Archive for December, 2009
December 31st, 2009 | 
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Nine Big Stories the Mainstream Media Missed in 2009
Nine Big Stories the Mainstream Media Missed in 2009
Van Jones
White House Green Jobs adviser Van Jones resigned from his post in September after weeks of pressure over his radical past. A former self-avowed Marxist and anarchist, Jones signed a 2004 petition that suggested the U.S. government was involved in the Sept 11. terrorist attacks. The New York Times and Washington Post ignored the story until Jones’ resignation, which occurred in the middle of the Labor Day weekend.
ACORN Tapes
“Hmmm, David, Think Hard. How Can We Use The Christmas Flight Terrorist Bomber Politically To Make George Bush Look Like Shit?”
The Politics of Incompetence
On December 26, two days after Nigerian Omar Abdulmutallab allegedly attempted to use underwear packed with plastic explosives to blow up the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight he was on, and as it became clear internally that the Administration had suffered perhaps its most embarrassing failure in the area of national security, senior Obama White House aides, including chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod and new White House counsel Robert Bauer, ordered staff to begin researching similar breakdowns — if any — from the Bush Administration.
Suicide Bomber Was Invited On Base … CIA Base Chief Among The Dead
WASHINGTON – The Associated Press has learned that the suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a remote outpost in southeastern Afghanistan had been invited onto the base and was not searched.
A former senior intelligence official says the man was being courted as an informant and that it was the first time he had been brought inside the camp.
The official says a senior and experienced CIA debriefer came from Kabul for the meeting, suggesting that the purpose of the meeting was to gain intelligence.
The former senior intelligence official and another former official with knowledge of the attack spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Oh, Snap: Majority Of Americans Want Christmas Flight Bomber Waterboarded … Heh!
58% Favor Waterboarding of Plane Terrorist To Get Information
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 30% oppose the use of such techniques, and another 12% are not sure.
Men and younger voters are more strongly supportive of the aggressive interrogation techniques than women and those who are older. Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party favor their use more than Democrats.
DEVELOPING – Yemen: Al Qaeda ‘Most Dangerous’ Arrested
CNN:
A man described as “one of al Qaeda’s most dangerous members” was arrested in Yemen, the Yemeni military, an embassy official and state-run news agency Saba said.
Mohammed Abdu Saleh al-Haudali, 35, is “one of the most dangerous terrorists wanted by the security forces,” according to a Yemeni military Web site, citing a security source.
Al-Haudali was arrested Wednesday in the village of Deer Jaber in the Bajel district, northeast of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, said Mohammed Albasha, spokesman for the Yemen Embassy in Washington.
Al-Haudali exchanged fire with security forces before his arrest, Saba reported, citing Hodeidah province security officer Abdul-Wahab al-Radhi. However, the Yemeni military site quoted the security source as saying al-Haudali was caught when he attempted to open fire on authorities.
Barack Obama And The Exhausted Presidency
In a recent puff piece, The New York Times reports that our President is tired. This is not the first such report. Back in May, when he treated England’s Gordon Brown so shabbily, the excuse given — according to The Daily Telegraph – was that wrestling with the economic crisis had left Barack Obama too exhausted to be able to focus on foreign affairs.
We should perhaps discount what was said in May. For, as I have attempted to document in detail here, here, here, here, here, and here, President Obama is a gentleman, and, as such, he is never unintentionally rude. He is, in fact, a master of the insulting gesture, which he seems to reserve for political opponents, such as Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Sarah Palin, and for political leaders in countries, such as England, France, Germany, Israel, and Poland, which were closely associated with the United States prior to the Age of Obam a.
Harassing Haskell: Flight 253 Passenger Kurt Haskell – ‘I Was Visited By The FBI’
By Aaron Foley
Following up on a visit from FBI officials about an eyewitness account first described to MLive.com, Michigan attorney Kurt Haskell described the visit in comment sections across MLive on Wednesday.
Haskell and his wife, Lori, were aboard Flight 253 when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to destroy the plane. They say another man tried to help Abdulmutallab board the plane in Amsterdam.
Haskell had two detailed posts in two different stories. Here is Part One, originally posted here:
Tags: Iranian Government Has Moved In Tanks and Using Tear Gas Against Protesters in Tehran
Follow Live Blogging Iran News for updated reports here.
Iran troops reportedly move into Tehran ahead of opposition rally
An Iranian opposition website said on Thursday the government was moving troops and armored military vehicles to the capital on the day supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi planned to hold a rally.
“Hundreds of military forces and tens of armoured vehicles … are moving towards Tehran. Some of the vehicles are used for suppressing street riots,” the Jaras website said.
The report could not be confirmed independently by Reuters.
Jaras also said security forces had a heavy presence in various Tehran squares ahead of the planned opposition rally.
Wikipedia Edits Rush’s Page Right After News Of His Hospitalization, Announces Him Dead
Eager to be first? or wishful thinking on their part. either way that site has gone downhill
Looks like the folks at Wikipedia were prepared for the worst when it came to Rush Limbaugh. Actually they were a little too well prepared.
Shortly after the news broke that the conservative political radio talk show host was hospitalized, Wikipedia updated his page – and pronounced him dead.
Folks (like us) who happened to take a look at Limbaugh’s biography, saw this:
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III (pronounced /ˈlɪmbɔː/;born January 12, 1951, died December 30, 2009) is an American radio host and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Rush Limbaugh Show, the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United States. It airs throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks.
Newt Gingrich: Obama Cares More About Protecting The Rights Of Terrorists Than The American People
Few dispute that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 represents a major breach of U.S. security and intelligence systems. But assigning blame for the thwarted Christmas Day attack depends on whom you ask in the highly polarized political climate.
Former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich laid blame for the Dec. 25 incident at the feet of Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on “Good Morning America” today, saying “there’s a fundamental mismatch between the dangers we face and this administration’s inability … to confront how difficult this war is.”
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