John Richard Clinton Maenpaa's Blog (89)

CIA base attacked in Afghanistan supported airstrikes against al-Qaeda, Taliban

By Joby Warrick and Pamela Constable The CIA base attacked by a suicide bomber in ... CIA airstrikes against top al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders in the region. ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/31/AR2009123100541.html?hpid=topnews

Whenever night falls, whenever day breaks, search well into your dealings, so will your whole life be one Day of Atonement.

- Moses of Evreux, 1240

Matthews and Walsh Slam Ron Christie for Cheney's Hackery



Posted: 31 Dec 2009 06:00 PM PST



Looks like good Tweety was back today taking a whack at Dick Cheney's former aide Ron Christie along with Salon's Joan Walsh. True to form Christie defended Cheney's recent stenography session at The Politico. Ron Christie is one of the more annoying pundits out there so this didn't bother me one bit. I'll give him this as annoying as he is though. He's got more stones than his… Continue

Crazy Heart

A brokedown, boozy c&w singer.

A great Jeff Bridges performance.



Some actors are blessed. Jeff Bridges is one of them. Ever since his breakthrough role in "The Last Picture Show" in 1971, he has, seemingly without effort, created a series of characters who we simply believe, even the alien "Starman." He doesn't do this with mannerisms but with their exclusion; his acting is as clear as running water. Look at him playing Bad Blake in "Crazy Heart." The notion… Continue

Mayor seeks to block tankers

Wants Yemen gas delivery offshore

By Andrea Estes

Globe Staff / January 1, 2010



Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday he will ask Boston’s lawyers to see whether the city can block Yemeni tankers from delivering liquefied natural gas into Boston Harbor, calling such deliveries “wrong.’’



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Judge Drops Charges From Blackwater Deaths in Iraq
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
A federal judge has dismissed all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards charged in a deadly Baghdad shooting.

Find the rest here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/01/us/01blackwater.html

Right and Left Agree: Mandates are the Road to Neo-Feudalism

By: Jane Hamsher Wednesday December 30, 2009 10:40 am



Hmmm, feels limiting (photo: TheTruthAbout)



Hmmm, feels limiting (photo: TheTruthAbout)



There is tremendous fear rising on both the right and the left that the announced intention of Congress — to force every American to pay tribute to private corporations, with no government alternative — sets a dangerous and frightening precedent with… Continue

Al Giordano’s Last Nag of the Zeroes

Posted by Al Giordano - December 28, 2009 at 10:22 pm



By Al Giordano



Ten Years of Narco News: Before... and After



Kind Reader:



Ten years ago – at the beginning of this decade that will forevermore be known as “the zeroes” – in April of 2000, a marginalized ex-journalist waded back in to his craft and posted his new work onto the Internet via a dial-up connection from his bunker in a small indigenous town in… Continue

2009: A year of Fox News political activism



With the inauguration of President Obama in 2009, Fox News transformed itself from a conservative media outlet into a partisan, right-wing political organization that openly viewed itself as the "voice of the opposition." Throughout the year, Fox News has declared war on the Obama administration, the Democratic Congress, and progressive organizations by, among other things, campaigning for the firing of various administration officials,… Continue