Where Did Dick Take the Leak?

Dearest Readers, you have heard the latest on Dick and his part in the CIA Leak case. Yes, it seems the media has finally caught on to the part he played in the scheme to out Valerie Plame Wilson. Dan Froomkin of Washington Post had a great scoop in yesterdays' paper.(Fitzgerald Again Points to Cheney)

You're a marked man, Dick

How did they find this out, when you have known for years? They read it in the new filings that Patrick Fitzgerald made in connection with Scooter's case.

Of course, had they looked at any of the court documentation filed in connection with this case, they too would already know...

Froomkin excerpt from WaPo:

Special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald has made it clearer than ever that he was hot on the trail of a coordinated campaign to out CIA agent Valerie Plame until that line of investigation was cut off by the repeated lies from Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Dan has the new filings in pdf, a good read as Fitzgerald lays out his reasoning this is no "political crime" just the regular white collar criminal kind.

Scooter, a white collar criminal defense attorney himself, knows all about white collar crime.

Prissy finds it amusing that Scooters overrated team couldn't save him from the attorneys case against him who were practically working for free, in comparison to what Scooter was paying out for legal assistence.

Note to Dearest Readers: When Betty Buckaneer returns from her travels within the next couple of weeks, we will finally record our test show!

Hot Links Updated

Reuters Ex-spy Plame and publisher sue CIA over her memoir

The suit said although the CIA had released Plame's dates of service in an unclassified document, "the CIA now purports to classify or reclassify Ms. Wilson's pre-2002 federal service dates" so it cannot be published in her memoir "Fair Game."

"Defendants cannot unring the bell by asserting that their documented, authorized and voluntary disclosure was just a mistake," the suit said.

"There simply is no basis for the CIA to maintain in effect that Valerie Plame is the only person in the world who is not entitled to publish this information," it said.

And...Evidence at that trial showed Libby and several other White House and State Department officials leaked her identity to discredit her husband, who had accused the administration of twisting intelligence to build a case for invading Iraq.

Denver Post Jeppesen unit sued over alleged CIA "torture flights"

The suit cites an article from The New Yorker magazine that quotes an anonymous former Jeppesen employee recounting that Bob Overby, managing director of Jeppesen International Trip Planning, said during an internal corporate meeting, "We do all of the extraordinary rendition flights - you know, the torture flights. Let's face it, some of those flights end up that way."

Jeppesen spokesman Mike Pound called the reported Overby comment "a third-hand report of something that somebody said - in other words, it's hearsay."

"We really don't know much of anything about a trip of that nature," Pound said. "We don't need to know why a customer is taking a trip, and we don't ask."

CIA spokesman George Little said in an e-mailed comment that the United States "does not conduct or condone torture, nor does it transport anyone to other countries for the purpose of torture. The goal of renditions is to get terrorists off the streets in a way that complies with our laws and treaty obligations."

Surely Little was sporting a smirk when he spoke those words...

BBC Norway sends aid to Palestinians

"We hope our contribution will help to alleviate the current social crisis in the Palestinian Territory, particularly for the many extended families with only one breadwinner," said Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere.

"The critical situation in Gaza has many causes, but it has been exacerbated by social destitution and despair. It is therefore particularly important that the Palestinian authorities receive financial support from the international community," he said.

His deputy Raymond Johansen held talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya in March.

The US and EU want the new government to clarify its position in three areas: recognition of Israel, the armed struggle and signing up to past peace agreements.

The Democratic Party Blog (don't get the idea Prissy is happy with you-she reads redstate sometimes too) Rove Protege and US Attorney, Quits

Tim Griffin, the controversial U.S. attorney in Arkansas, has resigned. Griffin is a protégé of Karl Rove and formerly research director of the Republican National Committee. In 2004, BBC News published a report showing that Griffin led a "caging" scheme to suppress the votes of African-American service members in Florida. ThinkProgress published this helpful explanation of what "caging" is:

In 2004, BBC reporter Greg Palast obtained two e-mails — prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign’s national research director--that listed "1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas" of the Jacksonville, FL Naval Air Station. Palast explains:

Here’s how the scheme worked: The RNC mailed these voters letters in envelopes marked, "Do not forward", to be returned to the sender. These letters were mailed to servicemen and women, some stationed overseas, to their US home addresses. The letters then returned to the Bush-Cheney campaign as "undeliverable."

