Ugh

by Ugh I hope I'm not stepping on the other front pagers toes with this, but somehow the Jeb! campaign's 112 page (!) power point briefing for big donors (that took place before the latest GOP debate) was let loose on these here internets.  It is, uh, quite a thing to see (like the BT-16). … Read more

by Ugh President Obama is expected to announce a plan Thursday to keep 5,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan into 2017, ending his ambitions to bring home most American forces from that war-torn country before he leaves office. … Obama will also slow the pace of the reduction of American forces and plans to maintain the … Read more

by Ugh Not sure if any of the other front pagers were going to put one up, so here ya' go!   I can't decide if the GOP shindigaramalamadingdongfarcescapade in the House right now is entertaining, boring, or a harbinger of the end of the Republic.  Maybe Steve King (R-"We're too embarrassed to claim him") … Read more

by Ugh Does the rest of the world point and laugh, scratch their head in puzzlement, or silently rage at the hypocrisy of it all when the U.S. government makes completely un-self aware statements like this? Washington quickly criticized the airstrikes [in Syria by Russia] — warning that they bring added risks to Syria — … Read more

by Ugh As I'm sure you've heard, it appears that somewhere in the Volkswagen management structure a decision was made that it would be "good for the bottom line" to program its cars to cheat on the U.S. emissions test.  It now appears that VW has done this in more than just in the U.S., … Read more

by Ugh I keep meaning to put up a post about public defenders in the U.S. criminal justice system but can't find the time.  So, here's a link to Slate with a John Oliver bit on public defenders, and here's a recent Op-Ed in the WaPo by a public defender in New Orleans.  A taste: … Read more

by Ugh It seems Scott Walker is an incredibly bad candidate and all foam/no beer to boot.  We have Trump running circles around him and the rest of the, uh, distinguished gentlemen (and Ms. Fiorina) with nothing more than his hair and "BLARGH! I STRONG!" as a campaign.  Jeebus. So, despite my earlier thought that … Read more

by Ugh And so it begins.  Predictions?  Thoughts?  Winners/losers?  Will Donald's hairpiece walk off the stage?  Who will make the most outrageous statement?  Who helped most/least? My prediction:  Mr. Trump "wins" hands down.  Jeb Bush's popularity goes down.  Scott Walker will say the most insane thing and his popularity will soar because of it. Anyway, … Read more

by Ugh Because, gosh, there just isn't any evidence.  We're looking forward, not back.   Ex-CIA boss admits to BBC Panorama that it tortured The CIA tortured terror suspects in its programme of "enhanced interrogation", the agency's former executive director, Buzzy Krongard, has admitted to the BBC's Panorama programme. … I asked Buzzy Krongard, the … Read more

by Ugh Just when you thought it was safe to go take a peek at the GOP Primary Presidential candidates after Trump's, uh, comments about immigrants, we have former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) saying this about his Commander-in-Chief/Leader of the Free WorldTM: He would take the Israelis and basically march them to the door … Read more

by Ugh First let me say that I of course have no idea what actually happened to Sandra Bland in prison after being pulled over for failing to signal a lane change.  To me it seems that it should simply not be physically possible to hang oneself in a prison cell, but I'm guessing that's … Read more

by Ugh But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in … Read more

by Ugh Well.  Not quite the vote lineup I predicted, but it seems a keeper.  And Scalia didn't actually explode like the guy in Big Trouble in Little China, but I was a little less sure on that one. An interesting week, it seems.

by Ugh With a Bush III: Jeby'all! administration apparently something that can't be laughed out of the realm of realistic possibility, a reminder of his older and, uh, older brother's Presidency: Saying that high-ranking Bush administration officials may have taken part in grave constitutional violations after the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal appeals court in … Read more

by Ugh As I'm sure many of you know, the USA PATRIOT Act (or at least certain provisions of it and perhaps other laws) expired last night.  It's hard to tell, however, because I'm still here typing this and we do not have ISIS raising it's flag over the White House, imposing Sharia law, and … Read more

by Ugh Today teh SCOTUS granted cert in a case that may address the question of how to measure when the Constitutional standard of "one person, one vote" for drawing Congressional districts is satisfied.  (some SCOTUSblog coverage here) The "one person, one vote" standard stems from Reynolds v. Sims, striking down unequally populated Congressional districts … Read more

by Ugh I have here in my hand* a list of military units that are known to the Secretary of Defense as being involved in the upcoming annexation of Texas and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the invasion inside the Defense Department. Pay no attention to the Defense Department officials standing in front … Read more

by Ugh On Tuesday we have the oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges regarding whether states can constitutionally discriminate on the basis of sex when it comes to granting certain contract rights and obligations to consenting adults.  Some call this "same-sex marriage." As usual, SCOTUSblog will be live blogging here beginning at 10:45am Eastern.  I look forward … Read more

