Mike Kuykendall

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US Asserts Right to Kidnap Anyone in the World
2007-12-02 02:29:00
In a case in the United Kingdom this weekend the United States officially asserted its right to legally detain and abduct citizens of any nation. From the Times Online (h/t Mefi); AMERICA has told Britain that it can ?kidnap? British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States. A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.... Until now it was commonly assumed that US law permitted kidnapping only in the ?extraordinary rendition? of terrorist suspects. The American government has for the first time made it clear in a British court that the law applies to anyone, British or otherwise, suspected of a crime by Washington. Legal experts confirmed this weekend that America viewed extradition as just one way of getting foreign suspects back to face trial. Rendition, or kidnapping, dates back to 19th-century bounty hunti...
More About: World , The World

Bomb-Strapped Man Takes Hostages at NH Clinton HQ
2007-11-30 20:29:00
Just in from the AP;A man claiming to have a bomb walked in to Hillary Rodham Clinton 's campaign offices Friday and took hostages, police and witnesses said.The man had what appeared to be a bomb strapped to himself, said Bill Shaheen, a top state campaign official. He took two hostages, both volunteers, and released others, Shaheen said.Witness Lettie Tzizik told television station WMUR of Manchester that she spoke to a woman shortly after she was released from the office by the suspect. The woman was carrying an infant, and crying."She said, 'You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape," Tzizik said.Clinton was not in the New Hampshire office Friday. She was scheduled to give an address at the Democratic National Committee meeting in Vienna, Va., but it was unclear if the address would go forward as planned.Authorities were sending a tactical bomb unit to assist local police, and t...
More About: Bomb , Hostages , Linton , Ages

Putin Heads to Landslide Victory with Rigged Vote
2007-11-30 19:11:00
Vladimir Putin proves Bush's soul searching judgment may very well have been inaccurate; his United Russia party is poised to win in a landslide amidst cries of vote rigging by the Kremlin;Campaigning for Russia's parliamentary election ended on Friday with President Vladimir Putin's party on course for a landslide victory and opposition groups voicing fears of widespread ballot-rigging....One of Putin's most vocal critics, former chess champion Garry Kasparov, said the vote would be illegitimate because, he said, the Kremlin would rig the result.Officials deny any such rigging campaign and Putin has said he expected the election to be fair and transparent.Kasparov, who served five days in prison this week for organizing an illegal demonstration, urged voters to spoil their ballot papers on Sunday in protest."We must show people that these elections are absolutely illegal and illegitimate," Kasparov told a news briefing. He is not running in the election and his opposition coa...
More About: Victory , Vote , Heads

Turkey Green Lights Cross-Border Strikes in Iraqi Kurdistan
2007-11-30 17:05:00
Following up on last month's decision by the Turkish parliament to OK operations in northern Iraq's moderately stable Kurdish area, today Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan announced his cabinet has authorized further action. From the AP;Turkey 's prime minister said on Friday his cabinet had authorized the armed forces to conduct a cross-border operation against Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq, but analysts said major action did not appear imminent.Tayyip Erdogan's comments, following up on a parliamentary resolution last month and emergency talks with U.S. President George W. Bush, seemed chiefly designed to keep up pressure on U.S. and Iraqi forces to honor pledges to tackle the PKK."We took our cabinet meeting decision on November 28 and with the president's approval our Turkish Armed Forces are now authorized for a cross-border operation from November 28," Erdogan said in televised comments.Turkey has amassed up to 100,000 troops near the mountainous border, backed up by ta...
More About: Green , Cross , Lights