The lists of soldiers of "undeliverable" letters were transmitted from state headquarters, in this case Florida, to the RNC in Washington. The party could then challenge the voters’ registration and thereby prevent their absentee ballots being counted.

In 2004, African-American leaders denounced the caging scheme as "another shameful Republican effort to keep blacks from voting."

The Hindu Attack on cleric family

PESHAWAR: At least 13 persons were killed in an attack on the house of a prominent anti-Taliban tribal leader in the Tank district of the North West Frontier Province on Wednesday night. Pir Attique-ur-Rehman, an influential tribal leader of South Waziristan, well-known for his stand against the Taliban and jiahdi groups, the apparent target of the attack, was not in the house at the time. Police said they were unable to locate him, but confirmed that he was not among the dead. But seven members of his family and six other relatives and guests, were killed when more than 100 armed men stormed his fortress-like house in Tank, a district of NWFP that borders South Waziristan.

Wired Which ISPs Are Spying on You?

AOL, AT&T, Cox and Qwest all responded to the survey, with a mix of timeliness and transparency.

But only Cox answered the question, "How long do you retain records of the IP addresses assigned to customers."

These records can be used to trace an internet posting, website visit or an e-mail back to an ISP's customers. The records are useful to police tracking down child-porn providers, and music-industry groups use them to sue file sharers. Companies have also used the records to track down anonymous posters who write unflattering comments in stock-trading boards.

Cox's answer: six months. AOL says "limited period of time," while AT&T says it varies across its internet-access offerings but that the time limits are all "within industry standards." Comcast, EarthLink, Verizon and Time Warner didn't respond.

der Spiegel WORLD BANK CHIEF ZOELLICK Bush's Quiet Idealist

But opinions diverge over Zoellick's ideological alignment. Conservatives describe him as a "man of the center" (in the words of German daily Berliner Morgenpost) and as a champion of international alliances. But those on the left view him as a special brand of neoconservative: one who is less ideological and disguises himself for pragmatic reasons, but still quietly sympathizes with the neoconservative cause.

Zoellick is "moderate" only by comparison to Wolfowitz and his former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, a classic neoconservative, writes Tom Barry, the director of the left-leaning International Relations Center. Zoellick himself accepts the "the neoconservative premise of US global supremacy" but wants to "wisely manage that power," according to Barry.

He's not an ideologist, then, but an idealist: As early as one year before George W. Bush took office in January of 2001, Zoellick articulated his ideas about a "Republican foreign policy" in an essay for Foreign Affairs. The United States would shape the future world order on the basis of its military supremacy, Zoellick wrote, predicting the events of the years to come. "A modern Republican foreign policy," he wrote, "recognizes that there is still evil in the world." Bush himself couldn't have said it better.

Wonderful, yet another PNAC signer in charge of anything...

The New Yorker June 4, 2007Party Unfaithful The Republican implosion by Jeffrey Goldberg

Disillusionment with the Administration has become widespread among the conservatives who once were Bush’s strongest supporters. Mickey Edwards, a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma, said recently, “The Republican Administration has shown itself to be completely incompetent to the point that, of Republicans in Iowa, fifty-two per cent thought we should be out of Iraq in six months.” Edwards, who left Congress in 1993 and now teaches at Princeton, is helping to lead an effort among some conservatives to curtail the President’s power in such areas as warrantless wiretapping. “This Administration is beyond the pale in terms of arrogance and incompetence,” he said. “This guy thinks he’s a monarch, and that’s scary as hell.” The grievances against the Administration seem limitless. Many congressional Republicans, for instance, were upset that Bush waited to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld until after the midterm elections.

Even if events in Iraq do eventually turn in the direction that the Administration hopes, history is weighted against the Republicans. Only once since the death of Franklin Roosevelt has a party kept the Presidency for three consecutive terms—when George H. W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis, in 1988. Bush the Elder, though, had the advantage of being Ronald Reagan’s Vice-President, and Reagan, despite being damaged by the Iran-Contra scandal, was greatly esteemed by his party. Few of the men running now for the Republican nomination are likely to embrace George W. Bush’s record. “If the Democrats can’t win the Presidency in 2008, they’ll never win the Presidency,” David Keene, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, said not long ago.

