Monthly Archives: May 2011

Jesus H. Christ. How have I missed this story? From Radley Balko: On May 5 at around 9:30 a.m., several teams of Pima County, Ariz., police officers from at least four different police agencies armed with SWAT gear and an … Continue reading →

Warren, who’s helping the President set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (an agency created by, and with a mandate from, the U.S. Congress), has been subject to absolutely daffy questioning from members of the House Oversight Committee. E.g., Rep. … Continue reading →

First, President Obama seems perfectly content to break the law by failing to seek Congressional approval for any combat mission lasting longer than 60 days, as required by the War Powers Resolution of 1973: That deadline fell Friday, but in … Continue reading →

Via Ghost In The Machine, this astonishing bit of candor pops up in a PBS piece on the economic crash lurking in our massive wars: An executive at a small defense contractor recently joked to me, “Afghanistan is our business … Continue reading →

WBEZ, the NPR affiliate in Chicago, reports that the jury has now been selected for the trial of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, one of several men indicted as co-conspirators in the 2008 coordinated terror attacks in Mumbai. WBEZ notes, The trial … Continue reading →

A friend points out that it’s not surprising that Osama Bin Laden had porn on his hard drive — it’s actually quite common to find porn in terrorist hidey-holes. Asra Nomani of The Daily Beast has more: In fact, the … Continue reading →

Don’t know how I missed this last week, but apparently Bin Laden’s hard drives contained a “fairly extensive” collection of pornography, according to (naturally) anonymous officials. Wired says it best: If this is a CIA information operation — and how … Continue reading →

This optimistic article in Al-Jazeera sees recent marches on the Israeli border in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, and Golan as a possible turning point in the Palestinian statehood movement. If Palestine can replace desperate (and ineffective) guerrilla warfare with … Continue reading →

Brad DeLong examines a possible flaw in libertarian readings of private property. “When you own a lunch counter and make it whites-only[,] if Black people sit down at the lunch counter you call the police — functionaries of the state … Continue reading →

Last week Jon Stewart interviewed alleged historian David Barton on The Daily Show, an interview which has been posted in its entirety on the show’s website. Barton, whatever you think of him and his approach to history, is undeniably both … Continue reading →