Rockin' New Years Eve

My most recent ex-husband was mad for the nation of Denmark. We visited on our honeymoon and I quickly discovered why he was so enchanted with the country. Danes are the most outgoing of the scandanavian people and they love to entertain in their fairyland of a country. The Copenhagen zoo must be seen to be believed, and I've visited every important zoo in the US. Denmark must be seen to be believed.

We spent a couple of weeks touring the country, mostly by train, before taking the ferry to Sweden to investigate the city from which my ancestors escaped, Gothenborg. Copenhagen is a magical place, which we explored from the pension used by itinerant merchant seaman (I have no idea how I found this particular bargain, this was before the days of the Rough Guides.) Some of the best cheap food in the city was to be found in the grand central train station (which is true for a lot of European cities.) I came to prize the open-faced sandwiches known as "smorrebrod" (I don't have the character set to render the diacritical marks correctly, but you get the idea.) Scandanavians make a meal out of these, but you can use the same idea to create canapes which will make a meal with a lot of variety in the course of a cocktail party.

The guts of the method are always the same: start with one of those loaves of cocktail rye squares, the little loaves of rye which are about 2"x2" square. Have a really good mayonnaise on hand (make your own if you have time, it is really worth it. If you have a food processor or a blender, this only takes a minute), some fresh dill, sprouts, parsley and romaine lettuce. The preparation of a good smorrebrod depends on simplicity and fresh ingredients.

A classic smorrebrod canape would be topping one of those cocktail squares with a smear (smorre) of good mayo, a sprig of fresh dill and one perfect shrimp with a grating of lemon zest. You can do the same with a thin shaving of citrus cured gravlax on a sliver of romaine lettuce, a paperthin slice of herbed ham on a smear of honey mustard and topped with a garnish of sieved egg yolk, roast beef sliced thin enough to read the paper through on top of a smear of horseradish sauce and topped with a slice of radish. You get the idea. A good smorrebrod starts with a base of hearty rye, smeared with a flavorful dressing of some kind, covered with a protein prepared very simply and dressed with a garnish. The flavors are simple so the ingredients have to be good.

We, the ex and I, did these (the full sized version open faced sandwiches) a couple of times a year, usually with an aquavit tasting on the side, for the donors to his local chamber music project. The firewater of Scandanavia is potent stuff, but it comes in an astonishing variety of flavors, all of which go well with these little sandwiches. We'd pour a flight of 4-6 aquavits with the smorrebrod. I'd never had aquavit until I went to Scandanavia and have fond memories of discussing the merits of the various brands in broken Danish with the proprietor of a spirits shop in Aarhus (home of Lego. Really. The Legoland Theme Park is there. We didn't go.) I studied Danish by tape on the flight over. It was good enough, but most Danes have more English than you will ever have Danish.

If you want to put together an impromptu party in a hurry, you can get the basics from the deli and seafood counter at your local grocery. It will take you maybe an hour to put these open faced bits together. The aquavit should be chilled and served in tiny aquavit glasses. If you would rather not serve hard spirits (I don't drink them anymore) northern German wines and most German beers go nicely with this menu. The flavors of the food should prevail, so this isn't the place to bring out your most subtle petit syrah or oaky chardonnay. Danish Carlsberg beer (been through the brewery, I'm not a beer drinker, but this is the wine of beers) is also a good pairing. If you want to do this as a brunch (highly recommended) mulled wine, cider or glogg will work nicely.

In the tradition of smorrebrod, if you want to make some lighter sandwiches which are all vegetable (consider the combination of shaved radish and a cornichon on a bit of romaine topped with parsely, for example) use sweet unsalted butter rather than mayonaise, which would overwhelm the topping. You can turn this into nearly anything you want (consider a thin slice of turkey topped with a tarragon mayonaise, for example) which can make as hearty a menu as you want to serve, or as light a set of canapes if you prefer. In the Danish tradition, these are all assembled ahead of time, the oil in the dressing will keep the breads from drying out, but the assembly time is next to nothing if you've chosen your ingredients carefully. A thin slice of cucumber, gashed half way through and twisted to form a figure eight served on a bit of rye with a smear of dilled mayo and a sprig of parsley will delight the Danish eye. And pie hole. Assemble another with a bit of tinned tuna mashed with a plain green, stuffed olive and topped with a couple of capers on a bed of bread and mayo with a dash of lemon zest and sprig of fresh tarragon. I'm not a lover of smoked fish, but if you are, play with herbs and sour cream or cream cheese and have a wonderful time. Put a bed of parsley puree over some cream cheese and go nuts with the smoked trout.

Basically, if you make a party like this, your biggest problem will be your guests asking when your next party is and if they are invited.

That's a pretty nice problem to have.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Pleasures of the East

In comments to the post below, skdadl asked for a kimchi recipe. I've found one that I like, but asian markets are so numerous around here that I don't usually make it from scratch. Here is a good recipe, however.

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon pickling salt 6 cups water
2 lbs. Chinese (Napa) cabbage, cut into 2-inch squares
6 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths, then slivered
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons Korean ground dried hot pepper (or other mildly hot ground red pepper)
1 teaspoon sugar

Makes about 1 1/2 Quarts

1. Dissolve the 3 tablespoons salt in the water. Put the cabbage into a large bowl, a crock, or a nonreactive pot, and pour the brine over it. Weight the cabbage down with a plate. Let the cabbage stand for 12 hours.

2. Drain the cabbage, reserving the brine. Mix the cabbage with the remaining ingredients, including the 1 teaspoon salt. Pack the mixture into a 2-quart jar. Pour enough of the reserved brine over the cabbage to cover it. Push a freezer bag into the mouth of the jar, and pour the remaining brine into the bag. Seal the bag. Let the kimchi ferment in a cool place, at a temperature no higher than 68° F, for 3 to 6 days,until the kimchi is as sour as you like.

3. Remove the brine bag, and cap the jar tightly. Store the kimchi in the refrigerator, where it will keep for months.

Noted with Bemusement

This is courtesy of Silviu Dochia at Avian Flu - What we need to know:

Kimchi Sales Rise on Link to Possible Bird Flu Cure

By Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 31, 2005; Page D01

Moon K. Yoon sensed something was up about two months ago when the 16-ounce jars of kimchi started moving quickly from the shelves of the Lotte Plaza International Supermarket in Fairfax, a sign that interest in the spicy cabbage dish had moved beyond the Korean customers who typically buy it by the gallon.

At the Super H Mart on Lee Highway in Fairfax City, sales of $7.99 bags of freshly made kimchi have increased 55 percent, compared with a year ago, store records showed.

Ho Jin Lee, president of Kim Chee Pride Inc. of Maspeth, N.Y., which supplies kimchi on the East Coast, said sales jumped 20 percent this year.

A sudden new joie d'epice in the American diet?

Try avian flu.

Blame it on the Internet, the anxiety of life in the 21st century, or a volatile combination of the two, but publication of a minor study by a South Korean academic last spring has apparently triggered a minor run on kimchi, a daily staple of the Korean diet that the bland-of-palate are likely to avoid like a global pandemic.

Which presents a potentially difficult choice given the work of Kang Sa-Ouk of Seoul National University, who took 13 chickens infected with avian flu virus and a couple of other diseases, fed them kimchi juice and found that 11 of the birds recovered.

Word of the study has been circulating on the Internet. As fears about bird flu have grown in the recent months, Yoon and operators of other ethnic groceries have gotten more phone calls about kimchi.

So has the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where callers have turned seeking validation of the idea that kimchi may ward off avian flu, spokeswoman Kathy Stover said.

"Although it certainly sounds interesting, NIAID, unfortunately, can't comment on the dish's effectiveness as we have not studied it," Stover said in an e-mail.

Yoon and his fellow grocers have also gotten lots of questions about the dish's taste and its pungent smell. "It's hard for me to explain the taste," Yoon said.

The most common preparation of kimchi for sale in markets begins with sliced Napa cabbage, which is salted, set aside for hours and then rinsed. Most traditional recipes add plenty of crushed garlic, as well as ginger, onion, sliced radish and fish sauce to the cabbage. And lots of hot pepper, though Yoon said that in some "Americanized" versions, the pepper and fish sauce are reduced.

No one quite knows what in kimchi is the magic ingredient, but its increased popularity pleases international food groceries, who believe the exposure might bring more customers to their markets.

I happen to love the stuff, but it is definitely an acquired taste.

Neologisms

THE YEAR IN…
Wordology

2005 WAS A GOOD YEAR for words. Not all of them, of course; like Dodger outfielders or reality-TV stars, some had a better year than others. "Podcast," for example, was named word of the year by the prestigious Oxford American Dictionary, the lexiconic (that's a word we just made up) equivalent of the Oscar for best picture, and "integrity" took home the prize for most-looked-up at dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's website. The American Dialect Society, meanwhile, will select its word of the year next week at its annual meeting. Alas, the ceremony will not be podcast.

It is probably foolish to read too much into all this, as these are only, well, words. But the words we use do, like, totally define us, if we may lapse into the speech patterns of a teenager for a moment to make our point. Words also come in handy for illustrating larger trends.

Runners-up on the Oxford list include "bird flu," "persistent vegetative state" (both are actually phrases, but they're just happy to be nominated) and "Sudoku" (which may also be eligible for the number of the year award). Oxford editors comb the lexisphere (yeah, we made that one up too) in search of new and popular words, which they then consider for inclusion in the latest edition of the dictionary.

Editors at Merriam-Webster simply tabulate the most popular searches at their online dictionary. On the site, if not in Congress, "integrity" has been slowly growing in popularity over the years. Rounding out Merriam-Webster's list are such news-driven inquiries as "refugee," "tsunami," "pandemic" and "insipid" (which spent two months in the Top 50 after Simon Cowell used it on "American Idol.") Whatever it takes, we say, to improve America's vocabulary.

In fact, we'd like to thank all the words for competing this year, all several hundred thousand of them, and to say that they're all winners in our book. Saying words had a good year, we realize, is a little like saying it was a good year for oxygen, or gravity. (Though it is true they both did very well.) But really, words were superlative this year. Overwhelming. Awesome. Outstanding. You get the idea. Words fail us.

Anyone who can point me in the direction of a link to instructions on how to play Sudoku gets a kewpie doll.

Special Times

This is celebration food. If you have political issues with veal, scallops of turkey or chicken breast tenders, pounded as thin as possible, will work just great. This serves 6.

WEINER SCHNITZEL WITH SPAETZLE

1 1/2 lbs. veal scallops
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. butter
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 c. all purpose flour
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 c. dried bread crumbs
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. milk
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. capers

Spaetzle
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Pound scallops gently to an even 1/8 inch thickness between a couple of pieces of plastic wrap. If you don't own a meat mallet, use the bottom of a heavy bottle.

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a bowl or pie plate; beat eggs with milk in another bowl; put breadcrumbs in a third; dip scallops in flour, then eggs then bread crumbs. Let the coated scallops rest on paper towels for a few minutes before cooking. Melt butter in large skillet until very hot; fry scallops, a few at a time, until golden brown. Remove scallops to a heated platter. Add lemon juice to pan drippings; cool for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour over scallops and garnish with lemon slices and capers.

Spaetzle directions: combine eggs and milk; stir in flour, salt and nutmeg. beating until smooth. Drop dough by teaspoons into boiling water (or pass dough through colander); boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and toss with butter or melt butter in skillet and gently fry spaetzle until brown, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Gourmet shops will sell you a spaetzle cutter (how often are you going to use that?) but the solution I use is to press the dough through a slotted spoon with large holes, rather than a colandar.