And now Karl Rove, the man Bush has called his “boy genius,” is among those being blamed by conservatives for the Party’s problems—blame that he shares with others who have attempted to transform the party. One is Newt Gingrich, the strategist behind the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, who could not hold together his coalition, and resigned. (Gingrich also faced ethics problems—he was accused of using tax-deductible donations for political purposes.) Another is Tom DeLay, who served as House whip under Gingrich and became Majority Leader under Gingrich’s successor, Dennis Hastert, and who left facing charges relating to campaign fi-nance. Perhaps most of all, conservatives blame Rove’s boss, George W. Bush.

Sheesh, McPaper's reporting it now Damage from climate change could cost Alaska $10 billion

BELIZE CITY — Collapsing bridges, bursting sewer pipes and crumbling roads caused by global warming could cost Alaska up to $10 billion over the next few decades, researchers said.

Atmospheric temperatures in the northernmost U.S. state have risen by more than 3°F over the past five decades, Peter Larsen, a resource economist at the University of Alaska Anchorage, told a climate change conference in the Central American country of Belize.

Larsen led a study with a team of engineers to calculate how Alaska will cope with the highest temperatures it has experienced in the last 400 years, according to data gathered from ice cores.

"There is a rough magnitude of between $5 and $10 billion of public infrastructure that's vulnerable to climate change just in Alaska," Larsen said Monday night.

Hmmm...Engineers and scientists are concerned about global warming that the Bushies say doesn't exist.

Wonder why the military is writing papers on it...talking about disturbances as populations shift to obtain access to resources due to changing climate.

Info wars Flashback Oct 3 2006 Atta's Father Says Video Fake, Credibility of 'Hijackers Tape' Crumbles

New revelations about the so-called 'laughing hijackers' tape expose its release as a stage-managed politically timed trick. The father of Mohammed Atta blasts the video as a "fake" while contradictory claims of its origin and nature baffle even mainstream terror experts - while even the media admits that the tape was released not by Al-Qaeda but by the U.S. intelligence apparatus.

Firstly, the father of Mohammed Atta, who has previously stated that his son is still alive, has blasted the video as a total fake. "The video-testament of my son is false and I continue to believe he is innocent" Muhammad al-Amir al-Sayd Atta, 71, told Saudi daily al-Watan. "The Americans tampered with and falsified that video" he alleged, " they want to change the truth in order to achieve their goals in the Middle East."

"There is a big difference between this photo and the images shown by the Americans - that one is not my boy." he went on to say.

Brown Bear Press Essay: They Are Not Going To Follow Us Home

If the President ever understood anything about terrorism as a tactic post-9/11, he certainly didn't pass on his knowledge to the American people. If he had, he might have led by saying something like, "They attacked us to provoke us into attacking them, because they believe they can make hypocrites out of us if we do, and we have to be very careful about how we go about seeking justice or we will fall into their trap. We can not allow them to use our grief and rage to turn us into jack-booted monsters and swell their ranks. We must resist the temptation to be un-American by proving ourselves to be hypocrites with one standard for Americans, and another for everyone else. If we let go of our American ideals in our zeal to defend ourselves, the terrorists will win because we would have self-destructed."

History has documented that the President chose to do the exact opposite, because he wanted to keep the fear alive and thriving, to promote and justify the upcoming invasion and occupation of Iraq, for what amounted to a personal vendetta. The Bush administration has yet to accept, admit, or confess to the American People that the administration's assessment of the post-9/11 terrorist threat was as wildly exaggerated, misinformed, corrupt, and tragically mishandled as the war in Iraq. Hopefully, the whole truth will emerge in the not too distant future. But, it could have been a lot worse. God knows this administration tried their best to turn the worst case terror scenarios into self-fulfilling prophecies. We Americans are all very fortunate that they failed. The people of Iraq were not so lucky.

The jihadists have gotten all they really wanted from us. They have provoked the Bush administration into turning much of the Muslim world against us, used our missteps to raise an army, and have forever undermined our stature and influence in the Middle East, along with much of the world. When we leave, they are going to turn their full attention to the war for the heart of Islam, and there is nothing we can do about it except watch from the relative safety of the sidelines. But once we are out of the picture, the moderates will win. If we stay, they will lose, and we will all forever suffer the consequences.