Bush Official "Improperly Influenced" Species Decisions
2007-11-28 17:16:00
Adding to a growing list of Bush administration black eyes, the Fish and Wildlife Services is reversing 7 decisions made by crony Julie MacDonald, the deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, regarding protecting imperiled wildlife. From the Washington Post;The policy reversal, sparked by inquiries by the Interior Department's inspector general and by the House Natural Resources Committee, underscores the extent to which the administration is still dealing with the fallout from the tenure of Julie MacDonald, the deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks who repeatedly overruled agency scientists' recommendations on endangered-species decisions. MacDonald resigned from the department in May after she was criticized in a report by the inspector general and as she was facing congressional scrutiny.In a letter dated Nov. 23 to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.), acting Director Kenneth Stansell of the Fish and Wildlife Se...
More About: Official , Decisions , Prop , Rope

Going Undercover at a Ron Paul Campaign Event
2007-11-28 14:04:00
Last night the inestimable Murph and I put on our crack journalist hats and attended a meeting of Ron Paul supporters presenting campaign training for Missouri and Kansas. We wanted to get a feel for how well they are prepared, how many supporters they have, and also, of course, simply for the thrill of doing undercover work as a card-carrying member of the DNC at a GOP campaign event. You never know when some aggressive staffers will attempt to manhandle you out of the building or something.My first impression was the size of the crowd- Johnson County, Kansas, which covers a bunch of Kansas City suburbs just south of the city, is about as red as a place can get. It is the fastest-growing and most populated county in the state, and ranks 43rd in highest per-capita income in the entire country. There are places here where Hummers, Porsches, and Ferraris are a common sight. The turnout for this particular event, billed as grassroots training, was pitiful considering the blood-red...
More About: Event , Campaign , Undercover

Stopping the FCC from Consolidating Media Ownership
2007-11-27 18:59:00
Bush's FCC chairman, Kevin J. Martin, announced his intention to push through new plan to relax media ownership laws in October;The head of the Federal Communications Commission has circulated an ambitious plan to relax the decades-old media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city. Kevin J.
More About: Media , Media Ownership , Topping , Dati , Soli

Trent Lott To Resign Senate by the End of the Year
2007-11-26 15:10:00
Senator Trent Lott becomes the sixth GOP Senator this year to retire. From the AP; Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Senate 's No. 2 Republican, plans to resign his seat before the end of the year, congressional and Bush administration officials said Monday. Lott, 66, scheduled two news conferences in Pascagoula and Jackson later in the day to reveal his plans. According to the officials, who
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Another Bush Ally Bites the Dust
2007-11-24 14:27:00
Australian PM and zealous Bush ally John Howard has conceded to Labor leader Kevin Rudd- from the BBC;Australian Prime Minister John Howard has admitted defeat in the country's general election, and looks set to lose his parliamentary seat. Mr Howard said he had telephoned Labor leader Kevin Rudd "to congratulate him on an emphatic victory". Mr Rudd said the country had "looked to the future"
More About: Ally , Bite

Saudi Arabia to Attend Annapolis Peace Summit
2007-11-23 15:31:00
Though I think it is a little too late to start making like they are worried about an Israeli/Palestinian peace accord now, it is encouraging that Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal has agreed to attend the hastily thrown together peace summit in Annapolis;Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations decided Friday to attend next week's US-sponsored Middle East peace conference, but the Saudi foreign
More About: Peace , Summit

Lacking US Help, "Combat Camels" Sent to Darfur
2007-11-23 13:17:00
In lieu of a strong American military presence in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, it seems Indian "combat camels" will be sent to assist the joint United Nations/African Union peacekeeping force. No, I'm not kidding- from the AP;India plans to send combat-trained camels to solve the transport headache facing a fledgling UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region,
More About: Combat , Comb

Edwards' Health Care Gambit
2007-11-22 16:03:00
Factcheck.org ran a piece on Senator John Edwards ' idea to try and use the power of the presidency to remove health care for the president, all cabinet officials, and Congress if some form of universal health care is not passed by July 20th, 2009. In it, they try to debunk his claims that he could use presidential power to do such a thing, citing separation of powers doctrine;All Edwards could
More About: Health , Health Care , Care , Ambit

