philly

One Gig of Classified US Military Info: $40

Flash drives are wonderful things. I don't have one myself, but use other people's flash drives to transfer files here and there. It's a hell of a lot quicker than just about anything else. Apparently some people in the US Military also find them useful. Unfortunately, an almost full 1GB flash drive was apparently lost and later sold at an Afghani bazaar outside a US air base, the LA Times reports. Shit.

The flash memory drive, which a teenager sold for $40, holds scores of military documents marked "secret," describing intelligence-gathering methods and information — including escape routes into Pakistan and the location of a suspected safe house there, and the payment of $50 bounties for each Taliban or Al Qaeda fighter apprehended based on the source's intelligence.

The documents appear to be authentic, but the accuracy of the information they contain could not be independently verified.

On its face, the information seems to jeopardize the safety of intelligence sources working secretly for U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan, which would constitute a serious breach of security.

The names of secret operatives, the names of their families, diagrams, documents on base security, photographs of informants, cell phone numbers, informant pay scales...

Information used to be encrypted. Remember that whole Enigma thing? The article states that most of the documents were "neither locked nor encrypted" holy shit.

I've read articles as recently as last month on how there are still enigma codes being broken; now that's one hell of a complex cipher. Passwords on documents can be broken easily, encryption is another thing. The article states that there were some password protected documents, but most of them weren't fucking encrypted?!

Now, this could be a hoax with fake info on the drives, but if it isn't, Chroist.

The Democratic Spine

Alexander Cockburn is one of my favorite columnists. He's out there. He doesn't mince words. I've been reading his stuff in The Nation for two years now as a subscriber [subscribe here!]. His latest "Beat the Devil" column titled Why There's No Strategy to End This War takes a look at the Dems response to things like censure, the war in Iraq and little strategies from the leadership like this gem:

As reported in the Washington Times, Reid's strategy memo advises: "Ensure that you have the proper U.S. and state flags at the event, and consider finding someone to sing the national anthem and lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the event."

Read: flags and songs make Dems strong Americans right?

Cockburn continues on listing the responses of some of the movers within the Democratic leadership to Sen. Russ Feingold's motion for censure.

Barack Obama of Illinois: "I haven't read it."

John Kerry of Massachusetts: "I really can't [comment] right now."

Hillary Clinton of New York rushed past reporters shaking her head, then trying to hide behind the 4'11" Barbara Mikulski.

Charles Schumer of New York, who would normally run over his grandmother to get to a microphone: "I'm not going to comment."

Chris Dodd of Connecticut: "Most of us feel at best it's premature. I don't think anyone can say with any certainty at this juncture that what happened [the NSA's eavesdropping] is illegal."

And let me add that Bob Casey, who is the anointed from the top "Democratic" Senate candidate here in PA agrees with Dodd as noted in jpol's diary. Progressive Dem Chuck Pennacchio [for whom I am volunteering many many hours a week] disagrees and stands with Sen. Feingold. As Sen. Pennacchio, he'd be on the floor with Sen. Feingold in support of his motion to censure.

The Cockburn essay is a good read. A good read if only to see your feelings on the printed page and not merely swirling around in your head. If you have problems accessing it via The Nation it's also here via Counter Punch.

Sometimes it seems to me like we're going to have to vote out the Dems that are there now and get in a new batch in order to remove the Republicans who are currently entrenched and festering within the three branches of government and the esteemed Fourth Estate still isn't pulling its weight. The Washington Post hiring and not firing the likes of Ben Domenech [he resigned, and WaPo basically washed their hands of it] is not helping matters either.

Anti-War March

This is a panoramic stich of about seven shots of the anti-war rally which preceded the march. We were about 700 strong. The march and rally was organized by Lancaster Peace and Juctise Coalition who also organized the townhall meeting that followed the march.

Before the march got underway, Chuck Pennacchio made his way through the crowd and spoke to the anti-war activists. He ran into Lois Herr who is running for Congress in PA-16. We'd see her again later on in the day.

Once the march got underway, Chuck made his way from the rear of the group speaking with people along the way. People were very receptive to his message. He told them of his withdrawal plan [.pdf] that he wrote back in June of 2005. Immediate withdrawal of the National Guard. The rest of the troops out in the following twelve weeks. Give the country back to the Iraqis. Court the United Nations, the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference to lead a peace keeping force. Sen. Man on Dog wants to stay the course. Candidate Casey supported the war and to date has not advocated troop withdrawal measures of any sort.

Pennacchio's message resonates very well with everyday Americans. Everyday Pennsylvanians. People with common sense. Let's get out of Iraq. Let's leave a woman's private decisions alone. Let's fight for healthcare for all and lift people out of poverty via a living wage. And while we're at it, let's give our children the right to the education they want and deserve. Conviction wins. I think Chuck won over a lot of people on Saturday during the march. And that was before his very well received remarks at the town hall meeting afterwards.