They will not follow us home. If the strongest military in the history of the world couldn't subdue a nation with less than one tenth of our population and resources, how could a relative handful of fundamentalist extremists be a genuine threat to our sovereignty, unless we do something stupid like elect them to public office?

Did the communists follow us home from Vietnam? No of course not...

BBC Guantanamo Saudi 'kills himself'

A Saudi Arabian prisoner has died in an apparent suicide at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, the US military has said.

Two Saudis and a Yemeni prisoner were found hanged in an apparent suicide at the camp in June last year.

There are about 380 prisoners at the camp, some for as long as five years.

Another Bushworld atrocity. These people imprisoned are not POW and they are not charged as criminals.

Since Gonzo and his crafty weirdo lawyer friends named them "enemy combatants" these persons have no legal standing in the US. It's so un-American Prissy could scream at him and Gonzo, with no problem...

BBC this judge needs a psych exam-then a legal one. Guantanamo lawyer faces jail term

A US Navy lawyer faces six months in prison and dismissal from service for sending a human rights lawyer the names of 550 Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Lt Cdr Matthew Diaz, 41, posted a list of the names in an unmarked Valentine's Day card during the final days of his service at Guantanamo Bay in 2005.

He apologised during his sentencing for having acted "irrationally".

The US military had originally refused to release the names of the men it was holding at Guantanamo Bay.

Appalling lack of ethics on the part of the judge and shame on the Navy for turning its back on military core values, once again.

Prissy is thinking of Lt. Cdr Charles Swift for doing his duty, winning Hamdi v. Rumsfield and the Navy denied him promotion as a result.

What is wrong with these people who decided it was legal, if not preferable to break Geneva and other human rights?

Shall we just tell our children to lie, bully and steal from the womb, so they won't be left behind, when of the age to contend loyal Bushies?

New Scientist Life decisions separate 'hawk' from 'dove'

The model incorporates this dilemma over current or future reproduction, and looks at how behavioural traits evolve over many generations. Individuals in the model are confronted with a risky situation in which they might get injured but where there is also a chance of a high pay-off. This is similar to the famous "hawk-dove" game in which an individual who behaves aggressively has a higher chance of winning a fight over a resource than one who behaves meekly. Hawks, however, are more likely than doves to die in the attempt.

The team also examined how animals forage when there are predators around. Bolder individuals get more food because they don't waste time hiding - but they also run the risk of being eaten. In other words, individuals that live fast do risk dying young.

Seattle Times Bush sees U.S. role in Iraq as similar to that in S. Korea

Prissy is sure he believes he does; but Dubya "sees" a lot of things no one else can see.

CBC UN creates special court to try Lebanese assassination suspects

Ten members of the security council voted in favour of the resolution, while five countries abstained — Russia, China, South Africa, Qatar and Indonesia.

"This is a symbolic resolution because no suspects have been named in the assassination of Rafik Hariri," said CBC journalist Neil Herland, who reports on the United Nations.

"It also shows that the UN Security Council supports the current prime minister of Lebanon, Fouad Siniora, and his government, and not the opposition Hezbollah faction, which does not support the creation of a tribunal."

CBC Helicopter shot down in Afghanistan; 7 soldiers killed

Five Americans and two other soldiers died when a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down Wednesday evening in Afghanistan's most volatile province, a U.S. military official said.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said other troops rushing to the scene in Helmand province were ambushed and had to call in air support to drive off their attackers.

The Taliban claimed responsibility. Initial reports suggested the helicopter was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade, said one U.S. official.

NATO said there were no survivors.

Public Radio Market Place ACLU sues Boeing for alleged role with CIA

The ACLU cites an article in The New Yorker magazine. It quoted a senior Jeppeson official as telling an internal board meeting that the company was planning all of what he allegedly called "the torture flights."

ACLU attorney Steven Watt says there's no way the firm couldn't have known what was going on:STEVEN WATT: They had their head in the sand if alarm bells were not being raised that there was something untoward here. And what we're alleging is that, knowingly, Jeppeson aided the CIA in their torture and indefinite detention.

Proving that in court is another matter, and the ACLU may never even get the chance. Today's action may ultimately amount to little more than the legal equivalent of shouting and pointing.