Another Milestone to be Thankful For
2007-11-22 15:15:00
I was just going over my numbers today and noticed I just passed 35,000 total unique visitors on this blog. The strange part is it was only a few weeks ago, on November 6th actually, I was crowing about passing 30,000. So apparently I have picked up as much traffic this last 16 days as I had for all of September and October. Woo hoo! Anyhow, Happy Thanksgiving to all my regular readers, to
More About: Milestone , Hank

GOP California Electoral Heist Prospects Dim
2007-11-22 13:47:00
The Calif ornia ballot initiative I first posted about here, the one initially funded by Giuliani supporter and hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, is back in the news- apparently supporters are still rushing to get the 700,000 signatures needed to get this blatant GOP attempt to hijack the presidential vote on the ballot. From the LA Times; Backers of a California initiative that could
More About: Electoral

Bush Threatens Congress with 100K Christmas Furloughs
2007-11-20 18:06:00
Upping the ante in the Iraq funding stalemate with Congress , the White House announced furloughs for 100,000 civilians employees just in time for Christmas . From the Swamp; Merry Christmas from Washington: With Congress balking at continued war funding, the White House says the Defense Department will issue furlough notices to about 100,000 civilian workers at military bases in mid-December.
More About: Bush

Redacted: A Fumbling, Progressive Movie Review
2007-11-20 03:25:00
I will not profess to be any kind of critic. I have no classical education in critiquing movies, if that is what qualifies one to credibly review a film. I will say, however, that I have had a thorough non-traditional education in a wide swath of American movies since the silent film. As credentials I would offer the following movies as somewhere near the top of my favorite movies of all time;
More About: Progressive , Movie , Movie Review , Review , Redacted

Counterfeit "Ron Paul" Liberty Dollar Co. Raided
2007-11-17 17:09:00
Just to prove my recent point that a large percentage of Ron Paul supporters are not running on all eight cylinders, check this story out. Apparently a group called the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act & Internal Revenue Code (NORFED) is producing currency bearing the likeness of Dr. Paul. Federal agents raided their headquarters, saying the group was putting
More About: Liberty , Dollar , Liberty Dollar

Senate GOP Filibusters Farm Bill, Iraq Funds
2007-11-16 18:18:00
Make no mistake about it, if the minority party invokes the Rule 22 (the cloture rule) it is a de facto filibuster. The Senate GOP used it again today to block the farm bill;The Senate blocked a $286 billion farm bill Friday, a blow to farm-state lawmakers who wanted to give their constituents expanded subsidies before next year's elections. Though politically popular, the bill stalled in a
More About: Iraq , Farm , Funds , Bill

Musharraf Installs Puppet Government to Satisfy the West
2007-11-16 13:58:00
The AP reports this morning that General Pervez Musharraf will install a caretaker (read "puppet") government that introduces the "essence of democracy" in Pakistan; President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Friday swore in a caretaker administration and declared he had "introduced the essence of democracy in Pakistan," the day a senior U.S. envoy arrived in capital to urge the end of emergency rule. [.
More About: Government , West , Puppet

Ron Paul's Radical Views
2007-11-15 15:20:00
I have written previously about Representative Ron Paul's extremist views, but with his surging fundraising and steadily climbing poll numbers it seems another visit to this deluded Libertarian's views is in order. Many of my non-political friends have asked my opinion on Paul. They are seduced by his anti-war views and GOP underdog status, and somehow consider him a real alternative to the
More About: Views , Radical

Great New Progressive Ad
2007-11-15 14:20:00
The Center for American Progress- the political force behind Think Progress- unveiled a great new progressive ad campaign and I just had to post one of the spots. Good stuff! Similar to a question I often ask Conservatives on this blog... what exactly do you stand for other than greed and corporate handouts? That's why progressives will win, and win BIG, in 2008- we know exactly what we stand
More About: Progressive , Great

