randomwalks/dj

Of course, Valerie Plame is talking about Robert Novak printing her name in his column. That's what her husband Joseph Wilson said when he came in on the morning Novak's column was published, July 2003. Today, Valerie Plame Wilson spoke in public before Rep. Waxman's committee, describing the day her husband came in and dropped the newspaper on the bed and said: "He did it." When Rep. Dennis Kucinich questioned Ms. Plame, one answer jumped out. He asked if covert agents were identified very often. Plame said, not that I'm aware, especially not by their own government. Chilling.

Originally posted by Snow Wolf from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 16, 2007 10:51 PM

Of course, Valerie Plame is talking about Robert Novak printing her name in his column. That's what her husband Joseph Wilson said when he came in on the morning Novak's column was published, July 2003. Today, Valerie Plame Wilson spoke in public before Rep. Waxman's committee, describing the day her husband came in and dropped the newspaper on the bed and said: "He did it." When Rep. Dennis Kucinich questioned Ms. Plame, one answer jumped out. He asked if covert agents were identified very often. Plame said, not that I'm aware, especially not by their own government. Chilling.

Originally posted by Snow Wolf from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 16, 2007 6:51 PM

SOMEWHERE in NORTHERN IOWA — The unthinkable has happened. Senator John McCain met a question, while sitting with reporters on his bus as it rumbled through Iowa today, that he couldn’t – or perhaps wouldn’t – answer. Did he support the distribution of taxpayer-subsidized condoms in Africa to fight the transmission of H.I.V.? What followed was a long series of awkward pauses, glances up to the ceiling and the image of one of Mr. McCain’s aides, standing off to the back, urgently motioning his press secretary to come to Mr. McCain’s side. The upshot was that Mr. McCain said he did not know this subject well, did not know his position on it, and relied on the advice of Senator Tom Coburn, a physician and Republican from Oklahoma.

Originally posted by cmborodi from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 16, 2007 6:49 PM

SOMEWHERE in NORTHERN IOWA — The unthinkable has happened. Senator John McCain met a question, while sitting with reporters on his bus as it rumbled through Iowa today, that he couldn’t – or perhaps wouldn’t – answer. Did he support the distribution of taxpayer-subsidized condoms in Africa to fight the transmission of H.I.V.? What followed was a long series of awkward pauses, glances up to the ceiling and the image of one of Mr. McCain’s aides, standing off to the back, urgently motioning his press secretary to come to Mr. McCain’s side. The upshot was that Mr. McCain said he did not know this subject well, did not know his position on it, and relied on the advice of Senator Tom Coburn, a physician and Republican from Oklahoma.

Originally posted by cmborodi from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 16, 2007 2:49 PM

"Bush's Shadow Army" Jeremy Scahill reports on the Bush Administration's growing dependence on private security forces such as Blackwater USA and efforts in Congress to rein them in... Contractors have provided the Bush Administration with political cover, allowing the government to deploy private forces in a war zone free of public scrutiny, with the deaths, injuries and crimes of those forces shrouded in secrecy. The Administration and the GOP-controlled Congress in turn have shielded the contractors from accountability, oversight and legal constraints. Despite the presence of more than 100,000 private contractors on the ground in Iraq, only one has been indicted for crimes or violations. "We have over 200,000 troops in Iraq and half of them aren't being counted, and the danger is that there's zero accountability," says Democrat Dennis Kucinich, one of the leading Congressional critics of war contracting.

Originally posted by Curiouser1 from djacobs' starred items in Google Reader, on March 16, 2007 12:44 PM

"Bush's Shadow Army" Jeremy Scahill reports on the Bush Administration's growing dependence on private security forces such as Blackwater USA and efforts in Congress to rein them in... Contractors have provided the Bush Administration with political cover, allowing the government to deploy private forces in a war zone free of public scrutiny, with the deaths, injuries and crimes of those forces shrouded in secrecy. The Administration and the GOP-controlled Congress in turn have shielded the contractors from accountability, oversight and legal constraints. Despite the presence of more than 100,000 private contractors on the ground in Iraq, only one has been indicted for crimes or violations. "We have over 200,000 troops in Iraq and half of them aren't being counted, and the danger is that there's zero accountability," says Democrat Dennis Kucinich, one of the leading Congressional critics of war contracting.

Originally posted by Curiouser1 from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 16, 2007 12:44 PM

She has been silent nearly four years. Today, the CIA officer whose unmasking fueled a political uproar and criminal probe that reached into the White House is poised to finally tell her own story -- before Congress. Valerie Plame's testimony will have all the trappings of a "Garbo speaks" moment on Capitol Hill, with cameras and microphones arrayed to capture the voice of Plame, the glamorous but mute star of a compelling political intrigue. But while she hopes to clear up her status as an agency operative when her name first hit newspapers in July 2003, America's most publicized spy is unlikely to betray any details in open session about her mysterious career.

