Skins

Poland

Retirement Age

Confederate History Month

Young Eagles

Phillies!

The chance of a perfect season continues.

Dissidents Rising

Suzanne Breen with an interesting piece on the rise of the "new" IRA. She's known to have her finger on the pulse of the "dissident" Republicans, so her reporting isn't just throwing bits of information against the wall.

This is Great

iPad Reviews

From Wired. iWant one!

Black Widows

Interesting read on Chechen bombers:

Chechen suicide attackers do not fit popular stereotypes, contrary to the Russian government’s efforts to pigeonhole them. For years, Moscow has routinely portrayed Chechen bombers as Islamic extremists, many of them foreign, who want to make Islam the world’s dominant religion. Yet however much Russia may want to convince the West that this battle is part of a global war on terrorism, the facts about who becomes a Chechen suicide attacker — male or female — reveal otherwise.

The three of us, in our work for the Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism, have analyzed every Chechen suicide attack since they began in 2000, 42 separate incidents involving 63 people who killed themselves. Many Chechen separatists are Muslim, but few of the suicide bombers profess religious motives. The majority are male, but a huge fraction — over 40 percent — are women. Although foreign suicide attackers are not unheard of in Chechnya, of the 42 for whom we can determine place of birth, 38 were from the Caucasus. Something is driving Chechen suicide bombers, but it is hardly global jihad.

As we have discovered in our research on Lebanon, the West Bank, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and elsewhere, suicide terrorist campaigns are almost always a last resort against foreign military occupation. Chechnya is a powerful demonstration of this phenomenon at work.

In the 1990s, the rebels kicked out tens of thousands of Russian troops who had been sent to the region to prevent Chechnya, a republic within the Russian Federation, from declaring independence. In 1999, the Russians came back — this time with more than 90,000 troops — and waged a well-documented scorched-earth campaign, killing an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 civilians out of a population of about 1 million. Ordinary guerrilla tactics and hostage-taking — the keys to ousting the Russians the first time — now got the rebels nowhere. New tactics were employed and women were central from the start.

On June 7, 2000, two Chechen women, Khava Barayeva and Luiza Magomadova, drove a truck laden with explosives into a Russian special forces building in Alkhan-Yurt, Chechnya; while the Russians insist only two soldiers were killed, the Chechen rebel claim of more than two dozen fatalities seems more likely.

This was the first Chechen suicide attack and showed the many advantages of female suicide bombers. They were deadly, as Chechen female attackers generally are, killing an average of 21 people per attack compared to 13 for males. Perhaps far more important, they could inspire others to follow in their footsteps, women and men alike.

Ms. Barayeva made a martyr video, as many suicide bombers do before their attacks. While warning Russia that she was attacking for Chechen independence, she also directed a powerful message clearly meant to provoke men to make similar sacrifices out of a sense of honor. She pleaded for Chechen men to “not take the woman’s role by staying at home”; so far, 32 men have answered her call.

Just as important, Ms. Barayeva is considered responsible for inspiring a movement of “black widows” — women who have lost a husband, child or close relative to the “occupation” and killed themselves on missions to even the score. In total, 24 Chechen females ranging in age from 15 to 37 have carried out suicide attacks, including the most deadly — the coordinated bombings of two passenger flights in August 2004 that caused 90 deaths and (according to Russian authorities) the subway blasts on Monday that killed nearly 40.

The bombers’ motives spring directly from their experiences with Russian troops, according to Abu al-Walid, a rebel leader who was killed in 2004. “These women, particularly the wives of the mujahedeen who were martyred, are being threatened in their homes, their honor [is] being threatened,” he explained in a video that appeared on Al Jazeera. “They do not accept being humiliated and living under occupation.”

LBJ Orders Some Pants

As awkward as you'd expect.

I'll Lead the Charge....

As soon as I cash my check. Our modern day anti-government militiaman:

Vanderboegh said he once worked as a warehouse manager but now lives on government disability checks. He said he receives $1,300 a month because of his congestive heart failure, diabetes and hypertension.

You're So Vein

How the high class photogs make extra cash:

A flattering profile of ubiquitous party photographer Patrick McMullan in today's New York Times pins the secret of success on the fact that he treats the social crowd so well. Then why is he charging to take down unflattering photos?

The whole premise of the story is that McMullan (and the freelancers he hires) aren't like the big bad paparazzi making their ducats off of embarrassing pictures of celebrities. No, instead he shakes hands, kisses babies, and only gets nice shots. Then what's up with this?