Spaetzle are a wizard starch for soaking up the sauce of sauerbraten as well.

It Ain't Over

U.S. Women Accuse a Coach of Harassment

By WINA STURGEON and LYNN ZINSER
Published: December 31, 2005

SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 30 - Some members of the United States women's skeleton team, including the 2002 Olympic gold medalist Tristan Gale, have accused Coach Tim Nardiello of a pattern of sexual harassment dating to 2002.

Noelle Pikus-Pace is defending Coach Tim Nardiello against accusations that he sexually harassed other women on the United States skeleton team.

Although Nardiello has denied the accusations, officials at the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation decided Thursday that he would remain the coach for the Turin Olympics in February but would be asked to resign three days after the Winter Games end.

That decision, announced to the federation's board by the interim executive director, Robie Vaughn, in an e-mail message, further angered the athletes who made the accusations and another coach who said he had witnessed harassing behavior. On Friday, one of those athletes, Felicia Canfield, sent an e-mail message to the board stating that she wanted her complaint to be considered a formal grievance against Nardiello.

In interviews and in e-mail messages sent to the federation and shared with The New York Times, athletes asserted that Nardiello had made sexual advances toward women on the skeleton team, had made sexually explicit comments and had barged into hotel rooms while women were undressing.

Terry Allen, another women's coach, said in an interview that he first told the federation in 2002 about inappropriate behavior he had witnessed between Nardiello and athletes.

Nardiello denied the accusations, dismissing them as complaints from athletes who did not make the Olympic team.

"I would have to say that is absolutely not true, and I would leave any other comments to counsel," Nardiello said in a telephone interview from his home in Lake Placid, N.Y., where the federation is based. He did not provide the name of a lawyer.

Vaughn said the federation was still investigating.

"We'll take this very seriously, and we're looking into it," he said in a telephone interview. "We're pursuing it with all vigor, but being sensitive to the legalities on all sides."

Jim Scherr, the chief executive of the United States Olympic Committee, was alerted to the accusations Friday. In a telephone interview, he promised a prompt investigation.

"These are extremely serious allegations and will be treated as such," Scherr said. "We're going to send someone to interview the athletes, and we will move on this quickly."

The U.S.O.C., which has recently taken a broader role in the affairs of individual sports federations, can go as far as denying an Olympic credential to any member of the American delegation. "Obviously, his appointment to the U.S. bobsled and skeleton team is their issue," Scherr said. "But his appointment to the Olympic team is our issue."

The idiot Times is treating this as another "he said, she said" rather than trying to determine the truth. Here is the kicker quote, however:

"Many times at the start line of a race, waiting for the light to turn green, Tim would look me up and down and comment how good I looked in my speedsuit," Canfield said. "He has even patted my butt. I would have preferred to focus on my race. He has tried to kiss me on the lips, but I have turned my cheek. I, along with a dozen other athletes, have heard Tim say over the radio, 'The only time I want to see your legs spread like that is if I am between them.' "

Yeah, I've worked for assholes like this, some of them fairly recently. You think sexism is over with? Dream on, child. Until bastards like this get kicked in the nuts through their pocketbooks, this kind of crap will continue to happen. The Olympics are weeks away and there is no margin for the athletes to bring this up now unless it is just unbearable. The women aren't going to get anything out of it other than a release from the harassment, which is all they seem to be asking for.

Do you want to talk about the editor who denied me writing assignments when I refused to sleep with him or the supervisor who treated all of his female reports as if they had IQs below room temperature? Then there is the supervisor who walked in my office every morning with questions about what was in my lingerie drawer, the one wanted to know who I was dating and if he'd gotten to third base yet, the one who assumed that because I am blonde that I'm stupid AND easy....

Coulter takes on Kwanzaa, shoots self in foot

Or maybe in the heart, but it's not like it's one of her vital organs.

I know, I know - taking on Ann Coulter has a shooting-fish-in-a-barrel quality, but as long as she's being published, somebody ought to do it. And this one's kinda fun.

First (in my critique, not her column), there's this marvelously racist little carol that she must've made up as her personal interpretation of the Kwanzaa spirit, since she doesn't attribute it to anyone:

(Sing to "Jingle Bells")

Kwanzaa bells, dashikis sell
Whitey has to pay;
Burning, shooting, oh what fun
On this made-up holiday!

The alleged human being follows up with this:

Coincidentally, the seven principles of Kwanzaa are the very same seven principles of the Symbionese Liberation Army, another charming invention of the Least-Great Generation. In 1974, Patricia Hearst, kidnap victim-cum-SLA revolutionary, posed next to the banner of her alleged captors, a seven-headed cobra. Each snake head stood for one of the SLA's revolutionary principles: Umoja, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa, Nia, Kuumba and Imani -- the same seven "principles" of Kwanzaa.

With his Kwanzaa greetings, President Bush is saluting the intellectual sibling of the Symbionese Liberation Army, killer of housewives and police.

It might undercut the force of her rant if she shared with her readers that these principles mean: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. So needless to say, she omits that, so the impression left is of twenty-some syllables of Evil from the Heart of Darkest Africa. Oogabooga!

Now the "holiday" concocted by an FBI dupe is honored in a presidential proclamation and public schools across the nation. Bush called Kwanzaa a holiday that promotes "unity" and "faith." Faith in what? Liberals' unbounded capacity to respect any faith but Christianity?

She's got a real bee in her bonnet over the artificial origins of Kwanzaa. Dear Ann: Christmas is a made-up holiday too - just one with a longer pedigree. And regarding our respect for Christianity, where's yours? The desire to forcibly convert Muslims to Christianity...well, a Christianity that people can be forced into is one that bears no relation to the words and actions of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the New Testament. Desiring to trash Christianity for one's geopolitical ends isn't exactly what I'd call showing respect to the faith. So whatever it is that you've got in your eye, Ann, you might want to take it out first.

It was practitioners of that faith who were at the forefront of the abolitionist and civil rights movements. But that's all been washed down the memory hole, along with the true origins of Kwanzaa.

And the practitioners of Christianity she currently is thick with are the practitioners of the anti-gay movement, and the harassers of women who seek abortions. Before that, they were the core of the overt movement opposing equal rights for women in our society, until they realized, ten or twelve years ago, that that was a loser. Nowadays they refuse to fill women's contraceptive prescriptions.

The odd thing is, Coulter is so intent on maligning Kwanzaa that she exonerates the entire black radical movement of the 1960s in order to do so:

It is a fact that Kwanzaa was invented in 1966 by a black radical FBI stooge, Ron Karenga, aka Dr. Maulana Karenga. Karenga was a founder of United Slaves, a violent nationalist rival to the Black Panthers and a dupe of the FBI.

In what was probably ultimately a foolish gamble, during the madness of the '60s the FBI encouraged the most extreme black nationalist organizations in order to discredit and split the left. The more preposterous the organization, the better. Karenga's United Slaves was perfect. In the annals of the American '60s, Karenga was the Father Gapon, stooge of the czarist police.

Despite modern perceptions that blend all the black activists of the '60s, the Black Panthers did not hate whites. They did not seek armed revolution. Those were the precepts of Karenga's United Slaves. United Slaves were proto-fascists, walking around in dashikis, gunning down Black Panthers and adopting invented "African" names.

So: the Black Panthers didn't hate whites, and didn't seek armed revolution. The African-American group that actually did those things, did so at the instigation of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI.

So if anyone gives you any BS about the black radicalism of the 1960s, that's what you can tell them. And if they ask you how you know, you can say, "Ann Coulter said so in her column." Who'd'a thunk?

She adds:

(That was a big help to the black community: How many boys named "Jamal" currently sit on death row?)

Sorry, Ann, but courtesy of Chuck Shepherd, the runaway winner is still "Wayne":

THE CLASSIC MIDDLE NAME (ALL NEW FOR 2005!) Once again this year, as a public service, we release this crucial homicide data:

Charged with murder, awaiting trial: Darrell Wayne Maness, 19 (Wilmington, N.C.); Timothy Wayne Ebert, 39 (Cleveland, Tex.); John Wayne Blair, 49 (Sevier County, Tenn.); Derek Wayne Jackson, 18 (Norristown, Pa.); Nathaniel Wayne Hart, 34 (Austin, Tex.); Kenneth Wayne Keller, 42, (Denton County, Tex.); Ronald Wayne Lail, 43 (Burke County, N.C.); Timothy Wayne Condrey, 27 (Caroleen, N.C.); Roy Wayne Russell, 45 (Vancouver, Wash.); Jeremy Wayne Hopkins, 22 (Denton, Tex.); Reginald Wayne Thomas, 23 (Huntsville, Tex.); Matthew Wayne Almand, 18 (Melbourne, Fla.)

Convicted of murder, but found insane: Emmanuel Wayne Harris, 28 (Bisbee, Ariz.)

Sentenced for murder: Tyler Wayne Justice (Alice, Tex.); Douglas Wayne Pepper, 44 (Greensboro, N.C.)

Awaiting a retrial after a judge overturned his murder conviction: Donald Wayne Shipe, 37 (Winchester, Va.)

Committed suicide in a murder-suicide: Eric Wayne Jacobs, 27 (Castroville, Tex.); Michael Wayne Baxter, 30 (Edgewater, Md.)

Executed for murder : Dennis Wayne Bagwell, 41; Lonnie Wayne Pursley, 43; Melvin Wayne White, 55 (all from Huntsville, Tex., the state penitentiary)

Died of a drug overdose while serving two life terms for murder: Russell Wayne Wagner, 52 (Jessup, Md.)

It May Not Repeat, But It Rhymes

Oh, yes, everything is getting so much better.

2 U.S. Troops, 17 Iraqis Killed
# Military deaths raise toll for year to near that of 2004. Sudan closes its embassy in response to insurgents' abduction of six employees.

From Associated Press

BAGHDAD — Two U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq on Friday, raising the American military death toll to 841 so far this year — five fatalities short of the 2004 toll despite political progress and efforts to quash the insurgency.

Violence continued unabated Friday, with at least 17 Iraqis killed in shootings and mortar attacks around the country and a suicide car bombing in Baghdad. In the most serious incident, police said nine people were killed in a drive-by shooting, apparently because they were drinking alcohol in public.

A senior Sudanese diplomat said his country had closed its embassy in Baghdad in an effort to gain the release of six kidnapped employees, including a diplomat.

"A statement was issued by the Sudanese government to close the embassy in Iraq to win the release of our kidnapped citizens," Charge D'affaires Mohammed Ahmed Khalil told Associated Press. The embassy's 12 employees plan to leave Monday.

Al Qaeda in Iraq on Thursday threatened to kill five Sudanese today unless the diplomatic mission was removed from Iraq.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry reported Dec. 24 that six of its embassy employees had been kidnapped, including the mission's second secretary, Abdel Moneam Mohammed Tom. It was not clear whether the Al Qaeda statement was referring to the same group.

The American military announced the two new deaths Friday. A bomb killed one soldier Friday when it struck his vehicle in Baghdad; the second soldier was shot in the restive western city of Fallouja.

Their deaths brought the number of U.S. military personnel killed in December to 64. The worst month of the year was January, with 106 fatalities, followed by November with 96 and August with 85.

The United States hopes that as more Iraqi police and troops are trained, they will slowly take over responsibility for security from American troops.