Musharraf to Quit Army
2007-11-14 17:27:00
The AP is reporting General Pervez Musharraf announced he will step down from his military position this month. Don't be fooled by the headline, though- this is actually an extension of his allotted time as military chief (emphasis mine);President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Wednesday he expects to step down as army chief by the end of November and begin a new presidential term as a civilian,
More About: Army , Quit

News Corp Publisher Urged Regan to Lie About Kerik Affair
2007-11-14 04:29:00
Judith Regan, right-wing smear merchant and publisher of the infamous Simpson If I Did It monstrosity, is suing Rupert Murdoch's Harper Collins alleging she was instructed to lie to federal investigators about an affair with Rudy Giuliani confidante Bernard Kerik. From the AP, emphasis mine;One-time book publishing powerhouse Judith Regan filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit Tuesday saying
More About: News , News Corp , Affair , Publisher , Urge

Vote For Me!
2007-11-13 18:44:00
I rarely ask my readers for help with shameless self-promotion efforts. As such, I think you guys owe me one for not bugging you these last 9 months or so. Go vote for me all you regular readers- I decided I want to see if I can make it to number one on Blog TopList. If this link fails hit the "vote for me" button below and to the left. And for any casual readers, check out my archives and
More About: Vote

Yet More Incompetence from Condoleezza Rice
2007-11-13 04:19:00
We all know accountability is not in the Bush administration's vocabulary- especially the currently inept leadership at the State Department. I previously posted on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 's attempt to cover up for Blackwater misdeeds, and to obfuscate horrible management problems with wonderfully useless internal investigations. Now the cracks in the near-legendary loyalty of Bush
More About: Incompetence

Top Intel Official Urges Americans to Reconsider Privacy
2007-11-11 17:54:00
The seemingly inviolate sense that all rights in America revolve around a central right of privacy may soon go the way of the dinosaur, if one top Intel ligence official representing the Bush Administration's horrid views has his way. According to Senior Fascist- ahem, I mean Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Donald Kerr (I really wish I was making this up- emphasis, and
More About: Privacy , Americans , Official , Consider

Pat Robertson Endorses Rudy Giuliani
2007-11-07 14:49:00
Yes, you heard me right. A TV preacher is endorsing a serial cross-dresser. I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to- from The Fix;Pat Robertson , one of the most influential figures in the social conservative movement, will announce his support for Rudy Giuliani 's presidential bid this morning in Washington, D.C., according to sources familiar with the decision. Robertson's support was

Apparently I'm Getting Somewhere
2007-11-07 00:39:00
I started this blog, calling it Indigent A-hole (here's a good post as to why the weird name) in February 2007. It took me a few months before I figured out how to self-promote and get my name out there. It took a few more to decide to drop the silly name and state my purpose as my damnself. After 9 months of bloody fingers, it seems I have attained a Google pagerank of 4. Woo hoo! I'm not
More About: Some , Somewhere , Pare

Cheney Impeachment Resolution Moving to Judiciary Committee
2007-11-06 22:04:00
Just now on CSPAN Majority Leader Steny Hoyer moved to refer Rep. Dennis Kucinich's impeachment resolution for Vice President Cheney to the Judiciary committee. The vote is proceeding, more to come... UPDATE: The procedural motion to get to the vote to refer the resolution to the Judiciary committee passed 218-194. The real referral motion is being voted on now. REMINDER: If the vote to move
More About: Moving , Impeachment , Committee

Bush Approval Beats Nixon for All-Time Worst
2007-11-06 19:04:00
I have been watching Bush 's poll numbers carefully, waiting for the inevitable moment that he proves himself the worst President in history by beating Nixon 's poll numbers. That day has come, unfortunately for him and for the rest of the nation (h/t Think Progress);Meanwhile, Bush reached an unwelcome record. By 64%-31%, Americans disapprove of the job he is doing. For the first time in the
More About: Time , Beats