But perhaps his biggest asset is that the well-to-do trust him to present them in the most flattering light. If a client doesn't like a photograph, Mr. McMullan will remove it from his Web site for a fee.

Brilliant. I'm sure they can target the most vein fairly easily.

Corker

I've had the opportunity to work with Senator Corker (R-TN) on issues related to financial reform, and he is as pragmatic of a Republican/Conservative as there is out there. He's been saying for months that a bill will pass and it should be bipartisan. If the GOP votes against this bill, like they did with health care, they're even dumber than I think.

Prior to Monday's meeting, Corker told the Huffington Post that, "You're probably going to witness one of the most dysfunctional committee meetings in Senate history."

On Wednesday, his tone remained the same.

"We had an opportunity to pass out a bill out of our committee in a bipartisan way, and then stand on the Senate floor and hold hands and say that we would keep amendments that were unnecessary and improper from coming onto this bill," Corker said. "Instead of that, it's been decided that we are going to try to negotiate now ...

"I think it's going to be far more difficult now that this has passed out of committee ... I think we have made a very, very large mistake, and I regret that."
Story continues below

Banking committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) told HuffPost that "what [Corker] said was his Republican leadership abandoned him."

"They decided they wanted to say 'No' again," Dodd said. "So we went ahead ... If you don't even want to offer yours, I couldn't -- if anyone wanted to offer amendments, I would have been there. They made a decision not to. That was their call. Not mine. And listen, I understand why they wanted to do it."

Part of Corker's regret going forward stems from the difficulty Republicans may have in staying unified.

"It's going to be very, very difficult -- very difficult -- to get 41 members to hold, especially, especially if many of the provisions in this bill address concerns that everyday people on Main Street have," said Corker. "That's why I thought it was so important to leave that committee -- maybe lose three Republicans, lose three Democrats -- but to end up with a middle-of-the-road bill that we can all hold hands and fight off amendments."

Corker wasn't with the Dems on health care, but to his credit, he told me that Republicans should be talking about how they should be fixing health care, and present a plan to the American people, and not just say "no". He's a guy worth listening to.

Diplomat's Son

Something good to listen to as you have your first (or third) cup of coffee:

Tebow

I'm not a Tebow hater per se, but this made me laugh:

Tebow's currently participating in the NFL scouting combine, and players are administered what's known as the Wonderlic test. Before Tebow's group took the 12 minute, 50 question exam he asked the proctor if the group could bow their heads in prayer. You now, before asking any of the other players if they actually wanted to pray.

According to NBC Sports this is how one of the other players responded: "Shut the fuck up." Other players in the room cracked up in laughter.

There is a certain phoniness to Golden Boy Tebow that gets to me. I saw a video of him shaking the hands of the people keeping track of his 40 yard dash time at the combine. They were behind a desk, and Tebow approached him like he was running for office. That kind of personality gets to me. I know there will be a "Draft Tebow" movement for some elected office. Ok, maybe I do hate the guy!

Troubles Propoganda

Well worth a listen:

Investigates how the tragic events of 30th January 1972 sparked a murky propaganda battle which was fought in the world's media. Mike discovers how a secretive foreign office department working alongside a covert army intelligence unit spun stories against Republicans and Loyalists in the years after Bloody Sunday: stories which are now known to be untrue. He hears how this black propaganda campaign included tall tales of devil-worshipping among paramilitary groups and deliveries of Soviet weapons to the IRA. Through documents from the time and eyewitness testimonies, Mike finds out just how far this blending of fact and fiction went to distort what was really happening in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

The Informant!

I guess $75,000 wasn't enough to avoid temptation:

Convicted TJX hacker Albert Gonzalez earned $75,000 a year working undercover for the U.S. Secret Service, informing on bank card thieves before he was arrested in 2008 for running his own multimillion-dollar card-hacking operation.

The information comes from one of Gonzalez’s best friends and convicted accomplices, Stephen Watt. Watt pleaded guilty last year to creating a sniffer program that Gonzalez used to siphon millions of credit and debit card numbers from the TJX corporate network while he was working undercover for the government.

Watt told Threat Level that Gonzalez was paid in cash, which is generally done to protect someone’s status as a confidential informant. The Secret Service said it would not comment on payments made to informants. Gonzalez’s attorney did not respond to a call for comment.

Repeal It!

Um, no:

Because, of course, not even a Republican seizure of Congress would allow for a successful repeal of Health Care reform. There is the small matter of the presidential veto. With the veto pen in hand, any GOP effort to repeal isn't going to require 218 votes in the House and 51 in the Senate, it's going to require 290 and 67.