The only reason the idiot media can keep parroting that pueling Pentagon talking point that "we are going to train the Iraqis" to take over is that they don't know shit about training, civil war or politics. This is the idiot media at its most ridiculous. Training a truly sturdy civil guard from scratch takes about five years. When you have every incentive for your protean force to be a fifth column for their own patriots who don't think much of having an occupation force on their shores, you have about zero chance of standing up what is, essentially, a Vichy army. Ask the Brits how well that idea worked out the last time westerners decided that they were going to remake Mesopotamia. With about twice the troop strength we have right now. Go ahead, ask.

Those who fail to even notice history, much less learn from it aren't likely to pick their battles wisely.

Beans for Luck

This is considered a "good luck" dish for New Year in Spain.

Baked White Bean and Rosemary Spread

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 cup chopped onions
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, chopped
* 2 (15 ounce) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 1/3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* salt to taste
* paprika

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Slowly cook and stir onions, garlic and rosemary until soft.
3. In a food processor, blend the onion mixture, great northern beans, white wine vinegar, red pepper and salt until smooth.
4. Transfer the mixture to a greased medium baking dish and garnish with paprika. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Serve this on crostini, toast points or crackers. Use an attractive baking ramekin and the bubbly mixture will come out of the oven ready to please a hungry crowd.

Ambrosia

This is a cowards' way out, but it is very good if you still have room in your dietary budget for eggs. This is the way I make both omelettes and scrambled eggs. Separating the yolks and whites and beating them separately gives you a very different product than beating them together. Note to the chef: avoid overbeating the whites. You will get a dry, flat product that tastes like plastic.

Puffy Omelet with Canadian Bacon Filling

Ingredients:

4 egg whites
4 egg yolks
3 ounces sliced Canadian-style bacon, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (1 ounce)
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh basil OR 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
5 teaspoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped

Servings: 2
Minutes of prep time: 30
Nutritional analysis per serving: calories: 390 grams of fat: 28 mg. cholesterol: 606 mg. sodium: 908

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored; stir in Canadian-style bacon, cheese, half of the basil, and pepper. Fold yolk mixture into egg whites.

In a 10-inch skillet with oven-proof handle, heat 2 teaspoons of the butter over medium heat till a drop of water sizzles. Spoon egg mixture into skillet, gently smoothing surface. Reduce heat to low; cook for 7 to 8 minutes or until the bottom is golden. Bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and outer edge comes out clean. Meanwhile, in skillet cook mushrooms and green pepper in the remaining hot butter over medium heat 3 minutes or until tender. Add the remaining basil and tomato; cook 5 minutes or till liquid is reduced, stirring occasionally.

Loosen sides of omelet with spatula. Make a shallow cut across omelet, cutting slightly off-center. Spoon filling over larger half. Tip skillet and fold the smaller portion of omelet over larger half. Slip omelet onto a warm serving platter. Serve immediately.

On the side, warmed fresh croissants from the bakery down the street and Citrus Apple Compote:

2 cups peeled and sliced tart apples (about 2 medium)
1 1/2 cups (about 9-ozs.) pitted prunes
1 1/2 cups orange juice
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 naval oranges, peeled and cut into segments
2 pink grapefruit peeled and cut into segments
- mint sprigs for garnish

Instructions:
In 2 to 3 quart saucepan combine apples, prunes, and orange juice; bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until apples are tender but not soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in honey, juice and cinnamon. Cool, cover, and chill. Stir in oranges and grapefruit. To serve, spoon fruits with their liquid into serving dishes; garnish with mint sprigs, and top with a little plain yoghurt if you really want to go nuts.

Body and Soul

For New Years morning, this is one of those B&B; recipes I treasure for a crowd:

Beechwood Breakfast Strata presented by Beechwood Inn Bed and Breakfast

The breakfast strata is an excellent dish for anyone who has houseguests because it is prepared the night before and just needs to bake in the morning. Incidentally, it also makes a good supper dish.

8 ounces pork sausage, crumbled
1 pound mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed and thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Seasoned toast points or rounds (about 8 ounces to cover baking dish)
1 1/2 cups 2 percent milk
1/2 pound ricotta cheese, park skim, at room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
9 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 pounds Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1/4 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup broccoli, broken into small florets and steamed lightly
2 cups chopped green onions (green part only)

In a skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage for 4 to 6 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté until wilted, about 3 to 4 minutes. Season with black pepper, if needed. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Spray a 15X10-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line pan with seasoned toast points or rounds. In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly combine milk and ricotta cheese. Whisk in flour, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, a little at a time, and whisk until fully incorporated. Stir in the sausage/mushroom mixture, grated cheeses, broccoli and green onions. Pour into the prepared pan and cover tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate overnight or for at least 12 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove mixture from refrigerator, uncover and bake for about 60 minutes or until golden brown and the center only slightly jiggles and the rest of the mixture is set. Cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.

Serve with toast points with caviar if you want to step it up a notch, or this is sublime with a fricassee of mushrooms:

Mushroom Fricassee:

* 3 tablespoons butter
* 1 pound assorted wild mushrooms, such as portabella, oyster,
shiitake and chanterelles, cleaned and coarsely chopped.
* 1 tablespoon minced shallots
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 cup marsala wine
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Heat one tablespoon butter in a large frying pan. Add the mushrooms and cook each type individually. When the mushrooms are cooked, add the shallots and garlic to the pan and cook until tender. Combine all the mushrooms in the pan, season with salt and pepper, add the marsala and thyme and cook until the marsala has reduced to a glaze.

Serve on the side or, even wilder, add it to the egg strata as the middle layer. Your breakfast guests will be moved to speechlessness, this is so good. This replaces potatoes for South Beachers and others on low-carb diets.

Don't expect to hear a lot of conversation, just the sound of cutlery hitting plates. As a good hostess, that is my favorite sound. My second favorite sound is "Would you please pass me the..."

Serve with hearty french rolls, some cheese and unsalted butter. It needs nothing else.

Do It To Me One More Time

Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, speaking on the floor of the House to the impeachment of Richard Milhouse Nixon:

James Madison again at the Constitutional Convention: "A president is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution."

The Constitution charges the president with the task of taking care that the laws be faithfully executed, and yet the president has counseled his aides to commit perjury, willfully disregarded the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, concealed surreptitious entry, attempted to compromise a federal judge while publicly displaying his cooperation with the processes of criminal justice.

"A president is impeachable if he attempts to subvert the Constitution."

If the impeachment provision in the Constitution of the United States will not reach the offenses charged here, then perhaps that eighteenth century Constitution should be abandoned to a twentieth-century paper shredder. Has the president committed offenses and planned and directed and acquiesced in a course of conduct which the Constitution will not tolerate? That is the question. We know that. We know the question. We should now forthwith proceed to answer the question. It is reason, and not passion, which must guide our deliberations, guide our debate, and guide our decision."

Criminal Inquiry Opens Into Spying Leak

By SCOTT SHANE
Published: December 31, 2005

Privacy advocates on Friday said the leak investigation should be set aside, at least for now, in favor of an investigation of the warrantless eavesdropping itself.

"President Bush broke the law and lied to the American people when he unilaterally authorized secret wiretaps of U.S. citizens," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "But rather than focus on this constitutional crisis, Attorney General Gonzales is cracking down on critics of his friend and boss. Our nation is strengthened, not weakened, by those whistle-blowers who are courageous enough to speak out on violations of the law."

Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, said his group believed "the priority at this point for the Department of Justice should be the appointment of an independent prosecutor to determine whether federal wiretap laws were violated" by the security agency program, not the leak inquiry.

The administration has been sensitive about leaks of closely held information, classified or not, and the Justice Department is also investigating the recent disclosure by The Washington Post that the Central Intelligence Agency operated secret prisons for terrorist suspects in Eastern Europe.

But the most prominent leak investigation during President Bush's five years in office has been the one conducted by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, an independent prosecutor, into the disclosure in 2003 of the secret C.I.A. employment of Valerie Wilson, a covert agency officer. That inquiry resulted in the indictment in October for perjury and obstruction of justice of I. Lewis Libby Jr., then chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Fitzgerald investigation also produced subpoenas for several journalists who were asked to testify about their sources. Judith Miller, then a New York Times reporter, served 85 days in jail for initially refusing to discuss her sources.

There are several laws that can be invoked against a government employee who knowingly reveals classified information. One statute applies specifically to the N.S.A., a mammoth code-breaking and eavesdropping agency based at Fort Meade, Md., prohibiting the disclosure of information about "communications intelligence activities" that is "in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States."

Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit law firm that defends whistle-blowers, said his group would not object to a limited investigation of the leak of classified information. "But if they do a blanket witch hunt, which I fear," he said, "it would trample all over good government laws" intended to protect government workers who expose wrongdoing.

"The whole reason we have whistle-blower laws is so that government workers can act as the public's eyes and ears to expose illegality or abuse of power," Mr. Devine said.
....
Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit law firm that defends whistle-blowers, said his group would not object to a limited investigation of the leak of classified information. "But if they do a blanket witch hunt, which I fear," he said, "it would trample all over good government laws" intended to protect government workers who expose wrongdoing.

"The whole reason we have whistle-blower laws is so that government workers can act as the public's eyes and ears to expose illegality or abuse of power," Mr. Devine said.

The administration first learned that The New York Times had obtained information about the secret eavesdropping program more than a year ago and expressed concern to editors that its disclosure could jeopardize terrorism investigations. The newspaper withheld the article at the time, and the government did not open a leak investigation at that time, presumably because such an inquiry might itself disclose the program.

The newspaper did additional reporting and eventually decided to publish the article despite the continuing objections of President Bush and other top officials.

While President Bush has focused his ire on whoever leaked the information, Vice President Cheney, in remarks to reporters on Dec. 20, was critical of The Times as well. Reiterating that the administration had asked the newspaper not to publish the article, Mr. Cheney said: "Eventually they ran it. I think that's unfortunate. I think it damages national security."

A Justice Department official, asked whether the investigation would examine the newspaper's publication of the information in addition to any government employees who might have leaked it, said he could not comment on any aspect of the investigation.

Bill Keller, the newspaper's executive editor, declined to comment on the leak investigation.

Earlier this week, a top F.B.I. official sent a letter to agents working in counterterrorism and intelligence to warn them that despite the public acknowledgment of the spy agency's program by the president and other high officials, it remained classified and should not be discussed.

John Miller, a spokesman for the bureau, said the letter was sent by Gary M. Bald, executive assistant director for counterterrorism and counterintelligence, after agents received inquiries from local officials and others and sought guidance on how to respond.

Bill Keller is a spineless weenie who refused to run the story for a year and the kinds of names I would call Pinch Sulzberger, well, you've heard them all before if you have a family member in the merchant marine. Shane, Lichtblau and all others journos (with the exception of Bart Gellman at the WaPo) need a balls implant.

When a spy agency program is wildly illegal (hint: NYT, you might want to pay attention to that) disclosing it to the press is an act of heroism. Of course, the so-called Fouth Estate have left the heroism business up to the grunts in Iraq, and we wouldn't even be there if the Times hadn't folded its cards and walked away from that sordid piece of business.

When Pinch Sulzberger and the Times begin to act like something other than a stenography service for Little Scottie and the rest of the Admin Apologists, I'm sure you'll catch it here, but I doubt I'll have to devote scarce resoureces to the story anytime soon. No wonder I have plenty of time to post recipes and things: the msm don't report news, so there is little to comment on. At least if I post Emeril recipes, you get something to eat.

Time

I've quoted T. S. Eliot here often enough, one of my favorite poets, because this is a blog, and I write about what strikes my nerves, as do the other writers here. I'm sitting and thinking tonight about time present, time past and time future as we prepare to change the year, flip our calendar pages and perform what ever rituals seem appropriate to mark this passage of time.

