**UPDATED** IWAKI, Japan AP (Mar 12, 10:42 PM EST) — A partial meltdown was likely under way at a second nuclear reactor, a top Japanese official said Sunday, as authorities frantically tried to prevent a similar threat from nearby unit following a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. Some 170,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the [...]
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No Longer the People’s House
**UPDATED** Ahead of his controversial hearing Thursday on the “radicalization” of American Muslims, Rep. Peter King is revealing that he has been under police protection for months because of an overseas threat against him. The New York Republican has since December had around-the-clock security provided by the New York Police Department and Nassau County police, [...]
An American President at Work
Last Sunday at 2 p.m., a blue-and-white Air Force jet left Andrews Air Force Base bound for Cairo. On board was Frank G. Wisner, an adroit ex-diplomat whom President Obama had asked hours before to undertake a supremely delicate mission: nudging President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt out of power. – A Diplomatic Scramble as an [...]
EGYPT: Al Jazeera and White House Mixed Messaging in the Age of Wikileak Cables, Twitter and Facebook
**UPDATES BELOW** This has been an extraordinary week. What follows is a remarkable story I’ve done my best to unpack and requires a lot of investment on your part. I don’t claim this is perfectly packaged, but I’ve done the very best I can on a story I think is historic, including news late last [...]
9/11 Responders Squeezed, SALT Treaty Ratified
The bill passed after Senate Democrats struck a deal Wednesday with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who agreed to drop his objections when the cost of the bill was reduced by about $2 billion. The Oklahoma Republican had come under withering criticism for opposing the bill on the grounds that it provided “overly generous funding” and [...]
The Difference a President Makes
If John McCain had been elected president instead of Barack Obama, the repeal of DADT would have been headed for veto at his desk. With Pres. Obama, however, it will be signed. It’s things like this that make even the most annoyed voter understand why they voted for Obama, especially the people who don’t pay [...]
Julian Assange Gets Bail & ‘Secret Grand Jury’
Michael Moore has stepped up to help post Mr. Assange’s bail, but is also offering massive technical space in Moore World. Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000 of my own money [...]
Richard Holbrooke’s Last Words: ‘You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.’
–bumped– A foreign policy adviser to four Democratic presidents, Mr. Holbrooke was a towering, one-of-a-kind presence who helped define American national security strategy over 40 years and three wars by connecting Washington politicians with New York elites and influential figures in capitals worldwide. He seemed to live on airplanes and move with equal confidence through [...]
Wikileaks Julian Assange Arrested for Sex Without a Condom
The charges involve sexual encounters that two women say began as consensual but became nonconsensual after Mr. Assange was no longer using a condom. – New York Times The Swedes may finally get a shot at their man compliments of unhinged rhetoric that has people targeting his reputation. Assange has been denied bail, with his [...]
Dr. King Counselor and Friend: Primary Obama in ’12
For those people checking in after their Christmastime weekend festivities, this post will come as a stunner. It’s written by the former personal attorney and friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Clarence B. Jones. A man who has a book coming out in January heralding Dr. King’s transforming impact, which seems like the jumping [...]
Wikileaks Exposes Lumbering Fed Fogy
–cross-posted at Huffington Post– Wikileaks has proven that the American government is running on an arcane set of principles led by people with their frame of reference in the past, with neither the infrastructure or the people running it or serving it having adapted to the times in which we live. This last century thinking [...]
Some Democrats Fight
In what may prove a significant development for the 2012 elections, David Brock, a prominent Democratic political operative, says he has amassed $4 million in pledges over the last few weeks and is moving quickly to hire a staff to set up what he hopes will become a permanent liberal counterweight over the airwaves to [...]
TSA Gropefest Latest Domestic Debacle
“I believe this is a tipping point,” said Debra Burlingame, a vocal advocate for tough anti-terrorism policies. Burlingame – whose brother was the pilot of the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 which crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11 – was outraged after undergoing the new TSA pat-downs. – TSA pat-down controversy: Overreaction or real issue? [...]
Does Groping Make Us Safer?
Via Mediaite, this photo from the Denver Post website says it all. Lots of discussion on the TSA scanners and “pat-downs,” with plenty of upheaval around the subject. I still contend that targeted profiling similar to what Israel does, based on behavior and demeanor, etc., makes a lot more sense than fondling passengers. Instead we’re [...]
Too Late, But Maybe Obama Will Hear Them Now
That dynamic, coupled with the GOP’s post-midterm swagger, emboldened leaders to insist that the president reschedule Thursday’s much-anticipated meeting until after Thanksgiving to accommodate their schedule, not his. The first post-election meeting between Obama and congressional leaders, billed by Obama as the fundamental first step in the post-election reconciliation process, will now take place Nov. [...]
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