Third Anniversary of the Iraq War

I joined about 150 or so fellow anti-war citizens of the Philadelphia area last night at Independence Mall for a candlelight vigil commemorating the third anniversary of this unlawful and irresponsible war in Iraq. It was freezing. It was windy. But that didn't stop a good sized crowd from turning out.

The names of Pennsylvania's armed forces who died in Iraq were read aloud. Names of Iraqis killed during the course of the war were read aloud. The Dante Zappala, the younger brother of Army Sgt. Sherwood R. Baker, the first Pennsylvanian PA National Guardsman to be killed in armed combat since WWII said some words. He touchingly said how he has tried to come to terms with his brothers death and tried to understand why he died. He said that he had not and that after much consideration, feels that he never will. It's a lack of closure that many families need and do not have.

I hope I won't have to attend another vigil in March of 2006 marking the end of the fourth year of this war.

Three Years in Iraq: United for Peace and Justice Event

It's good to read a bunch of blogs, in town and out of town. My Live8 roommate Brian Russell let me know about this weekend's events put on by United for Peace and Justice marking the third anniversary of the war in Iraq.

Here in Philadelphia, there's an event. There will be a candlelight vigil at Independence Mall Sunday night at sundown [6.15p ish]. I've been to a few of these and they've all been well attended. I've been to one at Rittenhouse Square, Washington Square and City Hall.

I'll be there with my camera.

Pentagon Pays Halliburton 99.5%

So, everyone knows that the administration is in cahoots with Halliburton. That's just a given. But in the past few years, the Pentagon has at least witheld a large amount of the reimbursements that auditors have felt out of line in Halliburton's cost-plus [meaning the more they spend, the more they make] budgets. This NY Times piece takes a look at the latest.

The auditors took a look at what Halliburton's been up to and decided that a quarter billion dollars, that's $250M, were potentially bullshit. And in the past, the Pentagon has for the most part agreed.

In 2003, the agency's figures show, the military withheld an average of 66.4 percent of what the auditors had recommended, while in 2004 the figure was 75.2 percent and in 2005 it was 56.4 percent.

But not this time around. This time, the Pentagon decided to withhold all of 3.8% of what the auditors thought should be withheld and pay Halliburton 99.5% of the $2.41B no-bid contract.

Remember way back when... When Veep "I'll shoot you in the face" Cheney said that we'd be greated as liberators and there would be parades with flowers for the U.S. troops? Remember when the Repugs said that the cost of the war to the American taxpayers would be something like $1.8B and that the war would be financed in large part by the profits from the oil we were there to steal protect? Remember when the cost of the entire war was going to be something like the 1991 war in Iraq, something like $50B-$60B? Now Halliburton is getting $2.41B for one year? One single company? As of 12.30a, February 27, 2006, the Cost of the War is $243B and growing. A good article on the costs of the war via this AlterNet article. Beware, it mentions the "V" word.

And on a related note, d'ya hear what Mr. Conservative Billy Buckley has to say these days?

One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed.... Our mission has failed because Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an invading army of 130,000 Americans. The great human reserves that call for civil life haven't proved strong enough.

Oof.

NSA Hearings Breakdown

Noah Feldman breaks down the NSA Wiretap Senate hearings down pretty well in this NYT Magazine article from yesterday.

The main reason that the issue before the committee looks so confusing is, paradoxically, that the facts are basically settled. The Bush administration has acknowledged ordering the N.S.A. to listen to conversations between people in the United States and suspected terrorists abroad without getting warrants first. (It would be fascinating to know whose conversations were overheard and how many wiretaps proved useful, but the answers to such inquiries may be classified, and a public accounting is unlikely.) This leaves the legal status of the listening-in as the most likely topic of conversation, and maybe the only one.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 requires warrants for eavesdropping on conversations involving anyone in the United States — so on the face of things, it looks as if the domestic spying program violated the law. Yet the administration argues that another law, the Sept. 18, 2001, Authorization for Use of Military Force, superseded FISA: by giving the president the power to make war against Al Qaeda and its supporters, the argument goes, the law implicitly authorized the customary activities of war, including a wide variety of intelligence gathering. When challenged on this point, the administration's next line of defense is the Constitution: the president's responsibility as commander in chief and his executive power over foreign affairs are said to entail the authority to listen to conversations across borders that are relevant to national security. In a final constitutional twist, critics of the administration argue that the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the people the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures, perhaps including warrantless wiretaps.

It's about a page long or so, a quick read. Read the whole thing here.

And on a happy note, W wants more money to fight this war on terrrrrr'rrr. And by "more money" I mean a $2.77 TRILLION budget. Cut Medicaid. Mmmmmmmm. Fucker. On a related note, Exxon Mobile Corp is trading at $62.29 [up 1.47%] and Halliburton is trading at $78.18 [up 1.01%].