If you think about it, nearly all human rituals and ceremonies mark the passage of time. Religious services carve out the meaning of the week to week. Our big civil and religious ceremonies spell out the time between elections or seasons, and we use the civil and religious ceremonies of civic and life events to say, "yes, I was there." This is an interesting piece of anthropology, it is a way of marking our territory in time rather than place. I haven't done a lot of research, but we might be the only animals which do this.

The last year was a hard one: I endured extended unemployment and lost two very close friends. I'm grateful to be coming into the new year with hope, and I couldn't have said that two months ago. If another blogger hadn't paid my electric bill back in March, I don't know what would have happened. Well, yes, I do: I would have had the lights and the computer and the hot water and the furnace turned off on a very cold day, and I have been through all of that before.

Through all of it, when the chips were down, you all turned up. You put a little in the tip jar when you could, you sent encouraging emails when you couldn't.

Thank you. As we head into a new year which, I hope, will be better and different from the last two, thank you.

I do not understand those blogs, particularly on the right, which don't have comments. I don't think a blog without comments can be properly understood as a blog. Even the WaPo "gets" this and has comments on all their blogs. As Theresa Nielsen Hayden famously said, if you aren't reading comments, you don't really get the blog.

Thank you commentors, thank you co-bloggers, and thank you lurkers. All of us have a roll to play in making a blog a blog and this has been a tough and tender year for all of us.

Thank you.

Melanie

BURNT NORTON (No. 1 of 'Four Quartets')

T.S. Eliot

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
Other echoes
Inhabit the garden. Shall we follow?
Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,
Round the corner. Through the first gate,
Into our first world, shall we follow
The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.
There they were, dignified, invisible,
Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,
In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,
And the bird called, in response to
The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,
And the unseen eyebeam crossed, for the roses
Had the look of flowers that are looked at.
There they were as our guests, accepted and accepting.
So we moved, and they, in a formal pattern,
Along the empty alley, into the box circle,
To look down into the drained pool.
Dry the pool, dry concrete, brown edged,
And the pool was filled with water out of sunlight,
And the lotos rose, quietly, quietly,
The surface glittered out of heart of light,
And they were behind us, reflected in the pool.
Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.
Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.

Return to Delphi

Yes, my one trip to Greece left a very strong culinary impression on me. This will serve 4.

CHICKEN WITH SPINACH AND FETA CHEESE

2 lbs. chicken breasts, pounded thin
10 oz. spinach, cooked in lemon and olive oil
8 oz. Feta cheese, crumbled
2 eggs, beaten
Seasoned bread crumbs
2 c. sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 c. dry white wine
2 c. chicken broth
Lemon juice to taste

Place spinach and Feta cheese on thin chicken breasts. Roll and secure with toothpicks. Dredge in eggs and seasoned bread crumbs. Brown in frying pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Gravy: Saute 2 cups mushrooms in butter. Add 1 tablespoon flour. Cook and mix well. Add 1/2 cup dry white wine, 2 cups chicken broth, and lemon. Cook for 3 minutes. Pour over heated chicken.

Serve this with orzo in browned butter sauce and avgolemono soup. The only thing (the only thing) I miss about my last "straight" gig was that it was around the corner from DC's justifiably famous Greek Deli, which makes the best avgolemono soup outside of Athens, and I ate it at least three times a week. Now I have to make my own. BTW, up until the point where you add the eggs, it can be frozen, so make a big batch to freeze in serving size containers and you'll have Greek penicillin to chase the colds away all winter long.

Bubbly With....

I'm not much of a champagne drinker, but I discovered champagne cocktails this year (they are hot in DC this year) and I like them as a change of pace from my usual chardonnay. The WaPo did a feature on them in the Wednesday food section this week and I offer them here in time for your New Year revelry. Don't spend a lot of money on champagne that you are planning to mix. Cava's Spanish Friexenet is a decent choice.

Champagne Cocktail

Makes 1 serving

Veteran bartender Joe Armenti at 2941 Restaurant in Falls Church doesn't fool around. He likes the classic version of this drink.

Place 1 sugar cube soaked with 3 drops Angostura bitters in a flute and add champagne (be careful -- it will foam).

The Bleu Sky

Makes 1 serving

Bartender Tim Stover of IndeBleu likes to use Gruet, a champagne from New Mexico, in this signature drink.

Pour 1/4 ounce Grand Marnier in flute, add champagne, float 1/4 ounce Blue Curacao on top.

Pom Royale

Makes 1 serving

Poste Moderne Brasserie bartender Gina Chersevani likes to use either Domaine St. Michelle or Paul Louis Blanc de Blanc for this drink.

Fill flute three-fourths full with champagne and add a splash of blueberry pomegranate juice. Top with fresh blueberries or lemon twist.

Poinsettia Fizz

Makes 1 serving

David Murphy of Degrees bar in the Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown, created this sign-of-the-seasons cocktail.

Pour 1 ounce cranberry juice and 1/2 ounce Grand Marnier in a flute, then top off with champagne.

Mexican Riviera

Makes 1 serving

Champagne is the crowning flourish to this rosy margarita at Zengo.

Pour 1 ounce tequila, 2 ounces sour mix and 2 tablespoons fresh raspberry puree in a flute. Top with 1-ounce float of champagne.

Cherry Sparkler

Makes 1 serving

This rosy drink is the number two seller at Bar Rouge, says lounge manager Mike Hill. "It's a good cocktail to sip with food because it's mostly champagne."

Put a maraschino cherry in the bottom of the flute. Pour in 1/2 ounce orange-flavored vodka (the bar uses Stoli O) and a dash of peach schnapps, then fill with champagne.

Blue Nirvana

Makes 1 serving

The signature blue drink at Topaz. (If you don't have Blue Curacao, a splash of Grand Marnier works well, although without the color.)

Pour 1 ounce citrus-flavored vodka, 1 ounce Blue Curacao and a splash of sour mix in a flute, then fill with champagne.

Easy Fun

GREEN ONION-PARMESAN POPOVERS

These popovers are like individual Yorkshire puddings. To make a dozen large popovers, just double the recipe and use two pans.

3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup plus 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
8 large eggs, room temperature
2 2/3 cups whole milk, room temperature
3 large green onions, finely chopped
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush twelve 1/3-cup (standard) nonstick muffin cups or six 1-cup (large) nonstick muffin cups with 3 tablespoons melted butter; dust with 2/3 cup cheese. Beat eggs to blend in large bowl. Beat in milk and green onions, then remaining 1/2 cup melted butter. Blend flour, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup cheese in medium bowl; gradually whisk into egg mixture (some small lumps may remain).

Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake popovers without opening oven until puffed and crusty brown, about 38 minutes for small and 48 minutes for large; turn out of pan and serve hot.

Makes 12 small or 6 large.

This are super on the side for meat roasts, roast poultry, soup, stew, you name it. This is a really versatile dish.

Pot, Kettle

"The president last week denounced the leak of information about the program in strong language, saying: "My personal opinion is it was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war. The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy.""

The shameful act that is getting people killed is the war Bush lied us into.

Not that your lackey media can connect the damned dots.

Weekend Plans Open Thread

So, the big holiday weekend is upon us. Have you got plans? I normally have a sedate New Year's eve. My town throws itself a party and I may wander down the street to hear some of the music and see what the neighbors are up to. The local restaurants usually put out trucks with interesting streetfood and that's always kind of fun. Are you throwing a party? Going to one? Going out for the evening?

My wiki partner DemfromCT at The Next Hurrah has a bookclub starting on Sunday and I haven't started reading Chris Mooney's "The Republican War on Science" yet, so I'll guess that I'm going to be home reading mostly tomorrow night to get ready for the first book club meeting.

Way Too Good To Check

I love the WaPo's Gene Robinson. He manages to say some pretty profound things without ever getting pompous or self referential (which is the reason David Broder's end of the year round up didn't get posted here: he managed to do both at once this week.) Today Robinson is just having a little fun courtesy of press sloppiness.

We're All Going To Die!
And Other Stories 'Too Good to Check'

By Eugene Robinson

Friday, December 30, 2005; Page A27

I prefer tallying the best stories of the year -- the most stunning, the most surprising, the stories you can hardly believe you're reading. Of course, the reason for disbelief is that they're not, strictly speaking, true. They belong to the category journalists have known since time immemorial as "too good to check." The phrase is self-explanatory: A reporter hears something utterly incredible, spends a glorious hour or so regaling colleagues with the tale, and then reluctantly sits down and dials the phone. One call, maybe two, and the whole story falls apart. You establish, say, that the vice president was definitely in Washington on a particular day -- which means that the tipster was wrong and it couldn't have been the Veep in the middle of that bar fight in Cheyenne.

Sometimes, though, the facts seem so plausible and the sources so credible that the story initially checks out, so everybody runs with it. Weeks or months later, after overlooked facts are noticed and common sense belatedly applied, the "too good to check" diagnosis is made retrospectively.

Hurricane Katrina was a trove of "too good" stories. For example, take the reports of a shocking, deadly shooting rampage by young thugs in what was left of New Orleans. The mayhem was front-page news. But later, when the dead were recovered and autopsied, authorities found no spike in homicides the week after Katrina hit.

Same with the reports that miscreants were shooting at rescue helicopters. People who had spent days stranded on roofs or in attics explained later that they were firing to attract the helicopter pilots' attention, not scare them away.

Science, as usual, provided a bounty of "too good to check" material. I'm not sure any newspaper or magazine actually ran my ultimate headline about the avian flu scare -- "We're All Going to Die!" -- but that was the general tone of the coverage. It turns out, though, that the H5N1 influenza virus stubbornly refuses to learn how to pass from human to human. Yes, there will be a flu pandemic someday. No, someday doesn't necessarily mean now.

Then there was South Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk, who announced in May that he had produced custom-cloned stem cells for 11 human subjects. Soon, stories reported, doctors would be able to engineer specific medical treatments for any individual, the way Bones used to do on "Star Trek." But now it turns out that Hwang fabricated his data. Those lovely bespoke stem cells never existed.

My personal favorite "too good" story of the year didn't fool the newspapers, but it made a big splash on the Internet, which may just be the ideal medium for cultivating believable untruths. With no irony and just the right hint of paranoia, a Web site elaborately "revealed" why comedian Dave Chappelle fled to South Africa just as he was about to cash in on a $50 million television contract.

The site claimed that a cabal of eminences calling themselves the "Dark Crusaders" -- the Revs. Al Sharpton, Jesse L. Jackson and Louis Farrakhan; entertainers Bill Cosby, Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey; and the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television, Robert L. Johnson -- decided that Chappelle's racially charged humor was demeaning to the African American community, so they threatened and harassed him out of town.

The whole thing was soon revealed to be pure, unadulterated fiction. It looks as if it might have been a "viral marketing" campaign to generate buzz for two of Chappelle's comedy sidekicks, but the only thing that's really clear is that the story was false.

As the new year dawns, President Bush and the Republican majority in Congress are telling us the nation can spend hundreds of billions of dollars on Iraq, tens of billions more on pork-barrel projects, additional tens of billions on Gulf Coast reconstruction -- and still keep cutting taxes with a chainsaw, to the benefit of the wealthiest Americans.

And we all just go with the story. Waaaaaay too good to check.

Leak Hunting

Justice Dept. Opens Inquiry Into Leak of Domestic Spying

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 30, 2005

Filed at 11:36 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak of classified information about President Bush's secret domestic spying program, Justice officials said Friday.

The officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe, said the inquiry will focus on disclosures to The New York Times about warrantless surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The Times revealed the existence of the program two weeks ago in a front-page story that acknowledged the news had been withheld from publication for a year, partly at the request of the administration and partly because the newspaper wanted more time to confirm various aspects of the program.

The story unleashed a firestorm of criticism of the administration. Some critics accused the president of breaking the law by authorizing intercepts of conversations -- without prior court approval or oversight -- of people inside the United States and abroad who had suspected ties to al-Qaida or its affiliates.

The surveillance program, which Bush acknowledged authorizing, bypassed a nearly 30-year-old secret court established to oversee highly sensitive investigations involving espionage and terrorism.

Administration officials insisted that Bush has the power to conduct the warrantless surveillance under the Constitution's war powers provision. They also argued that Congress gave Bush the power to conduct such a secret program when it authorized the use of military force against terrorism in a resolution adopted within days of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The Justice Department's investigation was being initiated after the agency received a request for the probe from the NSA.

The administration's legal interpretation of the president's powers allowed the government to avoid requirements under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The act established procedures that an 11-member court used in 2004 to oversee nearly 1,800 government applications for secret surveillance or searches of foreigners and U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism or espionage.

Congressional leaders have said they were not briefed four years ago, when the secret program began, as thoroughly as the administration has since contended.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said in an article printed last week on the op-ed page of The Washington Post that Congress explicitly denied a White House request for war-making authority in the United States.

I'm not a betting woman, but the odds of this going anywhere are pretty lousy.

Let's see if Arlen Specter's bipartisan committee investigation has any better luck.

The New Iraq

Attacks Halt Production At Iraq's Largest Refinery
International Team to Probe Complaints of Election Fraud

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Salih Saif Aldin
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 30, 2005; A14

BAGHDAD, Dec. 29 -- Under a mounting insurgent offensive against Iraq's gasoline supply, the country's largest fuel refinery sat idle Thursday. Gas station owners in surrounding communities in northern Iraq hung up their dry nozzles. A police chief put out a no-patrol order to his men to conserve fuel. And Nouri Ahmed Azaid put off his wedding.

In Iraq, convoys of cars draped with wreaths, their horns honking and side windows sprouting relatives with video cameras, are as much a post-wedding ritual as the honeymoon. But Azaid said, "I suspended my wedding party, because there is no fuel to drive around."

Azaid lives in Baiji, a town north of Baghdad that is home to Iraq's largest refinery and a frequent target of insurgent attacks. On Thursday, authorities confirmed that the refinery had been closed since Dec. 21 by a concerted insurgent campaign against gasoline distributors and filling stations.

The confirmation came on a day when U.S. and other international mediators helped stave off an early crisis in Iraq's efforts to assemble a new government, announcing the appointment of a multinational team to investigate complaints of fraud in Dec. 15 national elections. Sunni Arab and secular parties had said earlier Thursday that they would boycott talks on forming a coalition government without such an investigation.

The investigative team includes two representatives of the Arab League, a former member of the Canadian Parliament and a European academic, authorities said. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Iraqi candidates welcomed the team's creation and the willingness of Iraq's election commission to accept it. U.S. officials said the team had the blessing of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The day's political brinkmanship, fuel shortages and violence highlighted the complex political, economic and security tangles facing U.S. and Iraqi leaders as they try to move toward a stable government and sustainable economy.

Insurgents, apparently hoping to pick a cause popular with Iraqis, launched their offensive on gas stations this month after Iraq raised fuel prices eightfold. The International Monetary Fund mandated the reduction of government gasoline subsidies as a condition for forgiving some of Iraq's multibillion-dollar foreign debt.

The United States and Iraq have been trying desperately to rebuild Iraq's energy sector as the foundation for other reconstruction work here. Although Iraq has one of the world's largest oil reserves, inadequate refining systems mean it must spend $500,000 a month importing fuel.

As a result, Iraqis already faced a choice between waiting for hours at gas stations or paying higher prices to buy gasoline on the black market. This week, insurgent attacks and heavy storms in the south brought oil production to some of its lowest levels since the war began in 2003, analysts told the Dow Jones news service.

The day after the government announced the gasoline price increases, Hawas Jamil Saaed said he arrived at the station he owns in Baiji to find a letter warning all fuel tankers to stay off the road. The next day, he said, insurgents backed up the warning by stopping three tankers, pulling the drivers out and setting the rigs on fire.

Gas station owners and many tanker drivers heeded the warning. In Baghdad, Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad confirmed that the Baiji refinery had closed "because drivers of trucks distributing oil products from the refinery across Iraq have received death threats from terrorists." Jihad said he believed a solution would be found soon.

My, this is all going so well.

Un-freakin'-believable

Tropical Storm Zeta is here to say that this incredible tropical season ain't over.

Fish Eggs

You might be the guest rather than the host at a holiday party this weekend. Do you know how to eat caviar, if it is offered?

If caviar is passed to you in a bowl or crock with its own spoon, serve a teaspoonful onto your plate. As the following accompaniments are offered, use the individual serving spoon in each to take small amount of minced onion and sieved egg whites and yolks, as well as a few lemon slices and a couple of toast points. Assemble a canape to your taste with a knife, then use your fingers to lift it to your mouth.

If you're at a cocktail party or reception, where prepared caviar canapes are being passed on trays, simply lift one off the plate and pop it into your mouth.

When served caviar as an hors d'oeuvre, no matter how much you might be tempted by its luscious flavor, it's considered bad form to eat more than an ample serving of about two ounces, or about two spoonfuls.

At $35-100 an ounce, that's letting you get away with somebody's paycheck.

But it is awfully good. Read all about caviar if you would like to know more. This is a precious good and needs to be handled carefully.

For Luck

Black Eye Peas are a New Year meal tradition in some parts of the American south. Here is one popular way to prepare them.

This serves four.

2 lb. black eye peas
1 tsp. baking soda
1 lb. country ribs
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. red pepper
1 lg. onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic

Soak black eye peas overnight. Drain. Wash peas and cover with water and baking soda. Bring to a good boil. Drain. In heavy pot, brown country ribs, onion and garlic. When ribs are golden brown, add peas, salt, sugar and red pepper. Cover with hot water out of kettle. Bring to a fast boil. Reduce heat and simmer on low for 2 hours.

Serve these with collards and Southern style potato salad. Just for New Year's, substitute champagne for sweet tea.

Escape

We've covered Clostridium difficile earlier and it is something of a surprise to see it on the front page of the WaPo. I've been reading about the possible rebound effects of some antibiotics and "the purple pill" for a while. It looks like it is entrenched now.

Stomach Bug Mutates Into Medical Mystery
Antibiotics, Heartburn Drugs Suspected

By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 30, 2005; Page A01

First came stomach cramps, which left Christina Shultz doubled over and weeping in pain. Then came nausea and fatigue -- so overwhelming she couldn't get out of bed for days. Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, the nastiest diarrhea of her life hit -- repeatedly forcing her into the hospital.

Doctors finally discovered that the 35-year-old Hilliard, Ohio, woman had an intestinal bug that used to be found almost exclusively among older, sicker patients in hospitals and was usually easily cured with a dose of antibiotics. But after months of treatment, Shultz is still incapacitated.

"It's been a nightmare," said Shultz, a mother of two young children. "I just want my life back."

Shultz is one of a growing number of young, otherwise healthy Americans who are being stricken by the bacterial infection known as Clostridium difficile -- or C. diff -- which appears to be spreading rapidly around the country and causing unusually severe, sometimes fatal illness.

That is raising alarm among health officials, who are concerned that many cases may be misdiagnosed and are puzzled as to what is causing the microbe to become so much more common and dangerous.

"It's a new phenomenon. It's just emerging," said L. Clifford McDonald of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "We're very concerned. We know it's happening, but we're really not sure why it's happening or where this is going."

It may, however, be the latest example of a common, relatively benign bug that has mutated because of the overuse of antibiotics.

"This may well be another consequence of our use of antibiotics," said John G. Bartlett, an infectious-disease expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "It's another example of an organism that all of a sudden has gotten a lot meaner and nastier."

In addition, new evidence released last week suggests that the enormous popularity of powerful new heartburn drugs may also be playing a role.

The antibiotics Flagyl (metronidazole) and vancomycin still cure many patients, but others develop stubborn infections like Shultz's that take over their lives. Some resort to having their colon removed to end the debilitating diarrhea. A small but disturbingly high number have died, including an otherwise healthy pregnant woman who succumbed earlier this year in Pennsylvania after miscarrying twins.

The infection usually hits people who are taking antibiotics for other reasons, but a handful of cases have been reported among people who were taking nothing, another unexpected and troubling turn in the germ's behavior.

C.difficile used to be what is called a "nosocomial" infection, one that you caught in the hospital. Antibiotic resistance is one of the factors which have released it "into the wild" as the epidemiologists say. I've been tracking news reports of people who haven't been in hospitals in decades and still have come down with it. As if there weren't enough bad actors being cooked up by Mother Nature, we've created a few more by overuse of drugs and this is one.

It's interesting to a news geek like me that Dave Brown, the WaPo's med/sci reporter and an MD him self, isn't the reporter on this story.

The So-Called Fourth Estate

Because they are freaking cowards, that's why:

Some Veteran Journalists Say 'Times' And 'Post' Should Have Disclosed Meeting with Bush on Controversial Stories

By Joe Strupp

Published: December 27, 2005 1:50 PM ET

NEW YORK Word that members of the Bush administration met with editors of two major newspapers in an effort to stop the publication of news articles in recent weeks drew little surprise from veteran Washington journalists, who said such White House pressure has appeared during past decades.

What concerned some, however, was that The New York Times and The Washington Post did not disclose those meetings when they eventually published the articles involved.

"What strikes me is that neither of the papers have reported it," said John Walcott, Washington bureau chief for Knight Ridder. "They agreed to go into it on White House ground rules that the meetings would be off the record. I don't know why the papers accepted that condition."

Andy Alexander, Washington bureau chief for Cox Newspapers, agreed. "You should report it with the story," he said. "It gets into the agreement you have with the White House as to what you can report."

For Jack Germond, a former Washington reporter with The Washington Star and The Sun of Baltimore, it is part of the news. "I was surprised they didn't report it in this case," he said of The Post and Times examples. "Why not report it? It is part of the story. You can agree not to discuss the details of the conversation with the president. But the fact that you have such a meeting is not off the record."

The first incident at issue is a Dec. 5 meeting between Bush and Times Publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., Executive Editor Bill Keller, and Times D.C. Bureau Chief Phil Taubman. According to Newsweek, Bush called that meeting in an effort to get the Times to hold off on a story about the president authorizing secret eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without court orders. That story eventually ran on Dec. 16.

Although the Times revealed in that story that it had held the information for more than a year, it did not disclose the Bush meeting and has yet to confirm it.

The second incident involved a reported meeting between Bush and Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr., before the Post's Nov. 2 story by Dana Priest on secret CIA prisons. Post writer Howard Kurtz revealed the meeting in a story Monday, but did not indicate when it occurred. In that story, Downie confirmed only that Post officials met with "senior administration officials." Priest's story also did not indicate any administration effort to stop the story.

"In general, readers ought to understand, and we ought to be as transparent as we can, about the process," Knight Ridder Washington editor Clark Hoyt said when asked about the papers' failing to report the meetings. "But I don't know what the ground rules on these particular meetings were."

Tom Wicker, a former Times Washington correspondent and bureau chief, said any presidential or administrative intervention is news, and should be reported. "Particularly if it is someone with a political interest trying to intervene," he said.

Neither Downie nor Keller immediately returned calls Tuesday morning.

Both have pools behind their homes and territory to defend that doesn't look in the least bit like your life or mine, Don't expect either of these papers to defend your rights or mine. We are on our own and the big three papers have sold out for access and easy money. Think Fox TV cares about you? Whoo, what are you smokin'?

Democracy: Down the Swirly

Covert CIA Program Withstands New Furor
Anti-Terror Effort Continues to Grow

By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 30, 2005; Page A01

The effort President Bush authorized shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, to fight al Qaeda has grown into the largest CIA covert action program since the height of the Cold War, expanding in size and ambition despite a growing outcry at home and abroad over its clandestine tactics, according to former and current intelligence officials and congressional and administration sources.

The broad-based effort, known within the agency by the initials GST, is compartmentalized into dozens of highly classified individual programs, details of which are known mainly to those directly involved.

GST includes programs allowing the CIA to capture al Qaeda suspects with help from foreign intelligence services, to maintain secret prisons abroad, to use interrogation techniques that some lawyers say violate international treaties, and to maintain a fleet of aircraft to move detainees around the globe. Other compartments within GST give the CIA enhanced ability to mine international financial records and eavesdrop on suspects anywhere in the world.

Over the past two years, as aspects of this umbrella effort have burst into public view, the revelations have prompted protests and official investigations in countries that work with the United States, as well as condemnation by international human rights activists and criticism by members of Congress.

Still, virtually all the programs continue to operate largely as they were set up, according to current and former officials. These sources say Bush's personal commitment to maintaining the GST program and his belief in its legality have been key to resisting any pressure to change course.

"In the past, presidents set up buffers to distance themselves from covert action," said A. John Radsan, assistant general counsel at the CIA from 2002 to 2004. "But this president, who is breaking down the boundaries between covert action and conventional war, seems to relish the secret findings and the dirty details of operations."

The administration's decisions to rely on a small circle of lawyers for legal interpretations that justify the CIA's covert programs and not to consult widely with Congress on them have also helped insulate the efforts from the growing furor, said several sources who have been involved.

And your broad swath of Americans don't give a good d'damn as we slide into dictator status. As long as you've got your TiVo, the mass of this country doesn't know enough about the Constitution to give a good g'damn. Fox and CNN certainly aren't going to tell you that there is a constitutional crisis underway. That might mess with their numbers for Brit Hume or Anderson Cooper. Whatever the successor program is to Monday Night Football will draw bigger Nielson's, anyway.

Joe Sixpack doesn't read the New York Times, or care. And Dana Priest doesn't notice.

The Fickle Finger of Fate

These are so good that they will make you hug yourself. Serve to family and friends at will over this holiday weekend. Throw them up on the balcony, if they have flu.

Pistolettes Ala Grecque

A hot Cajun sandwich with a savory Greek twist. Pistolette rolls are palm-sized, brown and serve bread rolls. If you can't find them at your local market, use a good French type bread roll.
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, cooked and squeezed dry
1 tablespoon bacon drippings
1/2 small onion, chopped (1/4 cup)
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (or cheese of your choice)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup half-and-half (milk may be substituted)
3 slices lean bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
12 pistolettes bread rolls
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup water
vegetable oil, for deep-frying (optional)
12 servings Change size or US/metric
Change to: servings US Metric
30 minutes 15 mins prep

1. Chop cooked and drained spinach in food processor; set aside.
2. Heat bacon drippings in heavy skillet and saute onion until tender; add garlic and cook 2 minutes.
3. Add spinach, pine nuts and feta cheese. Season with salt, white pepper and cayenne. Stir well and heat through.
4. In a separate skillet, melt butter over medium heat.
5. Gradually add flour, stirring constantly. Slowly add half-and-half and continue cooking until bubbly; taking care not to allow mixture to brown.
6. Add spinach mixture, stir and heat until well blended.
7. Add bacon pieces and remove from heat.
8. To prepare Pistolettes, cut off one end, about 1/2-inch thick, and set aside.
9. Poke a hole in the cut end of the roll using your finger or the handle of a wooden spoon.
10. Be careful not to push the handle through the far side, causing a hole in the roll because the filling will fall out.
11. Slowly and gently rotate the handle, pushing the inside walls of the bread toward the outside, forming a hollow shell for the filling.
12. Spoon the spinach mixture into the opening, gently pushing down with the wooden handle. Mix the remaining flour and water until a soft paste-like consistency forms.
13. Use this "paste" to glue the end slice to the filled Pistolette.
14. Stuffed Pistolettes may be baked at 400F until golden brown, or dropped into cooking oil heated to 350F until browned.
15. Drain fried pistolettes on paper towels; serve hot.

Amaze your friends.

Leading Indicators

Home Sales Drop to Lowest Level in 8 Months

By VIKAS BAJAJ
Published: December 29, 2005

Existing home sales dropped to their lowest level in eight months in November and the total number of homes for sale rose, an industry group reported today, suggesting that the housing market was continuing its slow but steady slowdown.

Sales fell 1.7 percent last month, to an annual pace of 6.97 million, after dropping 2.7 percent in October, the National Association of Realtors said. The number of homes on the market rose 1.2 percent, to 2.9 million, enough to keep the market supplied for five months at the current pace of sales.

Rising mortgage rates appear to be weighing on the nation's long housing boom, though they have done little damage thus far, given that sales and prices remain near record highs. The median price - half the homes sold for more and half for less - was up 13.2 percent, to $215,000, from a year ago.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate itself is near historical lows at 6.26 percent last week, down slightly from earlier this month but up from 5.53 percent in June, according to Freddie Mac. Mortgage applications for home purchases were down an average of 2.3 percent in the last four weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

"We will see a slowdown in housing but the slowdown is not going to be severe," said Anthony Chan, an economist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. "We have every reason to believe that we are very close to the end" of the peak.

But concerns about the health of housing, and as a result the broader economy, will mount if the inventory of homes on the market climbs in the coming months. The number of homes on the market was up 14.3 percent from November 2004.

Real estate agents and other housing experts have said recently that it is taking longer to sell homes in several of the hottest housing markets on both coasts and sellers have been forced to reduce asking prices. New home builders, which make up about 15 percent of the national housing market, have said they are offering more incentives to convince vacillating buyers.

The impact of even a moderate slowing will be broadly felt, economists say, because access to cheaper mortgages has bolstered consumer spending on all manner of other goods from furniture to electronics. As it becomes harder to borrow against sharply rising home values, retail stores and other businesses will also take a hit.

The market seems to have slowed a little around here: I notice that "for sale" signs now take about a week to be topped with an "under contract" sign. Six months ago, the two would go up together as an advert for the realtor. I read in the popular press that there was competition between contracts before the MLS listing was even signed for properties in an upper middle class price range. Not that I have any illusion that I know what that means around here anymore. Comps to my 2 bedroom, bath and a half condo are pushing close to the half million mark. For 900 square feet. Location, location, location: it's a mile to the subway and there is a direct bus.

Long-Term Thinking & Progressive Idea Building

This in-between week, bridging Christmas Day and New Year's Day, is the kind of reflective down period that's perfect for doing long-range, big-picture thinking, the kind of creative work in liberated space that gives rise to quality ideas.

This week, as I look at 2006 and beyond (with an eye toward 2008; the next Democratic Primary is coming around the corner in an era when election cycles shrink and campaigns become ever longer), here is my end-of-year idea for Bumpers of all ages, and those around who who share the Bump spirit, ethos and worldview:

The column collective.

The concept is simple: conservatives have had considerable success with think tanks, and while progressives are catching up, there is something to be said for a more grass roots kind of activism/idea promotion/message furthering. The column collective seeks to address this need.

No op-ed editor at a major metro daily newspaper would accept multiple columns from the same author within 4-6 months, unless that columnist is, of course, a major syndicated columnist who appears weekly in the op-ed pages of that paper.

So how do we repeatedly broadcast the messages people out there need to hear? How can we promote a sensible progressive agenda from political and cultural standpoints? How can matters of religion, ideology and policy find the right voices and the right points of emphasis? These are big issues that require constancy of expression and specificity in their explanation. If we want Campaign 2008 to nourish and improve the country; if we want religion and religious leaders to be life-giving, not life-squelching; and if we want real problems to be talked about instead of bread-and-circus fare, we need to establish and sustain a robust, reasoned voice that continually finds op-ed pages and other outlets that can supplement and enhance our blog presence here.

The process by which we do that in a "column collective" involves a few basic components:

1) Gather a bunch of people who have fairly identical views and goals.

2) Then define/identify the specific issues on which your group can speak with the same literary/editorial voice. In other words, if some progressives don't like talking about religion, create two smaller, more cohesive column collectives to address the specific issues/subsets of issues that everyone can agree on.

3) Have your collective start writing op-ed columns for publication in your local paper. The collective dynamic comes into play here: for each column, attribute a different name/author, and have that person prepare to defend the column in negotiations with the op-ed editor/s at your local paper. This way, your collective--if its columns are written well enough, and differentiated enough in content to create distinct voices within your shared overall worldview--could generate a published column perhaps every two weeks.

The key in all this, of course, is to craft columns in such a way that a larger Bump-style ethos can find its way into columns on a vast range of issues and current events, particularly the kinds of local events that an op-ed editor will want to put in a hometown paper. Editors like it if a national story or broad-based issue can be put into a localized and perhaps poignant context. Being passionate, but not shrill or off-putting, will get you and your collective's voice inside the door.

I, alone, can only write two columns a year in the Seattle Times, perhaps three in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. But if I can get a column collective off the ground with my progressive friends, "I" will be able to get perhaps 20 columns published in Seattle papers, because "I" will be united with like-minded folks who will all be espousing the same life-affirming views and policy recommendations. My views will attain greater visibility and scope because my views will be linked with the opinions of others who have the same frustrations and yearnings for the world and 21st Century America.

The column collective: its core principles are basic, and its potential to create a consistent media voice for Bumpers--and those who share the Bumper mission--is vast. Put the column collective into practice, so that your ideas (and Melanie's... and mine... and Chuck's... and Charles'... and RT's...and Pogge's... and Rich's... and Mike's) can spread across the country in 2006, 2007, 2008, and on into a new presidency that might be shaped for the better because we started the hard work now.

Boding for the Future

Cardozo School of Law professor Marci Hamilton has an excellent column on The Year in Review in Law and Religion in 2005. She makes ten observations about the year just past and what they might mean for the future. A very salient observation:

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement for family reasons, a move that opened the door for the President to attempt to push the Court to shift directions with respect to abortion and the Establishment Clause. Within hours of O'Connor's resignation, the Becket Fund issued a press release expressing its delight that she would be stepping down, because of her views on the Establishment Clause.

O'Connor, for whom I served as a law clerk, was the swing vote on many cases and introduced what is in my view -- and that of many other commentators -- the best modern innovation in the area, the "endorsement test," which prohibits the government from endorsing any one religious viewpoint, because endorsement excludes other citizens. This element of the doctrine takes into account the tremendous diversity among religious faiths in the United State.

But if Judge Samuel Alito, nominated to fill her position, is confirmed to the Court, he is likely to push the Court away from any meaningful separation of church and state, and toward what I would call the equality theory, which requires that religious groups are treated at least as well as other groups and in favor of government expression that supports Christianity. There is a clear choice: inclusion of all believers or exclusion, and Alito may well push the jurisprudence toward the latter. That would mean reversing some of the progress for which O'Connor deserves credit in this area.