That would require, even if the GOP were able to hold all 34 Democratic dissidents (unlikely), a seventy-eight seat gain in the House for the GOP.

The wall to climb in the Senate is, shall we say, a little more burdensome. A twenty-six seat gain, which would be particularly problematic, given that there aren't 26 Democrats running for re-election in this cycle.

Kildee-Stupak

I never realized Kildee was so pragmatic.

Stupak's public waffling about what once seemed to be an unshakeable stand has caused some vote-counters to wonder whether the congressman wants to vote for health care reform, realizing he's wrong about the bill funding abortion, but has backed himself into a corner. With that in mind, I asked Kildee about Stupak's statement that he relies on groups like the National Right to Life Committee and Focus on the Family (groups that have generally opposed the Democrats' health care reform plans) for guidance. Kildee questioned the wisdom of depending on these outfits. Members of Congress have to be wary of groups that "start out with a premise and only seek out facts that support their premise," Kildee warned. He added, "You have to know where they come from. You have to know what their purpose is—they gather information that supports their purpose."

Shark-Bitten Crocodile Poop Fossils Found

Yes, you read that correctly.

The Freedom Committee of Liberty's Heritage

Does the name of every conservative group need to have the words "liberty" or "freedom" in it?

Busy

Been tied up with work. More later.

Dirty Keyboards

Good band name, but also something we all have:

In a new study led by microbiologists Rob Knight and Noah Fierer of the University of Colorado, Boulder, researchers swabbed three different keyboards and nine mice for bacteria, then compared the genomic variation between the communities to deduce whose hands had been touching what. The people were clearly identifiable from the bacterial communities they’d transferred to their computer input devices.

“The results demonstrate that bacterial DNA can be recovered from relatively small surfaces, that the composition of the keyboard-associated communities are distinct across the three keyboards, and that individuals leave unique bacterial ‘fingerprints’ on their keyboards,” wrote Knight and his colleagues at the University of Colorado, Boulder in a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The results are the latest to show the variety and complexity of the bacterial communities living in a variety of different human ecosystems like the gut, saliva and skin. The Human Microbiome Project at the Institute for Genome Scientists is out to catalog and understand the relationships between our bacteria and ourselves. Early results suggest “our microbial partners may be essential for our survival as a species.”

I suppose it's not much of a surprise our keyboards contain bacteria, but as a compulsive hand washer, it grosses me out. I turned my keyboard upside down the other day, and about 10 meals worth of crumbs came out. Enjoy.

I Want To Go Back

Treas. Secretary

I think I actually like Timothy Geithner. I can't be the only one, right?

Birther Opportunist

Ugh:

Q: What can we do about Obama and the birth certificate thing?

Cuccinelli: It will get tested in my view when someone -- when he signs a law, and someone is convicted of violating it and one of their defenses will be it's not a law because someone qualified to be President didn't sign it.

Q: Is that something you can do as Attorney General? Can you do that or something?
Story continues below

Cuccinelli: Well only if there is a conflict where we're suing the federal government for a law they've passed. So it's possible.

Q: Because we are talking about the possibility that he was not born in America.

Cuccinelli: Right. But at the same time under Rule 11, Federal Rule 11, we gotta have proof of it.

Q: How can we get proof?

Cuccinelli: Well... that's a good question. Not one I've thought a lot about because it hasn't been part of my campaign. I mean, someone is going to have to come forward with nailed down testimony that he was born in place B, wherever that is. You know, the speculation is Kenya. And that doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility.

I doubt Cuccinelli really believes what he says, he's simply playing to the base to get his cred. Frankly, I think that is a lot worse than some rube who believes the birth certificate hoax.

Alice in Chains

Just heard "No Excuses" on the radio, and the DJ mentioned AiC will be touring with a new singer to replace the late Layne Staley. Hearing that made me cringe. As much as I like Jerry Cantrell, it's time for them to move on. Replacing the voice of the lead singer never works, and usually is a sign of trying to cash in on the band name. Don't do it.

"My Jason Bournes"

Hmm, this is a website, when can I mobilize my army of secret agents?

They approached Gen. David D. McKiernan, soon to become the top American commander in Afghanistan. Their proposal was to set up a reporting and research network in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the American military and private clients who were trying to understand a complex region that had become vital to Western interests. They already had a similar operation in Iraq — called “Iraq Slogger,” which employed local Iraqis to report and write news stories for their Web site. Mr. Jordan proposed setting up a similar Web site in Afghanistan and Pakistan — except that the operation would be largely financed by the American military. The name of the Web site was Afpax.

