Al Qaeda in 2002: We Infiltrated UAE

The terrorist organization wrote that it had infiltrated the United Arab Emirates government four years ago, and that the emirates were “well aware” of the infiltration. This is the country that is angling to take over control of major U.S. ports. (Hat tip: Think Progress and Scripps Howard, which broke the news.)

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 READ MORE  | 24 READS

Tape: Bush Warned on Levees Before Katrina

Confidential video footage obtained by the Associated Press proves that federal officials warned Bush that Hurricane Katrina could breach levees and cause a tidal wave of disaster.

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 READ MORE  | 64 READS

Port Deal Never Probed for Terror Ties

A Republican lawmaker tells CNN that the Homeland Security Dept. never investigated whether the UAE company slotted to take control over major U.S. ports had any connection to Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups.

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 READ MORE  | 21 READS

‘Simpsons’ Trump First Amendment

OK, OK, we know that it’s a waste of breath of get exercised over the ignorance educational quirks of the American populace, but get this: Only one in four people can name more than one First Amendment freedom, while half of people in a poll can name at least two “Simpsons” family members.

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 READ MORE  | 53 READS

Bush Lacked Iraq Rebuilding Plan

The Washington Times (of all publications) says that a new government report claims the White House “never drew up a comprehensive plan for rebuilding Iraq” after the 2003 invasion.
In the last week, Bush has lost:

Now even the staunchly conservative Washington Times is giving the White House a hard time.
All of a sudden the ranks of Bush supporters seem about as robust as our “coalition of the willing.”

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 READ MORE  | 80 READS

Libby’s Defense: The Dog Ate My Memory

Vice President Cheney’s indicted former chief of staff hires a Harvard memory loss expert for his defense, and hints in court filings that memory loss will be among the “central themes” of his defense. The National Review has a great follow-up on this.

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 READ MORE  | 69 READS

Bush’s Katrina Understatement of the Year

In an ABC interview, Bush says he saw people screaming for help on TV and “realized that our government was—could have done a better job of comforting people.”
“Could have done a better job of comforting people”? How about “could have done a better job saving people”?

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 READ MORE  | 34 READS

Jon Stewart to Dems: ‘Pick Up Your Game’

“The Daily Show” host tells Larry King in that joking-but-not-really-joking way of his, “I’m leaving the Democrats out because I honestly don’t feel that they make an impact. They have 49% of the vote and 3% of the power.”

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 READ MORE  | 39 READS

Iraq Headed Squarely Toward Civil War

A bomb in a vegetable market killed 36 people in Baghdad, prompting the government to announce a one-day ban on all vehicles in the city.
This comes on the heels of similarly deadly bombings Wednesday and the day before. The Washington Post put the death toll of this recent spate of violence at over 1,300.
What’s worse, America’s spy chief tells Congress that the violence could destabilize the entire region—which would completely upend one of Bush’s main reasons for invasion in the first place.

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 READ MORE  | 380 READS

When Politics Defeat Science

A former FDA official reminds us that the White House is still forcing science to conform to the dictates of Bush-style fundamentalist Christianity.

Posted on Mar 1, 2006 READ MORE  | 31 READS

Boston Church Lagging on Pedophile Reforms

The state attorney general is blasting the Boston Archdiocese for its failure to implement safeguards to prevent the sexual abuse of children. Missing: a system to track abusive priests, and prevention programs in schools.

Posted on Feb 28, 2006 READ MORE  | 56 READS

U.S. Troops: Pull Out of Iraq

In the first ever poll of U.S. military personnel in Iraq, most troops say we should withdraw within the next year.
Does this mean that Bush is unpatriotic because he’s not “supporting the troops”?

Posted on Feb 28, 2006 READ MORE  | 51 READS

Google CFO Says Growth Is Slowing

The 800-pound gorilla’s rampage has started to slow down a bit, as evidenced by the chief financial officer’s admission that the search company will have to find new ways to boost revenue.
Related: Check out Truthdig’s eye-opening report on Google’s grasp of the intimate details of your life.

Posted on Feb 28, 2006 READ MORE  | 22 READS

Court Sides With Abortion Protesters

The Supreme Court ruling had nothing to do with the underlying issue of abortion. Rather, the court ruled that federal extortion and racketeering laws cannot be used to ban demonstrations. (Alito, by the way, sat this one out.)

Posted on Feb 28, 2006 READ MORE  | 17 READS

‘Pompeii of the East’ Discovered

In 1815, the largest volcanic eruption in modern times buried the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. Now scholars have uncovered a part of it and are hailing the find as second in importance only to its Italian “time capsule” equivalent.

Posted on Feb 28, 2006 READ MORE  | 87 READS