A Gutsy Paper

Reporters Had Predicted a Hurricane Disaster
# It's an emotional time for a journalist who wrote in 2002 about a city's vulnerability.

James Rainey

NEW ORLEANS — More than three years before Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, newspaper reporters Mark Schleifstein and John McQuaid wrote a series that predicted what would happen when the city took a direct hit from a major hurricane.

"Hundreds of thousands would be left homeless and it would take months to dry out the area and begin to make it livable," one of the stories in the New Orleans Times-Picayune said. "But there wouldn't be much for residents to come home to. The local economy would be in ruins."

The 2002 series, "Washing Away," foretold mass deaths, stranded residents, failed evacuation plans and enormous obstacles to rebuilding.

Schleifstein, a 1997 Pulitzer Prize winner for his part in a project on threats to the world's fisheries and an environmental specialist, pushed for years to get his paper to write about the potential for disaster. Some of his colleagues said he was an alarmist. One predicted the hurricane project would amount to nothing more than "disaster porn."
....
The soft-spoken journalist, known by his colleagues as "Schleffy," has trouble assessing his emotions now.

"In some ways I'm angry," Schleifstein said. "We all didn't do enough. I didn't do enough. The newspaper didn't do enough. The city definitely didn't do enough…. As much as a lot of people listened, a lot of people didn't listen or pay attention to what could happen."

You didn't have to be a climatologist or a hydrologist to know that New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen. Quite frankly, it appears to me that it was only the Bush administration that didn't have a clue.

Dark Matter

The Mounting Powers of Secrecy

Published: December 29, 2005

The open government law that guaranteed greater freedom of information to the public will soon be 40 years old and desperately in need of legislative overhaul, thanks to the Bush administration. The White House's sweeping enlargement of agency powers has already nearly doubled the rate of newly classified documents to 15 million a year. At the same time, the administration has choked back the annual volume of documents declassified for public access, from 200 million in 1998 to 44 million lately.

At the heart of this thickening veil are direct presidential orders and former Attorney General John Ashcroft's blanket assurance of legal defense to any agency erring on the side of secrecy in sealing off documents. This reversed the Clinton administration's "presumption of disclosure" when it came to public requests. The 9/11 commission has already pointed out that this general retreat from the intent of the law hardly discourages terrorists; in fact, it was the government's internal failure to share information that contributed to that tragedy.

Innocuous White House press pool reports are now subject to classification, while historians complain of yearlong delays before academic requests are even acknowledged, never mind fulfilled. Environmentalists can't see routine dam and river drainage maps in the name of homeland security. Attempts by firearm agents to keep data on illegal gun traffic from those filing public lawsuits have now been ruled improper twice by the courts.

A turnaround is urgently needed, including penalties for delays, which now can run into years, and an independent watchdog working for the public. Bipartisan interest in reform is stirring, and in an attempt to head off Congressional involvement, President Bush recently ordered better information access at federal agencies. But his order's details are pro forma public relations, at best, and no match for legislation proposed by Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, and Senators John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, and Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont. They would push the disclosure pendulum back toward center and put muscle back in the law for the public.

Imperial secrecy is now the order of the day. Is this the kind of country we want to live in? Jeez, when you have a reactionary like Cornyn co-sponsoring a bill with the likes of Leahy and Waxman, there is a sea-change underway.

The Measure of Freedom

Via Suburban Guerrilla:

In New National Ad, ACLU Calls for Investigation Into President’s Illegal Surveillance of U.S. Citizens (12/29/2005)

NEW YORK – In a full-page advertisement in today's New York Times, the American Civil Liberties Union intensified its call for a special counsel to be appointed to determine whether President George W. Bush violated federal wiretapping laws by authorizing illegal surveillance.

The ACLU said President Bush's actions were a clear violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was passed by Congress in response to revelations that former President Nixon was using "national security" claims to spy on American citizens he considered his "enemies."

"President Nixon was not above the law and neither is President Bush," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "President Bush cannot use a claim of seeking to preserve our nation to undermine the rules that serve as our foundation. The Attorney General, who may have been involved with the formulation of this policy, must appoint a special counsel to let justice be served."

The advertisement, as well as a similar ACLU ad that ran last Thursday, was spurred by revelations earlier this month that Bush authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct electronic surveillance of people within the United States, including U.S. citizens, without a warrant.

The text of today's advertisement compares the words of President Nixon and President Bush, both of whom denied allegations of illegal spying. Next to the image of Nixon, the advertisement says: "He lied to the American people and broke the law." Below that is an image of President Bush, with the words, "So did he."

Join the ACLU on this link. If you don't have that card in your wallet, you aren't a true patriot.

Scamming

Anybody who has studied the malpractice insurance marketplace for about ten minutes could tell you this:

Calculating Malpractice Claims
Study by Consumers Group Suggests Insurers Set Premiums Based on Market, Not Their Losses

By Dean Starkman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 29, 2005; Page D01

The insurance industry has long argued that huge losses from malpractice suits -- now running more than $7 billion a year -- have forced it to hike malpractice premiums, which more than doubled last year in some cities and for some specialties.

But a new study by a consumer group shows that losses reported to state regulators -- the figures often cited by the industry -- were much larger than losses actually paid during a nine-year period.

The study, by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica, Calif., advocacy group, found that from 1986 to 1994 the industry reported to regulators losses of $39.6 billion but actually paid only $26.7 billion, 31 percent less. The losses were overstated in each of the nine years.

The study examined a period that ended a decade ago to compare losses insurers reported to regulators as "incurred" with the amount actually paid after malpractice claims had made their way through the court system -- a process that can take nine or 10 years. By that measure, 1994 is the most recent year for which industry-wide data were available.

What insurers initially report to regulators as "losses" actually are only estimates of what claims will cost once they are settled. Insurers don't pay every claim or loss they report, since some turn out to have no merit and others are more or less expensive than first believed. That is particularly true for claims involving litigation, which can take a long time and be hard to predict. But insurers use those estimates to help set premiums for the coming year. So prices can go up, even if the losses eventually turn out to be smaller.

The study's authors say it demonstrates that losses used to justify big premium hikes have been overstated. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights is funded in part by tort lawyers who sue doctors and hospitals in malpractice cases, as well as sue corporations in product liability cases.

"We're not saying they shouldn't use estimates, but it's how far off they are," said Harvey Rosenfield, a lawyer for the foundation. "It's out of the ballpark, not even close."

Malpractice "insurers" regularly play the markets with their profits and then jack up premiums when they lose. This is not new news but the press rediscovers it every five years or so.

Like the rest of the MSM, the WashPo manages to forget this in between election cycles so that they can let the Republicans beat it to death as if it were a real issue. After the first of the year, the Rs will ratchet up the "malpractice scream" again, and the WaPo will forget, just like they always have before.

Looting, A Corporate Policy

In Enron Case, a Guilty Plea but No Certainties

By KURT EICHENWALD
Published: December 29, 2005

At a top-level Enron management meeting in September 2001, a red-faced Richard A. Causey, the chief accounting officer, pounded the table after hearing his colleagues label the company's accounting practices as "aggressive." According to executives in the room, Mr. Causey fumed that he considered such criticism a personal affront, adding that he would stake his career on the propriety of Enron's accounting.

Yesterday, more than four years later, Mr. Causey entered a Houston courtroom and pleaded guilty to a single count of securities fraud, admitting that the way Enron accounted for its financial performance presented a false portrait to investors for at least two years. [Page C1.]

This tale of two Richards - one steadfastly defending Enron's accounting decisions, the other admitting criminal liability in a fraud - is at the heart of the prosecution of Enron's former chief executives, Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling. And in this dichotomy lies the issues and evidence that could determine whether the two remaining defendants go free or spend much of the rest of their lives in prison.

At this point, no one, not even the lawyers involved in the case, can be sure which of the two Richards may appear on the stand - or even if a third may appear, one who admits limited criminal liability but continues to deny broader allegations. That partly explains why, even as prosecutors were heralding Mr. Causey's admission of guilt, lawyers for the remaining defendants continued to hold him close by celebrating his integrity.

"He is one of the most honest and decent men you can ever get to know," said Daniel Petrocelli, Mr. Skilling's lead lawyer. The prosecutors, Mr. Petrocelli added, "broke an innocent man."

Mr. Causey has never been a top-billed player in the Enron drama. But despite his low profile, the government and the defense always considered him someone who could play the role of a major witness once the top officers go to court. That is because Mr. Causey, as chief accounting officer, attended many of the top-level meetings where decisions were made that are at the center of the criminal case.

"One of the most honest and decent men you can ever get to know" sitting on top of one of the most widespread criminal enterprises in the last century and, I'm sure, he didn't know a bit about it, just another victim of a game played by others. Yeah, right.

I've been a small business person for about 20 years. If I wanted to cheat on my taxes, I know about how much work I would have to do to do so. I don't want to do that much work, nor do I want to cheat on my taxes. Shading a decimel point for an SEC filing is pretty easy. Anybody remember pets.com?

If Mr. Causey wants to play the "I didn't know" game, he's going to have a hard time getting past my accountant.

Before Dinner

After Charles has scared us all to death and SENT US BACK TO OUR A/V FILES for updating, and if you haven't done this you deserve what happens to your computer,

a light moment, with snails.

I love snails, served in their shells with garlic butter. I love damn near anything served with garlic butter, but snails are almost the perfect blank slate, scarf them up out of their shells and let the juice run. To eat these properly, you'll need lobster bibs, a set of those thingies that hold snail shells in place, some good seafood forks and those lobster plates that you can pick up for next to nothing. What you need for snails are room for sauces.

The Industry is ahead of you.

Click and order, and enjoy.

New Year

2005 sucked for me, too. Friends died, I was out of work for most of the year, it doesn't get much worse while I can still draw breath. The five hundred resumes I sent out got no answer because I'm over 50.

The Good News: Bump picked up some energetic new contributors, including Charles Roten's expert commentary on cybersecurity. Got a wireless node in the house? You had better be paying attention.

And I got a job.

I feel great peace on this holiday eve because of you, the Bump posters and commentors. We've been through a lot in the last two years and we'll get through more in the future, we have a track record.

Happy New Year, Bumpers. We've been together since November 15, 2003, and we're still around, sharing our news, our recipes and our hard stuff. Most of the credit goes to you.

And I'll give you some religion, food and politics to play with.

Into 2006, I remain
Melanie

0-day Windows Metafile image file vulnerability currently being exploited in the wild.

Sigh. Here we go again.

Remotely exploitable OS vulnerability, generic Microsoft Windows.

• Affected Products
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 , All Editions
  • Microsoft Windows XP, All Editions, Service Packs 1 and 2

• The vulnerability has been confirmed on a fully patched system running
  Microsoft Windows XP SP2.

Risk: System compromise (nature not specified).

• Exploit code published. See reference FrSIRT: Exploit: Picture/Fax Viewer Metafile Overflow.
• Exploit has been weaponized. See references Secunia Advisory 18255, isc.sans.org Story 972, and isc.sans.org Story 975.
• The vulnerability is reportedly already being actively exploited. See references Secunia Advisory 18255, FrSIRT Advisory 2005-3086, and isc.sans.org Story 972 and isc.sans.org Story 975.
• This vulnerability is being exploited by multiple email transmitted viruses. These infectors attempt to drop Trojan payloads. See references Symantec Advisory: Trojan.Infticker, Symantec Advisory: Bloodhound.Exploit.56, and Trend Micro Advisory: TROJ_WMFIOO.A.
• This vulnerability is being exploited by multiple malicious web sites. See references isc.sans.org Story 975 and Websense Security Labs Alert 385.

