Month: October 2005

Just out of curiosity I clicked on the Eurotrib blogroll link to Flogging the Simian.  Following her ‘farewell from blogging’ posts in late September, soj took her site down and hasn’t posted here since.

But guess what?  Three weeks later, FTS reappeared (with the monkey and woman changing positions!) and soj has posted some excellent pieces on the manufacturing of an Iran ‘crisis’, on blogging, and a variety of other subjects.

It’s worth checking out.  Guess the writing urge was just too powerful.

Cross-posted at European Tribune.

Update [2005-10-24 7:2:6 by canberra boy]:
Soj has returned to the frontpage at European Tribune with her EuroPDB. Seems I tumbled to her continued on-line existence just as she was about to reveal it!

Monday’s Washington Post reveals that it has obtained previously classified documents from the Electronic Privacy Information Center which has sued the Justice Department for those papers in relation to potential abuses of the so-called “Patriot” Act.

Records turned over as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit also indicate that the FBI has investigated hundreds of potential violations related to its use of secret surveillance operations, which have been stepped up dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but are largely hidden from public view.

In one case, FBI agents kept an unidentified target under surveillance for at least five years — including more than 15 months without notifying Justice Department lawyers after the subject had moved from New York to Detroit. An FBI investigation concluded that the delay was a violation of Justice guidelines and prevented the department “from exercising its responsibility for oversight and approval of an ongoing foreign counterintelligence investigation of a U.S. person.”

In other cases, agents obtained e-mails after a warrant expired, seized bank records without proper authority and conducted an improper “unconsented physical search,” according to the documents.

FBI officials told WaPo, “none of the cases have involved major violations and most amount to administrative errors.”

That is far from comforting considering how secretive the oversight of FBI practices is, which the WaPo article describes in detail.

Chip Pitts of The Nation reminds us that “none of the provisions of the law [the Patriot Act] that were slated to sunset now appear likely to do so.” And, there’s been a lot of arm-twisting and misinformation in the form of misleading Republican talking points used behind the scenes to see that the Patriot Act stays as is. (read the full article for more…).

It is now well-known that truth is not this Administration’s cardinal virtue. What is less well-known is how sustained and deceptive a campaign has been waged to retain the broad powers of the Patriot Act.

and…

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee James F. Sensenbrenner joined many in the latest floor debate in maintaining that “there is no evidence that the Patriot Act has been used to violate civil liberties.” But this position ignores both the fact that the mere existence of such broad powers chills rights and is abusive, and the serious evidence of specific abuses that has come to light.

One man’s violation of civil liberties is, apparently, another man’s “administrative error”.

After several revisions, this photo montage is ready to be spread around. I can’t take hearing about how great Tom Delay is because he smiled for his mugshot. Here is a nice selection of other people who laughed in the face of Justice.

This needs to get seen so please recommend.

As the continuing saga of “Don’t Be My Neighbor” unfolds here at the edge of the Evergaldes, the broadcast news is all hurricanes all the time.

Even Game II of the WS is ad-free as we’re jerked from a 40-something degree night in Chicago to the sultry 81 degrees here where the solemn-faced weather people, led by Mr. Max at the Nat’l. Hurricane Center down the street (as it were) are telling us the BIG danger for those of us on the dirty side (yep! that’s me) of Wilma is going to be tornados.  

New with this storm, the weather people have trotted out a technological innovation so we can experience cranked up thrills as the now cat-3 storm bears down on the Naples/Ft. Myers area.