Originally posted by cmborodi from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 16, 2007 2:17 AM

She has been silent nearly four years. Today, the CIA officer whose unmasking fueled a political uproar and criminal probe that reached into the White House is poised to finally tell her own story -- before Congress. Valerie Plame's testimony will have all the trappings of a "Garbo speaks" moment on Capitol Hill, with cameras and microphones arrayed to capture the voice of Plame, the glamorous but mute star of a compelling political intrigue. But while she hopes to clear up her status as an agency operative when her name first hit newspapers in July 2003, America's most publicized spy is unlikely to betray any details in open session about her mysterious career.

Originally posted by cmborodi from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 15, 2007 10:17 PM

In the April issue of Washington Monthly, General Wesley Clark writes about an environment in the Middle East that is emotionally charged... "with a triumphalist Iranian government, a failing U.S. military intervention in Iraq, a weakened U.S. president, and severe tensions between Sunni and Shia sects throughout Islam." General Clark examines the delicate dynamics of the situation, underscoring the need for serious diplomatic efforts by the United States to avert a military conflict with Iran. This is the very kind of critical thinking that the Bush administration seems totally incapable of.

Originally posted by SF Doug from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 15, 2007 6:01 PM

In the April issue of Washington Monthly, General Wesley Clark writes about an environment in the Middle East that is emotionally charged... "with a triumphalist Iranian government, a failing U.S. military intervention in Iraq, a weakened U.S. president, and severe tensions between Sunni and Shia sects throughout Islam." General Clark examines the delicate dynamics of the situation, underscoring the need for serious diplomatic efforts by the United States to avert a military conflict with Iran. This is the very kind of critical thinking that the Bush administration seems totally incapable of.

Originally posted by SF Doug from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 15, 2007 2:01 PM

A MANIFESTO FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT: "Zbigniew Brzezinski has written a new book that might be a foreign policy manifesto for Barack Obama. Its message is that America can recover from what Brzezinski calls the "catastrophic" mistakes of the Bush administration, but only if the next president makes a clean break from those policies and aligns the country with a world in transformation."

Originally posted by mommadona from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 14, 2007 2:31 PM

A MANIFESTO FOR THE NEXT PRESIDENT: "Zbigniew Brzezinski has written a new book that might be a foreign policy manifesto for Barack Obama. Its message is that America can recover from what Brzezinski calls the "catastrophic" mistakes of the Bush administration, but only if the next president makes a clean break from those policies and aligns the country with a world in transformation."

Originally posted by mommadona from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 14, 2007 10:31 AM

In recent years, the TED conference has gained a reputation for blissfully big ideas buoyed by unrelenting optimism. So few conference goers were prepared for venture capitalist John Doerr to choke up with emotion as he kicked off the second day of talks on Mar. 9. "I'm scared," he told the audience, looking down at his 15-year-old daughter in the front row. "I don't think we're going to make it." Doerr issued a passionate call to action for everyone to make environmental concerns their "next big thing."

Originally posted by Sacha from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 14, 2007 10:06 AM

In recent years, the TED conference has gained a reputation for blissfully big ideas buoyed by unrelenting optimism. So few conference goers were prepared for venture capitalist John Doerr to choke up with emotion as he kicked off the second day of talks on Mar. 9. "I'm scared," he told the audience, looking down at his 15-year-old daughter in the front row. "I don't think we're going to make it." Doerr issued a passionate call to action for everyone to make environmental concerns their "next big thing."

Originally posted by Sacha from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 14, 2007 6:06 AM

Hollywood has a thing for Al Gore and his three-alarm film on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth,” which won an Academy Award for best documentary. So do many environmentalists, who praise him as a visionary, and many scientists, who laud him for raising public awareness of climate change. But part of his scientific audience is uneasy. In talks, articles and blog entries that have appeared since his film and accompanying book came out last year, these scientists argue that some of Mr. Gore’s central points are exaggerated and erroneous. They are alarmed, some say, at what they call his alarmism.

Originally posted by Sacha from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 13, 2007 10:21 AM

Hollywood has a thing for Al Gore and his three-alarm film on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth,” which won an Academy Award for best documentary. So do many environmentalists, who praise him as a visionary, and many scientists, who laud him for raising public awareness of climate change. But part of his scientific audience is uneasy. In talks, articles and blog entries that have appeared since his film and accompanying book came out last year, these scientists argue that some of Mr. Gore’s central points are exaggerated and erroneous. They are alarmed, some say, at what they call his alarmism.

Originally posted by Sacha from David Jacobs' Huffs, on March 13, 2007 6:21 AM