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The Daily Muck
The former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman, is off the hook for assuring New Yorkers in 2001 that air surrounding the World Trade Center after 9/11 was safe to breathe despite having no basis for such claims. Though numerous reports of sickened residents and workers near the site pour in, a federal appeals court ruled she did not intend to cause harm. Whitman contends now that she was talking about Lower Manhattan in general, not just Ground Zero. (Washington Post)
The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday challenging the equitable value of the "millionaire's amendment," which puts restrictions on wealthy congressional candidates while allowing their opponents to raise more money. Justices were split in their views of the law: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the law was created to fight the perception of congressional seats for sale. Justice Antonin Scalia argued that logic had nothing to do with fighting corruption. (New York Times)
Officials of the private military firm Blackwater Worldwide were not deterred by those protesting their projected training facility east of San Diego ... they just moved their focus-area elsewhere in San Diego County. Blackwater Vice President Brian Bonfiglio says the over 61,000-square foot building in Otay Mesa will cost "hundreds of thousands of dollars," and should be ready for Navy training this summer. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Now that the Democrats control Congress, many Republican lobbyists have taken notice and are rushing to curry favor with the relatively new majority. (Politico)
A former U.S. Army engineer, 84-year-old Ben-Ami Kadish, was arrested Tuesday for sharing classified information with Israel between 1979 and 1985. Intelligence officials discovered Kadish's activities in the last few years, findings produced by the ongoing investigation of another spy case, that of Jonathan Pollard. A common "handler" linked Kadish and Pollard. (Newsweek)
Josh
Zachary
What? Israeli spies? Here in the United States? Don't be foolish. Let's focus on the real danger: Iran.
Focus, focus…
April 23, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Earlier in the Blackwater-in-San Diego debate, Blackwater talked about alternate local facilities such as the currently proposed training center in Otay Mesa. (FYI-Otay Mesa is within spitting distance of the international border, pretty much directly opposite the Tijuana Airport.)
In the previous discussions, one of the local reporters actually contacted the local military and police agencies that were intended as Blackwater's clients. Their universal reply was that they had no contracts with Blackwater for training, that any entity could (and does) set up such facilities with the hope of attracting clientele. They couldn't speak to whether they would use Blackwater unless and until a facility was in operation and their terms were on the table. It's unclear to me why they are singling out the Navy this time or even why the Navy would be interested in "outsourcing" their training. San Diego County has:
•Camp Pendleton Marine Base, with all sorts of shooting and bombing and tank practice and helicopter space plus a huge amphibious practice area on the Pacific Ocean
•The Marine Corps Recruit Depot right near the SD airport for Basic Training
•Miramar Naval Air Station
•the Navy base on the water near 25th St. including boat yards and docking, although I think the big carriers dock up in the Harbor
•the Naval Air Station on North Island (also right near the airport) and associated stuff on Coronado
What could a 61,000 ft indoor facility hope to provide to the Navy that isn't already available in-house within an hour's drive? I hope somebody in Washington hasn't made promises that cost the taxpayers money for redundant services. Or that someone has OK'd training practices outside the scope of the military's mission.
April 23, 2008 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good insight, though you need to remember, under Bushco, you don't need no stinking contracts, just contacts. Why use paid for Government sites and GI trainers, when for 1000 times the cost, you can outsource.
April 23, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's what's it's all about - further privatizing of our military. And it scares the crap out of me. They have a compound on the East Coast and are planning on building one on the West Coast. When are they planning on building these huge compounds in the North and South? And then, they'll have to build one in the middle of the counry.
Blackwater scares the crap out of me.
April 23, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course they were giving info to Israel. We're allies who can't afford to be seen together and both have highly effective intel departments (it's kind of sad how the Israeli army bombed a Syrian reactor while we were still yelling how Iran might be building one and Bush still thought that there were WMDs in Iraq).
According to the New York Times a while back, trading info is typical.
Now if only they'd sold the info for the excommunication of Abramoff (no, I don't know if we can really do that).
April 23, 2008 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink