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More than 600 years precedence.
Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign
ROME — Citing advanced years and infirmity, Pope Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, stunned the Roman Catholic world on Monday by saying that he would resign on Feb. 28, less than eight years after he took office, the first pope to do so in six centuries.
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The announcement plunged the Roman Catholic world into frenzied speculation about his likely successor and seemed likely to inspire many contrasting evaluations of a papacy that was seen as both conservative and contentious.
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“In today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of St. Peter and proclaim the gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me,” the pope said.
“For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom, I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of St. Peter.”
Hedges.
The NDAA and the Death of the Democratic State
On Wednesday a few hundred activists crowded into the courtroom of the Second Circuit, the spillover room with its faulty audio feed and dearth of chairs, and Foley Square outside the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in Manhattan where many huddled in the cold. The fate of the nation, we understood, could be decided by the three judges who will rule on our lawsuit against President Barack Obama for signing into law Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
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If we lose in Hedges v. Obama—and it seems certain that no matter the outcome of the appeal this case will reach the Supreme Court—electoral politics and our rights as citizens will be as empty as those of Nero’s Rome. If we lose, the power of the military to detain citizens, strip them of due process and hold them indefinitely in military prisons will become a terrifying reality. Democrat or Republican. Occupy activist or libertarian. Socialist or tea party stalwart. It does not matter. This is not a partisan fight. Once the state seizes this unchecked power, it will inevitably create a secret, lawless world of indiscriminate violence, terror and gulags. I lived under several military dictatorships during the two decades I was a foreign correspondent. I know the beast.
Record of the year. Love this one. Super creative music video.
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)
Song of the year. Hmm. Don't know the difference between record of the year and song of the year.
Rolling Stone, 20 pictures of Bob Marley, who was honored with a tribute at the Grammy award ceremony.
Photos: Bob Marley through the years
Playing games with filibuster because of the promises/gentlemen's agreements made on filibuster reform just weeks ago? Graham and McCain say they don't want to filibuster the confirmation votes but Graham wants to put a hold on them. The result is the same.
Senator Plans 'Hold' on Obama Nominees
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said he would put a "hold" on the nominations—a procedural move that often halts deliberations—until the White House gives more information about last September's attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya.
A "hold" is an informal practice that allows senators to inform the chamber's leaders they are opposed to a particular bill or measure and don't want it to reach the floor for a vote. It isn't a filibuster, which is a highly charged intervention, but could be a step in that direction.
An aide for Republican Sen. John McCain said the Arizona lawmaker supports Mr. Graham's call. Both senators say they don't support a filibuster.
Speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday, Mr. Graham said, "I don't think we should allow [John] Brennan to go forward for the CIA directorship [or] Hagel to be confirmed as secretary of defense until the White House gives us an accounting." Specifically, he said he wants to know if Mr. Obama spoke to anyone in the Libyan government or took other steps to intervene during the attack, which killed four Americans including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.
Pretty interesting story here, though all anonymous sources for the e-book. I'm curious to see if the media will pick it up or not, and if Lindsey Graham will use it in his objections to Brennan and Hagel with his Benghazi claims (which I am not sure about the details of, and if the details from this book line up with his at all). I wrote a
diary on this yesterday.
EXCLUSIVE: David Petraeus was brought down after betrayal by vengeful CIA agents and his own bodyguards who made sure his affair was exposed, claims new book
- Brandon Webb, a former Navy SEAL, and Jack Murphy, a former Green Beret, reveal the new claims in their book 'Benghazi: The Definitive Report'
- Petraeus was humiliated after a 'palace coup' by high-level intelligence officers who did not like the way he was running the CIA, authors say
- The book also claims that Petraeus and Ambassador Chris Stevens were caught off guard by Benghazi consulate attack because they weren't briefed about on-going U.S. military operations in Libya
- Webb and Murphy say Benghazi attack was a retaliation for secret raids authorized by Obama security adviser John Brennan
I think Obama made the right choice not to do another military intervention. We already knew that there was an enormous amount of pressure on him to do so, and our hands are not clean because we were involved. But Panetta revealed that he opposed his national security advisors on this, and that there is still a lot of pressure on him regarding Syria.
