MadDog

Senior members of the Senate Defense Appropriation Subcommittee were briefed on the Bush/Cheney Administration's illegal warrantless wiretapping program (aka the Terrorist Surveillance Program - TSP) before the program was revealed by the New York Times in December 2005. And they were briefed in order to fund this massive violation of US citizens' rights!

Is Al Qaeda targeting the destabilizion of Pakistan or influencing the state of play in Pakistan to not take over Pakistan, but by means of blackmail, bribery, intimidation, assassination or simply joining with like jihadi-minded Pakistan military and/or intelligence types to acquire a nuclear weapon. And to use that weapon not on the United States, but as a "spectacular" operation against a target that Al Qaeda has not previously struck; namely Israel?

This Oxdown Gazette diary makes great use of information provided by the ACLU on 2/11/09 and have posted on their website referencing FOIA documentation released by the Army CID (Army Criminal Investigation Division) regarding:

Investigation into the deaths of two detainees at the Bagram Control Point (BCP) in Bagram, Afghanistan. Both detainees were determined to have been killed by blood clots that were dislodged and travelled to their hearts, causing pulmonary embolism. The blood clots, and their subsequent dislodging, were caused by sustained standing chained in place, as well as by sleep deprivation and dozens of beatings by guards and possibly interrogators. The investigation reveals systems of torture perpetrated by Military Intelligence and the Military Police guards at the BCP, as well as allegations of torture at joint American-Afghani prisons in Kabul, and maltreatment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba...

Are civilian deaths in Gaza are "accidental"? Not bloody likely! You be the judge.

A response to today's Bradley Burston post in the Haaretz

Could Blagojevich appoint himself to Obama's vacant Senate seat? Would he?

Wingnuts and Bi-partisanship? Not bloody likely!

H/T to Andrew Sullivan for - Because every now and again a new blog emerges that knocks your socks off:

My name is Helen Philpot. I am 82 years old. My grandson taught me how to do this so that I could “blog” with my best friend Margaret Schmechtman who I met in college almost 60 years ago. I have three children with my husband Harold. Margaret has three dogs with her husband Howard. I live in Texas and Margaret lives in Maine.

If the Department of Homeland Security violates your privacy with stuff like including you on a Terrorist Watchlist, including you in Warrantless Surveillance or just hoovers up and rumor, misinformation or out-and-out inaccurate information on you, our all powerful Unitary Executive can prevent Congress from finding out about it. So says the OLC. Again!

For those with sensitive antennae, you might have caught the subtle, but momentous change in the MSM as a result of the 2nd Presidential Debate.