by Ugh As I'm sure you've all heard, a Florida ManTM landed a gyrocopter on the Capitol Grounds yesterday, resulting in a lock down on Capitol Hill for a time.  This of course has now led to usual discussion of "how-could-this-happen-and-who-fell-down-on-the-job-and-what-are-we-going-to-do-going-forward-OMG-OMG-OMG!!!"  (technical term). At a certain level I find this event amusing, although I recognize … Read more

by Ugh I like the NCAA men's basketball tournament, I really do.  Not as much as I used to for a variety of reasons.  These days, it gives me yet another chance to beat the ever growing drum of folk* calling out the NCAA on its hypocrisy, greed, cartel-like behavior, and just general awfulness.  Quite … Read more

by Ugh Well, today's the day of the big speech.  10:45am Eastern I believe.  Do I bring popcorn? As much as I find the U.S.-Israel relationship mystifying, peculiar, and ultimately a large net loss to the United States (IMHO), and as much as I find Netanyahu infuriating generally and his interference in U.S. politics even … Read more

by Ugh This is a bit dated, but Jack Goldsmith, whose claim to fame is being less insane than John Yoo and Jay Bybee, and Jane Harman, former Democratic congresswoman and now President of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (NOT the one at Princeton, it seems), had an Op-Ed in the WaPo entitled "What should … Read more

by Ugh It’s Super Bowl weekend. My pick is Seattle winning 34-10. I just don’t think New England is the good, they were lucky to beat Baltimore. Seattle was even more lucky to beat Green Bay, but I don’t see Russell Wilson having a god awful game again Tiger Woods is back and… He’s terrible. … Read more

by Ugh Greetings everyone from a cold as all get out French "no go" zone, aka Berlin.  Looks like that, while I was kinda busy, SCOTUS really does want to decide whether states can discriminate on the basis of sex in granting marriage rights.  Of course, it didn't quite put it that way (and, uh, NYTimes?  maybe … Read more

by Ugh Is it just me or is the whole "the U.S. didn't send a sufficiently high level official/Obama himself to march in Paris – outrage!" thing ridiculous?  I'd dismiss it as mindless partisan blather, but then the White House starts saying it should have done so.  Perhaps they're of the mind "meh, there's no … Read more

by Ugh Or not.  Talk about whatever, holiday related or otherwise.   It seems this Friday is the perfect day for a nice government document dump, who knows what will happen!  Related, and to the surprise of no one who knows anything about the inner workings of the IRS, Darrel Issa has yet to find … Read more

by Ugh I always thought our post-Castro Cuban policy was insane (and the embargo continues to be insane).  It certainly has been insane since the fall of the USSR.   How is it that we could normalize relations with Vietnam and China, each of which killed thousands of U.S. soldiers in, you know, actual full … Read more

by Ugh It seems it's been released.  Washington Post copy here.  WaPo story on the report here.  From the WaPo story: After being transferred to a site in Thailand, Zubaida was placed in isolation for 47 days, a period during which the presumably important source on al-Qaeda faced no questions. Then, at 11:50 a.m. on … Read more

by Ugh Some comments on the midterm post have delved into the ACA and what's going on at SCOTUS and the state itself.  I was going to write a post on this but haven't had time.  So, take any angle you want on the ACA, no need to respond to the below. Proponents of the … Read more

by Ugh A thread to discuss the elections today specifically and our glorious experiment in representative democracy generally.  I guess things won't heat up until the polls start closing tonight, but it would be irresponsible not to speculate!  I know, not a traditional use of the internets, but let's try and break new ground. This, … Read more

by Ugh This week in celebration worthy surveillance and other intelligence agency and related revelations: Nazis!  And not the Illinois kind:  "In all, historians told the New York Times, J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI and Allen Dulles’s CIA hired at least 1,000 Nazis — if not more."  Good times!  Also, too, this side note from the article, "Along … Read more

by Ugh I posted this on TiO almost three years ago but thought I'd bring it up here because of ESPN's 30 for 30 film on a point shaving scandal in college basketball from the late 1970s (and involving Henry Hill of Goodfellas fame no less).  So I thought I'd again ask:  why is point … Read more

by Ugh So, it seems the United States has embarked on yet another campaign of floggings for love in the Middle East, or as Glenn Greenwald, winner of this week's "trolling of the internets" headline award* put it "Syria Becomes the 7th Predominantly Muslim Country Bombed by 2009 Nobel Peace Laureate."   It also seems that the United … Read more

by Ugh I'm leaning Kafka, but could be convinced otherwise, or why not both?   The Justice Department intervened late Friday in a defamation lawsuit against United Against Nuclear Iran, a prominent advocacy group that pushes for tough sanctions against Tehran. The government said the case should be dropped because forcing the group to open … Read more

by Ugh So the latest and greatest tax news in the popular press (MSM, if you must) is about corporate inversions where a U.S. parented company becomes a non-U.S. parented company via a merger with a non-U.S. company (often significantly smaller than the U.S. company, but not always), thus escaping large amounts of the "contributing … Read more