinois, Wisconsin, California, New Hampshire, Florida, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia and Texas. (Ed Morrissey at Hot Air has more thoughts on the California story, as well as a round-up of some of the other state reports on stimulus chicanery.) At first the White House was owning up to "persisting errors" in the stimulus jobs data -- but when all the supposed errors seem to create the illusion of more jobs and are widespread from coast to coast, it sure looks like a deliberate ruse to hide the stimulus' clear failings. The White House needs to explain how this is happening before it turns into a full-fledged scandal.
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POPSTroubling Signals on Free Speech The ambiguously worded United Nations Human Rights Council resolution could plausibly be read as encouraging or even obliging the U.S. to make it a crime to engage in hate speech, or, perhaps, in mere "negative racial and religious stereotyping." This despite decades of First Amendment case law protecting such speech. To be sure, the provisions to which I refer were a compromise, stopping short of the flat ban on defamation of religion sought by Islamic nations, and they could also be construed more narrowly and innocuously. It all depends on who does the construing. Is it "negative stereotyping" to say that the world's most dangerous terrorists are Islamists, for example? Many would say yes. more at source
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POPSSecret Mission Rescues Yemen's Jews 
and travel to the capital 50 miles to the south. There, they met U.S. State Department officials conducting a clandestine operation to bring some of Yemen's last remaining Jews to America to escape rising anti-Semitic violence in his country. In all, about 60 Yemeni Jews have resettled in the U.S. since July; officials say another 100 could still come. There were an estimated 350 in Yemen before the operation began. Some of the remainder may go to Israel and some will stay behind, most in a government enclave. The secret evacuation of the Yemeni Jews -- considered by historians to be one of the oldest of the Jewish diaspora communities -- is a sign of America's growing concern about this Arabian Peninsula land of 23 million. The operation followed a year of mounting harassment, and was plotted with Jewish relief groups while Washington was signaling alarm about Yemen. In July, Gen. David Petraeus was dispatched to Yemen to encourage President Ali Abdullah Saleh to be
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POPSWhy does Joe Lieberman oppose healthcare reform? Ask his wife But her stint at Hill & Knowlton was merely one episode in a professional lifetime devoted to the corporate health sector. For most of the past three decades, Hadassah Lieberman has been employed by either pharmaceutical companies or the lobbying firms that represent them -- starting with nearly a decade in the "public affairs department" at Hoffman-LaRoche from 1972-81, followed by stints at Pfizer, where she spent four years as "director of policy, planning and communications," and APCO Associates, a major lobbying firm where she served as a "senior associate" in its large healthcare division before retiring in 1998. She went back to work when she joined H&K, an outfit that became notorious for its billion-dollar defense of the tobacco industry. Not long after her contract began, Sen. Lieberman introduced legislation vastly extending patent protection for pharmaceutical companies -- notably including GlaxoSmithKline, a top client of his wife's firm.
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POPSU.S. Official Resigns Over Afghanistan War Policy Hoh's letter caused a stir in the Obama administration, and he was hastened to meetings with senior U.S. officials in Kabul and Washington. They praised his record of service and begged him to stay, offering him new positions in both locations. Hoh initially accepted the Washington job, but changed his mind a week later. Hoh said that his act of protest and decision to speak out were painful, even "nauseating" at times, but he was strongly motivated by the friends he had lost on the battlefield and the mental anguish he has experienced since returning home. "I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call their congressman and say, 'Listen, I don't think this is right,' " he explained, adding that he "is not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love."
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POPSAuditor Faults Work on U.S. Embassy in Iraq Another example of wasted taxpayer money. There once was a time when a man would take pride in producing quality and value in exchange for a paycheck, it seems that time is past. Millions of dollars paid out for what can be equated to theft. When you pay someone for exacting specifications and that someone produces substandard results then that someone ripped you off and that amounts to theft. And the Bureau for Overseas Building Operations is ‘considering’ whether to seek reimburdement? How freaking nice of them to ‘consider’ reimbursement. Isn’t anybody in this government going to be held to account for anything it does? America continues to show the world that we can no longer be counted on to build a soundly constructed building, even with $700 million, how the hell are we going to help reconstruct an entire country? This is embarrassing.
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POPSTop U.S. Scientist Arrested in FBI Sting Attempting to Sell Nuclear Secrets to Israel
The conduct alleged in this complaint is serious and should serve as a warning to anyone who would consider compromising our nation’s secrets for profit,” said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security. … “From 1989 through 2006, Nozette held security clearances as high as top secret and had regular, frequent access to classified information and documents related to the US national defense,” the Justice Department said. … “In addition, Nozette allegedly offered to reveal additional classified information that directly concerned nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, and other major weapons systems,” DOJ said. In addition to allegations against a network of moles said to be based at U.S. nuclear weapons facilities, Edmonds has also fingered current and former members of Congress, such as Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Dan Burton (R-IN), Roy Blunt (R-MO),Stephen Solarz (D-NY) and Tom Lantos (D-CA, deceased), as well as high-ranking Pentagon and State Dept.
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POPSMarijuana War Up in Smoke!
California here we come! --- An exodus similar to the Great Depression will soon be heading west. Go West, young person, there you will find a new world. But, seriously....the hypocracy of the nation pushing booze and pills massively on TV everyday, while sending pot smokers to jail, is at a turning point. The turning point is that the U.S. will stop using federal law to arrest individual marijuana consumers. This allows each of the 50-states to set their own laws about it...sort of like the idea of our Constitution and democracy intended -- prior to evil leaders trying to use a "War on Drugs," as as excuse before the "Global War on Terrorism," came along. 14 states have already made personal consumption of marijuana a non-criminal offense (so no need to rush out to northern California...although it's thriving out there, no doubt) These states did this change even though it was moot ---- till now. Now, it's not "moot." - more states (like mine) now seeking ballot init
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POPSObama Administration and Medical Marijuana Good to see some progress on this issue. I think that, given current law, this policy strikes a good balance. It recognizes that recreational use of marijuana is illegal but that there are medicinal benefits of using this drug that should not be ignored. We don't allow recreational use of morphine, but we don't deny that the drug is useful. We can at least do that for pot.
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POPSNew Medical Marijuana Policy: Obama Administration Will Not Seek Arrests For People Following State Laws California is unique among those for the widespread presence of dispensaries " businesses that sell marijuana and even advertise their services. Colorado also has several dispensaries, and Rhode Island and New Mexico are in the process of licensing providers, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, a group that promotes the decriminalization of marijuana use. Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/new-medical-marijuana-pol_n_325426.html
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