Not Happening

I don't believe in the Aniston-Butler romance. They have a movie coming out, that's all there is.

Titus Andronicus

Definitely recommend giving it a listen, though not if you can't handle something punkish.

From their bio:

The Monitor is more or less a "concept album" – that is to say, it uses the American Civil War of 1861-1865 as an extended metaphor for the concerns addressed in a somewhat linear narrative. In said narrative, our hero leaves his humble birthplace of New Jersey - the oppressive and stifling qualities of which were discussed ad nauseam about one album ago – for the greener pastures of Boston, Massachusetts. His thesis – "the enemy is everywhere" – is put to the ultimate test as he pontificates on the topics of regional identity, emotional anesthetization, and the heavy yoke of trying to live decently in indecent times. All the while, he is forced to wonder whether said American Civil War was truly won or lost, or even completed. Will he find the supportive environment and like-minded compatriots he dreams of? Or will he be forced to leave his newly adopted home in ideological disgrace? What does it mean to be an American in 2009 anyway? Who are our so-called "friends" and how actually friendly are they? Is it necessary, or even a good idea, for an indie rock album to ask these sorts of questions? The Dark Knight, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Taming of the Shrew also fit in there somewhere.

Ha!

Banking Reform

*I've heard that Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) has expressed privately that there will be no regulatory modernization bill enacted this year because of White House opposition. They do not like the Senator Corker (R-TN) provisions exempting the "Payday lenders"

*Democratic Party and White House political advisers are telling Democratic Senators that it is more politically advantageous to keep alive the anti-bank sentiment as an election issue than to enact a compromise on regulatory reform.

*My opinion-only the "Too Big To Fail" stuff will ever be enacted. That's an issue most Senators agree on.

DC Predator

I've met this guy before. Sometimes you need to get to know someone before their true personality comes out. Not this guy. The TPM commenter is right: He is straight out of Central casting

Breitbart

Is even douchier than I originally thought, and that's hard to do:

They're an elitist pestilence," Andrew Breitbart says of liberal Hollywood celebrities in this Wired profile of the conservative internet publisher. And then, after saying that, Andrew went to a Manhattan nightclub to drink Cristal with rich people.
Seriously!

"The taping ends with small talk and handshakes. Afterward, Breitbart heads downstairs to visit Greg Gutfeld, who hosts the Fox overnight show Red Eye. Then they meet up with Felix Dennis, the high-flying founder of Maxim magazine, and spend the rest of the evening at a midtown club drinking Cristal."

Gorillaz

I highly recommend the new Gorillaz album. From the Pitchfork review:

Along with a typically diverse band of collaborators, Albarn dips into Krautrock, funk, and dubstep, as well as the weary, more melodic music he's been perfecting for much of last decade-- sort of an electronic take on baroque pop. Albarn also sounds more comfortable as a leader here than he has in some time. On the standout "On Melancholy Hill", he recalls the swooning strains of one of his heroes, Scott Walker. And when he shares or cedes vocals, he has the good sense to turn things over to luminaries like Lou Reed (magnificently dry-throated on "Some Kind of Nature") and Bobby Womack (good on first single "Stylo", better on the twangy "Cloud of Unknowing"), while effortlessly integrating them into the sound.

Standout tracks (no particular order):

Sweepstakes (feat. Mos Def)
On Melancholy Hill
Glitter Freeze
Rhinestone Eyes

24 Hour Bullshit Party

Onion nails it.



Atrios also:

Yes, if you go into any Congressional office there are TVs with the cable nets on all day, making them much more influential than they should be. And when something jumps from Drudge through the puke funnel onto CNN and MSNBC staffers start getting very panicky. I feel much smarter on days I allow myself to just turn them off, and official Washington would be much smarter if they just turned them off too.

Deep Thought

I'm beginning to think the reason why nothing really gets done in Washington is because we have elections.

Strasburg

Looks like the Nats may actually have a real pitcher soon:

Strasburg threw 27 pitches, 15 of them strikes, struck out two including Miguel Cabrera, allowed two singles that weren't exactly blistered, and walked none. Boz watched it from the front row and said, "It was only two innings, but that was about as sharp as you can look." Boz felt like home plate ump Paul Nauert was squeezing both Strasburg and Porcello a little bit.