Panetta exposes Obama’s Syria dilemma
US must either turn its back on nation or arm some rebels
Yet in his final public appearance before retiring as Pentagon boss last week, Mr Panetta might well have dropped his president right in it. During questions at a Senate hearing on Thursday, he admitted that the senior members of President Barack Obama’s national security team had supported arming the Syrian rebels last year, but that the White House vetoed the idea.
The plan had been devised by David Petraeus, who was then head of the CIA, and was supported by Mr Panetta, the joint chiefs of staff and Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state. The idea was to provide training, funding and arms to some of the groups now fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Mr Panetta’s admission is embarrassing because it exposes divisions within a famously disciplined national security team and because of the vague hint of electoral politics – the decision to veto the plan was taken during the presidential campaign.
The DoJ white paper
leaked by Michael Isikoff last week had the NBC logo stamped all over it and it was hard to read. The DoJ also sent a clean copy of it to Jason Leopold in answer to the FOIA request he had submitted long ago (that's a whole story in itself worth knowing about). Here is the clean copy of this document. We still don't have all eight of the memos that are used to justify targeted assassination. Two have been released. We believe there are eight. And we have this white paper which is believed to be an amalgamation of all the laws and official legal opinion memos done on the subject. The white paper isn't the whole story though -- it only covers one aspect of it all, as noted in the title. We should all take the time to read this white paper though. I can hardly think of a more important document that has been released in recent years.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WHITE PAPER
Draft November 8, 2011
Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen Who Is a Senior Operational Leader of Al-Qa'ida or An Associated Force
This white paper sets forth a legal framework for considering the circumstances in
which the U.S. government could use lethal force in a foreign country outside the area of active hostilities against a U.S. citizen who is a senior operational leader of al-Qa'ida or an associated force1 of al--Qa'ida--that is, an al-Qa'ida leader actively engaged in
planning operations to kill Americans. The paper does not attempt to determine the
minimum requirements necessary to render such an operation lawful; nor does it assess what might be required to render a lethal operation against a U.S. citizen lawful in other circumstances, including an operation against enemy forces on a traditional battlefield or an operation against a U.S. citizen who is not a senior operational leader of such forces. Here the Department of Justice concludes only that where the following three conditions are met, a U.S. operation using lethal force in a foreign country against a U.S. citizen who is a senior operational leader of al-Qa'icla or an associated force would be lawful: (1) an informed, high--level official of the U.S. government has determined that the' targeted individual poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States; (2) capture is infeasible, and the United States continues to monitor whether capture becomes feasible; and (3) the operation would be conducted in a manner consistent with applicable law of war principles. This conclusion is reached with recognition of the extraordinary seriousness of a lethal operation by the United States against a U.S. citizen, and also of the extraordinary seriousness of the threat posed by senior operational al-Qa'ida members and the loss of life that would result were their operations successfiil.
Action
At 12 Noon on Sunday, February 17, thousands of Americans will head to Washington, D.C. to make Forward on Climate the largest climate rally in history. Join this historic event to make your voice heard and help the president start his second term with strong climate action.
What: The largest climate rally in U.S. history.
When: February 17, 2013, Noon - 4:00 p.m. (please arrive by 11:30 a.m.)
Where: The National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Gather at the northeast corner of the Washington Monument
(Closest Metro subway stations: Federal Triangle and Smithsonian)
For more details about the rally -- including information about coordinating and riding buses to Washington -- please read our FAQ. Also check out the nearly 100 organizations leading and supporting this rally!
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Blog Posts and Tweets of Interest
Evening Blues
Van Morrison - Sweet Thing