Informed Speculation

(Wow, I’m so ashamed – that may be the worst attempt at a pun in 2006 2005 – oops, getting ahead of myself there). All kinds of good stuff continues to come out from both sides of the aisle on the Rasmussen poll we’ve discussed previously. Here are a couple of good ones from opposite [...]

For cryin’ out loud: The National Security Agency’s Internet site has been placing files on visitors’ computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most files of that type. The files, known as cookies, disappeared after a privacy activist complained and The Associated Press made inquiries this week. Agency officials [...]

Newsweek has a Q & A with our ol’ buddy Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of Daily Kos fame on the 2006 races. Some excerpts, along with some helpful translation for those not familiar with Kosspeak: NEWSWEEK: What will be hottest political contest of 2006? Markos Moulitsas Zúniga: The Pennsylvania Senate race between incumbent Rick Santorum and [...]

…on that Rasmussen poll I quoted yesterday showing 64% support for NSA interception of calls between people in the U.S. and suspected terrorists overseas. The most common objection, and it’s one made by my own readers, is that the words ‘warrantless’ are left out. AMERICAblog says it’s an abysmally low number for the question as [...]

Well, popularity doesn’t mean legality, but a scandal without a scandalized public is pretty hard to pursue to impeachment. Recently, we noted how the lesser Kennedy blew hard and windy on Snoopgate: …[W]ith sorrow, we are now learning that in this great land we have an administration that has refused to follow well-crafted, longstanding procedures [...]

The latest news from the Iraqi electoral front is a pretty good mix; although protests (in the main peaceful, and thus encouraging in and of themselves) continue, the UN has pronounced itself satisfied that the elections were credible, and Omar of the increasingly indispensible Iraq the Model says the electoral commission admits that some ballot [...]

Here’s a sneak peek at my plans for 2006: 1. New political sections devoted to the 2006 mid-terms and 2008 elections, including revamping and revisiting areas devoted to individual candidates. 2. The possible replacement of the Weekly Jackass with an as-yet-to-named feature appearing more infrequently (but don’t miss the Jackass of the Year coming soon!). [...]

Yesterday, I linked to Juan Cole’s 10 Iraq myths, with the surprising conclusion that I found much to agree with. I didn’t have the time or energy at that moment to deal with the one ‘myth’ I most strenously disagreed with, but Gateway Pundit has saved me the trouble. A further problem with Cole’s Myth [...]

Christopher Hitchens weighs in on allegations of fraud in the recent Iraqi elections amid a larger overview of the political situation in Iran and concludes: …[E]verything I can glean from friends and contacts in Iraq makes it ever-clearer that the Iranian state and its clerical proxies made a huge intervention in the Iraqi voting earlier [...]

The Gorelick Wall is a term referring to the pre-Patriot Act barrier that prevent intelligence agencies from sharing information with law enforcement. Our good friend AJ has a quite comprehensive post that digs through some primary documents and makes a convincing case that one reason Bush made an end run around FISA courts was that [...]

…waiting on THIS story to get much play on the lefthand side of the blogosphere: Poland’s government says it has taken the “very difficult decision” to extend its military deployment in Iraq until the end of 2006. The new conservative government’s decision reverses the previous leftist administration’s plan to pull troops out in early 2006. [...]

…is the ability to adopt any position that reflects poorly on your opponents, regardless of whether said position contradicts your previous stances. With a mixture of amusement and disgust, then, I note for the record that it is quite impossible for the following two facts to coexist: (1) George W. Bush has no intention of [...]

Wretchard of the Belmont Club fame provides a valuable addition to the meme de jour, asking (and answering): Who is a journalist? Why is Bill Riggio being embedded with the troops any different than an embedded journalist? What is or isn’t fair game in the information aspect of warfare? And much more…highly recommended…

More end-of-the-year goodies; first, Cafe Hayek, with the “the dozen most pernicious economic myths held by non-economists” (I find number 8 to be particularly well-ingrained – and don’t miss the comments); next, from the left, we have Professor Juan Cole with the Top Ten Myths About Iraq in 2005. I’ve been tough on the Professor [...]

Alright, my tongue is way in cheek with that headline, but there’s a lot of holiday snarkiness in the air, it seems…on the heels of the embedded blogger ‘controversy’ that I referred to below comes a series of posts decrying right-wing bloggers in general and Pajamas bloggers in particular as one-voice lemmings whose opinions are [...]

Interesting story in the WaPo about bloggers embedded with the troops and the part they play in the information coming out of Iraq; does embedded equal loss of independence? Read on… UPDATE 8:27 a.m.: Much more on this issue in this roundup from Pajamas…

You may recall James Bone, or you may not; he is the journalist who got such a rise out of Kofi Annan recently with his questions about a certain Mercedes. He’s got a real point: The Mercedes was purchased by Kojo Annan in his father’s name four days before the Hotel de Crillon meeting–and about [...]

I’m familiar with Chuck Shephard’s News of the Weird from its long-time run in local progressive rag the Austin Chronicle. The Washington Post gives him a much larger platform to proclaim the weirdest stories of the year. Hit and miss, but worth a look…

This’ll cheer you up…

…that a Pulitzer category be established for blogging – no, not for talking head yo-yos like me, but for people who are delivering real news and analysis that can’t be found elsewhere through the medium of blogs. People like Omar and Mohammed of Iraq the Model… Mohammed’s latest is a welcome continuation of what appears [...]