Strasburg consistently hit between 96 and 98 mph on the stadium gun, which Nationals starter Scott Olsen said yesterday is about one tick slow. Strasburg's most impressive bat came against Miguel Cabrera, who yesterday told the Detroit Free Press, "Let's see what he's got." Cabrera watched two 97-mph fastballs to make it 1-1. He watched one 81-mph curve for a strike and then another inside for ball two. Strasburg came back with a bliserting fastball high and up that Cabrera swung well late at.

Massa

I give Massa credit for not keeping quiet about the whole thing, but it seems to me there is still more to the story. I have a hunch there's more of a pattern of bad behavior.

Oscars

1. I predicted every category correctly. Even best foreign make-up artist.

2. I don't like he over-the-top gushing from one actor about another. Since when did they add that to the Best Actor/Actress category?

Going Rogue

How waves go rogue.

Roethlisberger

I agree with Florio: It's getting hard to think Ben Roethlisberger is anything but a scumbag.

How to Break into Auschwitz and Survive

Read it.

LCD Soundsystem

Good news: new album coming in May.

Warren

More of this please:

My first choice is a strong consumer agency," the Harvard Law professor and federal bailout watchdog said in an interview with the Huffington Post. "My second choice is no agency at all and plenty of blood and teeth left on the floor...

My 99th choice is some mouthful of mush that doesn't get the job done," Warren said.

I think we're seeing Sen. Scott Brown's (R-MA) future opponent.

Why Reward Failure?

I'm with Barney Frank on this one. Why, why, why would Senator Dodd want to give the Fed the CFPA? The Fed failed on this already, and Fed Chair Bernanke had 30 Senators vote against his getting a 2nd stint. That's a good sign that something stinks over there.

“I do not support housing the Consumer Financial Protection Agency in the Federal Reserve. I continue to vigorously support the House-passed bill that establishes an independent agency with strong rule-writing authority and enforcement powers to implement consumer protections. I could, if necessary, support housing this important function in the Treasury Department, provided that the entity has sufficient independence and broad regulatory scope to accomplish the mission of protecting consumers.

“My main objection to housing this critical function in the Federal Reserve has been the central bank’s historical failure to implement consumer protection as a central part of its mission and role.”

Usually It's Die...

This was actually pretty funny:

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

On China

A must read:

In other areas, politicians and pundits also have a tendency to overestimate China's strengths -- in ways that leave China looking more ominous than it really is. Recent reports about how China is threatening to take the lead in scientific research seem to ignore the serious problems it is facing with plagiarism and faked results. Projections of China's economic growth seem to shortchange the country's looming demographic crisis: It is going to be the first nation in the world to grow old before it gets rich. By the middle of this century the percentage of its population above age 60 will be higher than in the United States, and more than 100 million Chinese will be older than 80. China also faces serious water shortages that could hurt enterprises from wheat farms to power plants to microchip manufacturers.

And about all those engineers? In 2006, the New York Times reported that China graduates 600,000 a year compared with 70,000 in the United States. The Times report was quoted on the House floor. Just one problem: China's statisticians count car mechanics and refrigerator repairmen as "engineers."

We've seen this movie before, and it didn't end in disaster for the United States. Some decades ago, Americans were obsessed with another emerging Asian giant: Japan. People were so overwrought about the "threat" that autoworkers smashed imported Japanese cars. On June 19, 1982, a Chrysler supervisor and his stepson, who had been laid off from a Michigan auto plant, killed a Chinese American man they apparently thought was Japanese. Author Michael Crichton's 1992 potboiler "Rising Sun" summed up the nation's fears. In 1991, 60 percent of Americans in an ABC News/NHK poll said they viewed Japan's economic strength as a threat to the United States.

Long Long Long

George Harrison's finest moment as a Beatle, and listen to Ringo on those drums...

Remove Rangel

Beinart is right, Charlie Rangel has to go before it's too late.

Update (8:45PM EST): That didn't take long. The Past and the Pending has a lot of sway.

A Couple Shots

Alaska and Hawaii.

A Couple Shots

Alaska and Hawaii.

And the DMV is Harder than D-Day

Nothing they say surprises me anymore.

Massive Attack

Glad to hear Massive Attack has released a new album. Should get a chance to download it this weekend. In the meantime, here's some massive nostalgia:

A Recommendation

I finally had a chance to check out the Baader Meinhof Complex on Netflix. Thought it was a fascinating look at a 60's terror group that I've often heard of, but knew little about.

Vacation

Off to Burlington, Vermont for some much needed rest. Hope to put a little more time into this site before I can say it is where I want it.

Next Senator To Go?

Heard some reports out of Annapolis that Senator Mikulski (D-Md) may be the next to go.