Nits to pick, and apologism

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Sunday June 09, 2013 · 8:08 PM PDT

2013/06/09 · 20:08

If any of you haven't seen "In the Loop" I can't recommend it enough. It's perhaps the most biting political comedy made since "Dr. Strangelove."
There's one character who resembles Donald Rumsfeld in demeanor and relationship to the truth who drops the pithy one-liner "We don't need any more facts. In the land of truth, my friend, the man with one fact is the king."

Callout diaries are forbidden, so there will be no linking, but there's been a rather shameful front-page diary tonight excoriating us for buying into propaganda, and running of into the weeds. Sorry to say, it goes with the territory.

Alkibiades

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Saturday January 31, 2009 · 10:41 AM PST

2009/01/31 · 10:41

Just a quick diary, but the NYTimes is reporting Obama will select Judd Gregg as is his commerce secretary.

Alkibiades

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Friday January 16, 2009 · 8:26 AM PST

2009/01/16 · 08:26

I know this has been diaried over and over again, but this video really hammers it home.
The use of white phosphrous, whether it's in Fallujah, Gaza, or in shells by Hamas is a War Crime.

It's now totally clear Israel is using white phosphorous as a weapon.

Alkibiades

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Tuesday November 04, 2008 · 7:54 PM PST

2008/11/04 · 19:54

Just a quick diary, sorry it's so short.

http://www.gazette.com/...

Alkibiades

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Wednesday January 23, 2008 · 9:33 PM PST

2008/01/23 · 21:33

I wrote this for my college newspaper, but I'd like to see what you all think of it as well!

Those of you fortunate enough not to be obsessed with words, their uses, and their etymology, may not have the same fascination I have with the etymology of words associated with peoples’ names. For example, I feel as though Prince Potemkin has been much maligned by the use of "Potemkin" as an adjective describing a false or deceptive appearance. One of the greatest politicians of the 18th century, and perhaps of all time, has been relegated to ignominy by the "Potemkin village." The Potemkin village is a kind of half-truth that has been propagated since 1787, originating in Empress Catherine's trip through the Crimea, where supposedly Potemkin had mock villages built along the river banks to give the appearance of a great and vibrant populace.

Alkibiades

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Sunday August 19, 2007 · 7:55 AM PDT

2007/08/19 · 07:55

The new FISA bill has of course provoked considerable outcry, as it should. The purpose of this diary however it to provide a rough guide to implementing basic protections on your computer to prevent the most frequent forms of surveillance. I am not going to pretend to be an expert on any of these issues, I am more of a casual user with some interest and I feel like I've done some of my homework. If there are experts here, perhaps they could weigh in on more sophisticated techniques.

Alkibiades

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Sunday August 05, 2007 · 9:49 PM PDT

2007/08/05 · 21:49

In an angry, frustrated fit last night after the FISA vote I dashed off an email to my Senator, Amy Klobuchar asking her if she was worthy of following in the path of Paul Welstone and Mark Dayton. The conclusion to me was so obvious I didn't feel like it needed to be stated. I ended the letter by telling her she had lost my money and my time, something she had last summer. Last summer I worked 12-14 hours a day on a congressional campaign in Minnesota as a field staffer. Worked like a dog, and when I wasn't working on my campaign, I volunteered for Amy. I only met Amy once, and so I know this is absurd, but it felt like a personal blow to see her name on this list of Senators who voted for the FISA bill.
I don't want to turn this into a rant, or a list of Democratic capitulation on things like the Alito nomination or the Iraq funding bill.
Rather I want to point to something more precious to me than my time or money.

Alkibiades

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Wednesday June 13, 2007 · 5:59 AM PDT

2007/06/13 · 05:59

In my diary yesterday I stated that Hamas had seized control of the Gaza Strip. Some thought that perhaps I was being premature and jumping the gun (no pun intended) in claiming that Gaza had in fact been taken. I defended myself, saying Fatah had been marginalized and rendered ineffectual. Today that became perfectly clear.

Alkibiades

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Tuesday June 12, 2007 · 12:14 PM PDT

2007/06/12 · 12:14

I am living in the West Bank at the moment, and working in Jerusalem at the Alternative Information Center doing research. As such I have the dubious distinction of watching Gaza fall apart, again, and perhaps for the final time. I wrote in my blog earlier today that it looked like Gaza was finally slipping down the precipice. I was right. I just didn't expect to be proven right in an hour. More after the jump

Alkibiades

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Thursday January 25, 2007 · 7:49 AM PST

2007/01/25 · 07:49

I have to start out this diary with a confession-When I was 13 I volunteered for Ralph Nader in Minneapolis. This was in early August of the 2000 elections, but by election time I was losing my interest in Nader, and by the time he rejected the call to tell his supporters to vote for Al Gore I was gone. In the end I came back to Al Gore, but I felt for the sake of full disclosure, I has to get that off my chest. Volunteering for Nader was certainly not wasted time, it taught me a lot, and at the time it felt like the right thing to do. If I had been volunteering for Nader in Florida I'd feel a whole lot different though.

I've come full circle on Al Gore, and here I am in 2007 hoping he will be our presidential candidate in 2008. The reason for my unhesitating support for Al Gore is really very simple, but for me it's very compelling. He gets it. He gets that climate change thing. He understands the SINGLE most important issue to me, and to so many people my age who are wondering if the world we are entering will be inhabitable, and when we want to have kids, what are we leaving them?

Alkibiades

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Monday January 22, 2007 · 11:23 AM PST

2007/01/22 · 11:23

That darned no fly list that has caused so many of us liberal activists a headache, because, well, you know, you don't know why you're on it, and you can't really get off the list. I guess it taked a few high-profile names on the list to get it vetted, as

The Bush administration is checking the accuracy of a watch list of suspected terrorists banned from traveling on airliners in the U.S. and will probably cut the list in half, the head of the Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday.

More after the fold!

Poll

170 votes Show Results

The bigger threat to America?

170 votes Vote Now!

The bigger threat to America?

Cat Stevens-aka Yusuf Islam

4 votes

"Cat" Stevens-aka the wife of the biggest pork-barreler in the Senate

166 votes

Tracking the US in Somalia

Alkibiades

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Sunday January 21, 2007 · 5:51 PM PST

2007/01/21 · 17:51

It's become increasingly clear that the US has placed a central role in propelling Ethiopa to attacK the Islamist government in Somalia. This backing by the United States has essentially set the policy the United States will pursue in the horn of Africa. Proxy states will creates the vacum-like conditions in which the United States special forces can act with impunity.

It is worth examining some of the news out of Somalia to understand the trajectory of the United State's continuing actions in the region given our previous history in Somalia, and simply to understand the nature of the foreign policy being pursued by this Administration. The concern in Somalia of course under the Islamists was that they would provide some sort of safe-haven for all sorts of militants or terrorists, although it is not clear to what extent this was happening, especially in comparison a country like, say, Pakistan who has had their intelligence community accused of actively aiding the resurgent Taliban.

For an examination of the news coming out of Somalia, and humble analysis, jump below the fold!

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Nits to pick, and apologism

Will John Lynch push us into 60 senate seats?

The bones of her legs and pelvis, you can see it from outside

Are they burning CO's votes?

A Modest Lexicographic Proposal

Kossak's guide to lowering your FISA profile: Browsing and IM

If I had to vote today, I wouldn't vote for a Democrat

Hamas seizes Gaza, Day 2

Hamas has seized control of the Gaza Strip

A young person's rationale for Al Gore

Oh the irony-poor Ted Stevens and his wife "Cat"-UPDATED!

Tracking the US in Somalia