Liberals Undermining War Support!

This Sunday, Sen Rick $antorum was here in Philadelphia preaching to the choir, literally, during Justice Sunday III [photos of the protest outside]. Thursday, he was in Valley Forge speaking to the military academy cadets, basically, another choir. While the cadets may have opinions of their own, they are literally pawns in the political game pushed from one country to another and Kimberly Hefling was there for the AP.

Speaking for about an hour to more than 300 cadets at the Valley Forge Military Academy, Santorum said public support for the war has been difficult to maintain because of "biased coverage of the war and the political left demagoguery of the war."

Lovely.

And towards the end of the article, the Casey campaign was brought up.

The Casey campaign released a statement saying Santorum should have offered a real critique of the administration's policies in Iraq instead of just blaming the media.

"Santorum has voted with President Bush 98 percent of the time and now he's trying to copy his PR tactics," said Larry Smar, a spokesman for Casey.

I thought that was quite laughable. Why? Let's see what Bob Casey Jr has said on the Iraq War:

Once it was under way, like a lot of Americans, I was supportive of what our troops were trying to do there, based on what we were told by our government. We found out later the intelligence was, at best, faulty and, at worst, misleading. We can learn a lot of lessons from that, but the key thing now is to finish the job.
Inky 4.29.05

Casey said he would have voted for the war considering the evidence at the time, and supported the spending bills that funded the effort. But when asked to outline his plan for Iraq, including whether he favored a deadline for pulling troops out of the country, Casey would not offer specifics.

"I don't think you can, as a matter of policy, articulate a long-term strategy if you don't have the facts to make that determination," Casey said.
Inky 8.20.05

Some people think that pulling out is a good idea and a timeline is a good idea -- I don't agree with that.
Centre Daily Times 10.23.05

Chuck Pennacchio was always against the Iraq War and wrote up this document [.pdf] calling for withdrawal with an exit strategy timeline. A timeline to get out of this debacle.

Jim Dean, Howard Dean's brother and Chairman of Democracy for America started a pledge drive to only support candidates who 1. Acknowledge that the U.S. was misled into the war in Iraq, 2. Advocate for a responsible exit plan with a timeline, 3. Support our troops at home and abroad. Check, check and check for Chuck Pennacchio.

The Nation's editors pledged in their November 28, 2005 edition:

We will not support any candidate for national office who does not make a speedy end to the war in Iraq a major issue of his or her campaign. We urge all voters to join us in adopting this position. Many worry that the aftermath of withdrawal will be ugly, but we can now see that the consequences of staying will be uglier still. Fear of facing the consequences of Bush's disaster should not be permitted to excuse the creation of a worse disaster by continuing the occupation.

We firmly believe that antiwar candidates, with the other requisite credentials, can win the 2006 Congressional elections, the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries and the subsequent national election. But this fight, and our stand, must begin now.

In the coming weeks and months The Nation will help identify--and encourage support for--those candidates prepared to bring a speedy end to the war and to begin the hard work of forging a new national security policy that an end to the Iraq War will make possible.

And in their January 2, 2006 edition, they acknowledged Chuck Pennacchio's call for withdrawal from June of 2005.

$antorum and Casey Jr are both wrong on choice and on Iraq. Chuck Pennacchio is more than simply a step in the right direction, he's the best candidate with the pulse of the people. Read his stances on the issues and make an informed decision.

Wafah Dufour

Who the hell is that? this BBC News article points to this GQ article on her. She's a seemingly socially connected woman, a NYer and just happens to be one of the 400 or so people related to one Osama bin Laden.

The BBC story quotes the GQ story:

"I was born in the States, and I want people to know I'm American, and I want people to understand that I'm like anyone in New York. For me, it's home," she said.

But come on, she's not "like anyone in New York". Shit, I know that I'm more than just any NYer or PAian. But that's one rather large cloud hanging over her head.

I read the excerpt that is on the GQ site and was almost immediately turned off by the opening paragraph:

On a hot August afternoon, aspiring pop star Wafah Dufour walks into the media lunch hub Michael’s, in Midtown Manhattan. Accompanied by her publicist, Richard Valvo, the slender, exotic young woman with long dark hair in a high ponytail à la I Dream of Jeannie is dressed in a white tank top, green love beads, lacy miniskirt, and backless pumps. Conversations continue as heads look up to check her out.

The usage of the word "exotic" to describe someone, usually a woman from non-Euro descent, is pretty offensive. Blech. I won't be reading the rest of this one.

Threats to National Security

According to one FBI report reviewed by the NY Times:

1. a Vegan Community Project
2. a Catholic Workers group
3. PETA llama protesters

I didn't see Osama bin Laden on there.