Duke University professor Scott Silliman says the CIA is likely to invoke the government's "state secrets privilege." It's been recognized by the courts since World War Two and is virtually automatic.

Professor Silliman (oh my that is his name) must not keep up on the news much, since those rendition flight paths are all in the public domain now...and didn't they tell him its Boeing being sued, not the CIA?

From the Wayniac! Wayne is one of the good guys, in Prissy's book. Bush-Cheney rift

Bush-Cheney rift. WMR's Washington sources have confirmed that a major rift has opened up between President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney over U.S. Iran policy. Cheney and the remaining neo-con cabal inside the Bush administration favor quick and decisive U.S. military action against Iran while Bush, backed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, favor the current diplomatic negotiations with Iran, particularly the Baghdad Green Zone talks concerning Iraq's security.

Bush has reportedly bristled at Cheney's suggestion that he is a "wimp." The junior Bush has made no secret of his obsession with his father's "wimp" persona and has striven to prove his own machismo. Cheney's "wimp talk" has infuriated Bush, according to our sources.

Ever since Deputy National Security Adviser J.D. Crouch resigned abruptly on May 4 (the same day ABC News was poised to reveal White House officials on the "Washington Madam's" list of clients), Iran-felon and Middle East super-hawk Elliott Abrams has served as the virtual number two man at the National Security Council under Stephen Hadley, according to our White House sources. Cheney and Abrams serve as a White House duet calling for U.S. military action against Iran.

There are also indications that former President George H. W. Bush is quietly supporting a "whispering campaign" against Cheney in an attempt to force him and his remaining neo-con stalwarts from office.

A whisper campaign from the hearing aid brigade?

Ireland.com newspaper Ireland ranked among most peaceful nations

Ireland was ranked fourth behind Norway, New Zealand, Denmark and ahead of Japan, Finland, Sweden and Canada

"We were trying to find out what positive qualities lead to peace," said Leo Abruzzese, the North American editorial director of the intelligence unit that is part of The Economist Group that publishes the well known magazine. He said they found in general the most peaceful countries were the smallest, the most politically stable and democratic. "Democracy didn't actually correlate with peace, but a well-functioning democracy did.

Efficient, accountable government seems to be the leading determinant of peace. Beyond that, income helps." Fifteen of the top 20 most peaceful nations are in Western Europe, and countries with higher income appeared to lead to higher levels of peace, he said. The United States ranked 96th out of 121 nations, just worse than Yemen and just better than Iran, Honduras and South Africa.

Mr Abruzzese said the United States' score was pulled down by the number of wars it is involved in, large numbers of soldiers killed on the battlefield and high defense spending. He said the fact the United States has the world's largest prison population per share of overall population also pulled down the score.

Recovering Liberal, don't forget Jack Abramoff, still singing like a bird to whittle away some jail time...Following Jack Abramoff’s Money Trail

Here's a few departments who had officials knowing Jack..

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT-Frederick A. Black, CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION,

CIA-Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo,

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR Italia Federici & J. Steven Griles,WHITE HOUSE-George W. Bush,Lewis Libby,Karl Rove,Henry Schuelke,Susan Bonzon Ralston,David H. Safavian,Timothy E. Flanigan,Patrick Pizzella ,ABRAMOFF PARTNERS -Michael Scanlon,Adam Kidan.

ABRAMOFF ASSOCIATES-Edward P. Ayoob-former aid to Harry Reid,Fred Bagget,Ed Buckham - Former DeLay Chief of Staff and Abramoff lobbyist,Will Brooke - Former Chief of Staff of Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT).Brooke reportedly received more money from Abramoff than anyone else.

Check out the site for the full list, many are already serving time or have cases still in the legal system.

Quotes of the Day

"This Memorial Day we remember the dead,and the politicians who killed them." -- John Aravosis, americablog.com

"Never be haughty to the humble or humble to the haughty." -- Jefferson Davis

Quote from Alabama, Declaration of Rights Article I Section 35 "That the sole object and only legitimate end of government is to protect the citizen in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property, and when the government assumes other functions it is usurpation and oppression."

The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.--Georges Bernanos,French author, and a soldier in World War I

In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary. First, the authority of the sovereign.... Secondly, a just cause.... Thirdly ... a rightful intention.--Saint Thomas Aquinas