Mitigation:

• No patch or upgrade mitigation currently known.
• Workarounds:


• Make sure antivirus signatures are at most recent version.


• Do not open or preview untrusted ".wmf" files. See reference F-Secure December 2005 Blog entry 753.


• Avoid use of Microsoft Internet Explorer whenever possible in favor of another product, such as Firefox or Opera.


• Set security level to "High" in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

References:
Secunia Advisory 18255
FrSIRT Advisory 2005-3086
FrSIRT: Exploit: Picture/Fax Viewer Metafile Overflow
Websense Security Labs Alert 385
isc.sans.org Story 972
isc.sans.org Story 975
Bugtraq ID 16074
Symantec Advisory: Trojan.Infticker
Symantec Advisory: Bloodhound.Exploit.56
Trend Micro Advisory: TROJ_WMFIOO.A
F-Secure December 2005 Blog entry 752
F-Secure December 2005 Blog entry 753

Note that exploitation of this vulnerability can take place via multiple vectors. One is email viruses of more or less classical type, as I have already mentioned. Another is malicious websites, because the root cause is a flaw in the rendering of Windows Meta File (WMF) images.

The antivirus vendors are at work as I write this to get signature files out to plug the email-virus vector for this exploit. Symantec has already weighed in. Trend Micro is expected to do so momentarily.

So the very first thing you should do is update your A/V signatures. Keep checking them until your A/V software vendor gets with the program.

The trojans dropped from attacks using the email virus vector are, as of this writing, older ones that existing antivirus signatures should detect during a full system scan. That will change fast. Because what we are seeing right now is the very first wave of attacks, with improvised tools. Soon, the trojans will be purpose-written and will be able to evade detection for a time, until the A/V vendors catch up.

If you spend some quality time among the references, you will note that this can burn you even if you are using Firefox, if you are not cautious. But with IE, if you visit a malicious web site and the payload gets through, you're simply dead and buried. Yet another reason to leave Microsoft Internet Explorer in the dustbin until you absolutely positively must use IE and nothing else.

More about the web vector: From the F-Secure blog: The original site is dead, but new ones have sprung up

• unionseek [dot] com (dead)
• Crackz [dot] ws
• www.tfcco [dot] com
• Iframeurl [dot] biz
• beehappyy [dot] biz

This gets even better, from a diagnostic perspective. Since I started writing this post, the isc.sans.org Story 975 reference has been updated and revised. They have now referenced a Windows Media file movie of an actual exploitation taking place. To quote the authors:

Don't go to any of the URLs visible in the movie unless you know what you are doing (or feel like spending the next hours reinstalling your PC).

More tasty goodness care of the good people at the SANS Internet Storm Center site.

Update 23:00 UTC: The vulnerability seems to be within SHIMGVW.DLL. Unregistering this DLL (type REGSVR32 /U SHIMGVW.DLL at the command prompt or in the "Start->Run" Window, then reboot) will resolve most of the vulnerability, but will also break your Windows "Picture and Fax Viewer", as well as any ability of programs like "Paint" and "Explorer" to display thumbnails of any picture and real (benign) WMF files.

Update 23:19 UTC: Not that we didn't have enough "good" news already, but if you are relying on perimeter filters to block files with WMF extension from reaching your browser, you might have a surprise waiting for you. Windows XP will detect and process a WMF file based on its content ("magic bytes") and not rely on the extension alone, which means that a WMF sailing in disguise with a different extension might still be able to get you.

Now you know why I visit http://isc.sans.org on a daily basis in my official on-the-job capacity.

Postscript: I estimate the odds that Microsoft knows about this one are as close to unity as makes no difference.

A couple of things that Microsoft and the FBI seem to have in common:

1. They both have a habit of hiring line troops who are among the smartest guys in the room.

   Microsoft's best are at work on patches for this thing as I write. No doubt in my mind at all. Nada.



2. The folks in overall charge are NOT the smartest guys in the room, to put matters charitably.

   Don't expect patches to arrive right away. The PHBs running Microsoft are going to wait until the second Tuesday of January to release official patches for this. You can take that to the bank.

Longing for Spring

This recipe appeared in the LATimes last spring, just in time for the opening of the early Farmers' Markets (mine's on Saturday morning from May through October and I plan my menus around what I can find fresh there each week.) I'm not a vegetarian but my cooking leans heavily on fresh fruits and vegetables because that's what I most like to eat.

You can use frozen sugar snap peas for this during the winter, but it won't have the surprising fresh "green" taste that you will get with the just picked variety.

Sugar snap pea soup with Parmesan cream

Total time: 1 hour

Servings: 6

Note: In the spring, when farmers markets were loaded with sugar snap peas, Russ Parsons created this fresh-as-the-moment soup, as fabulous as much more labor-intensive English pea soup. It can also be served cold, with a few leaves of fresh chervil rather than the Parmesan cream.

2 pounds sugar snap peas

2 tablespoons butter, divided

1/4 cup minced shallots

3/4 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Freshly grated nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, plus more to taste

Up to 1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup cream

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1. Add the peas to a large pot of rapidly boiling, generously salted water. Cover the pot and bring back to a boil. Uncover and cook until the peas are tender but still a vibrant green, 6 to 8 minutes. Do not cook so long that they turn drab. As soon as the peas are done, drain them and place them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking and preserve their bright color. Drain them again.

2. While the peas are cooking, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and cook until they are tender and translucent, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

3. Place half of the peas in a blender and purée until very smooth. Add a tablespoon or two of chicken stock, if necessary, to keep the mixture flowing. Add the remaining peas and the cooked shallots and finish puréeing.

4. Pass the pea purée through a strainer into a bowl, pressing with a flat rubber spatula to work it all through. Rinse the spatula blade to remove any fiber and scrape the thick pea purée that sticks to the outside of the strainer into the bowl. Discard the fiber that is left behind in the strainer.

5. Stir just enough chicken stock into the purée to make it a flowing liquid. It should have the consistency of fairly thin split pea soup. Stir in the salt, a few gratings of nutmeg and lemon juice. Taste, and if the peas aren't bright and sweet, stir in enough sugar to correct. If necessary, add more salt and lemon juice as well. The recipe can be prepared to this point up to 8 hours in advance (any longer and the color will start to fade). Refrigerate in a tightly covered container.

6. Pass the purée through the finest strainer you have into a saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat until the mixture is bubbling. While the purée is warming, cook the cream and Parmesan in a small saucepan over medium heat just until the Parmesan melts and the cream is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

7. When the purée is hot, stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Taste once more and adjust the seasoning if needed. Divide the soup evenly among 6 warmed soup plates. Gently shake each plate to distribute the purée in an even layer. Spoon some of the Parmesan cream into the center of the purée in a rough "C" pattern. Serve immediately.

I find the parmesan cream a little heavy for the delicacy of the soup and think a swirl of low-fat sour cream is a better pairing for this dish, but that's just me. This also works well on the cold version of the soup.

A Night in Hue

I make this for company when I want something that is a little different but that won't scare off the timid diner. It's so quick and easy to make that it is less trouble than take out.

Vietnamese-Style Beef With Lemon Grass
4 servings

3 tablespoons minced lemon grass, outer leaves and tough green tops removed, root ends trimmed

3 tablespoons lime juice

1/3 cup fish sauce (nam pla)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 small red chili pepper, minced, or

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds beef top sirloin or flank steak, cut into thin strips

1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1/4 cup (about 2 large) chopped shallots

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1/2 cup chopped mint, for garnish

In a small bowl, combine the lemon grass, lime juice, fish sauce, garlic and the minced chili pepper or red pepper flakes. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sprinkle the beef with the brown sugar. Set aside.

Place a wok or large skillet over medium-high to high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the shallots and stir-fry for a few seconds to release fragrance. Add the beef and stir-fry about 3 minutes, or until just cooked through. Stir in the sauce and cook for 1 minute, or until heated through.

Transfer the beef to a serving bowl and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Garnish with the mint. Serve immediately with rice noodles tossed with chopped green onions. A salad of cucumbers, red onions and herbs tossed with rice vinegar is a refreshing side.

If you can find fresh red Thai chilis (and you like A LOT of heat) they work well with this dish. Wear rubber gloves to clean them and don't get the gloves anywhere near your face.

Into the Future

I don't know how 2005 was for you, but it is a year I'm glad to say farewell to. How about you? What kind of year did you have? Have you got some hopes and dreams for 2006? Maybe even a New Year's resolution or two? Discuss.

What's Left

My new boss called me from NOLA last week. CNN may have moved on, but he tells me that the level of destruction is absolutely breathtaking.

Baghdad on the Mississippi
A frayster reports from New Orleans.
Compiled by Kevin Arnovitz
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005, at 2:09 PM ET

It's beautiful here, if you're only looking at the sky. It's warm, and a few trees are left alive. Wait, some entire blocks look normal. New Orleans after Katrina is just as the author said, post-war Europe, rubble where history once stood, landmarks rising ghostly against a now peaceful sky, dusty people trying to reassemble their lives stone by stone. The closest equivalent now would be present day Baghdad. Some areas downright lawless, some almost normal. You can drive down St. Charles Street and still find lovely mansions, some with piles of sheet rock and ruined furniture in front. Who knows what's behind those shining doors?

Some parts of town you can drive for blocks and see nothing but debris and row after row of abandoned, blackened homes. But it's not fire, it's filthy water like a bathtub ring at eight, six, four, two feet. Cars piled against trees, boats tipped drunken in the medians of the boulevard. The corpses of trees stacked haphazardly between lanes.

On my cousin's block we're all starting to make our piles of lathe, plaster, sheetrock, insulation, banana leaves, branches, trunks. Beds for ogres. The cat down his block has taken over most of the piles. Monday I saw her stalking a chicken wing, absconding with a KFC skin dangling from her mouth. Lucky cat. You have to drive to another part of town to find an open KFC, much less a bottle of water. That's what the Red Cross is for. You'll hear them driving by, megaphones blasting so you can hear them from the back of your busted up house, proffering MREs and bottled water.

My aunt over in Metairie has shown me her supply of MREs. You'd be surprised what people will save, even when the stores have reopened. You never know.

My son and I donned our coveralls and respirators, which we fondly nicknamed our hazmat suits, and helped gut a house that has stood since long before the first New Orleans flood of the century, back in 1927. It'll survive this too. Losing electricity means nothing to a house that was built before indoor plumbing became the fashion.

As we pull out layers of wall and ceiling, we find the bones of this house, and realize it was built by someone far more skilled than whoever renovated it, however many times. I test a couple of floors toward the back, and warn my cousin that these will have to come out. Have to? He knows, that cat in the front lawn has found its way in through the holes in this floor, slept in his bedroom and left hair on everything still functional on the upper floor. But the rest of the house is solid. Everything original is still tight and smooth, even floors that had been underwater for almost a month. If you know floors, you know what I'm saying. Someone knew what he was doing.

Read the whole thing, as we say. The writer uses this old house as a metaphor for the people of the Gulf Coast.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Between the Holidays, a City Basks in Sunlit Silence

By Wil Haygood
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 28, 2005; A01

In its quietness, a big, strong-shouldered and often hurly-burly metropolis suddenly exposes other emotions. Other joys will come to the fore.

So it was the day after the Christmas holiday yesterday. A city found itself less peopled, nearly bare. And still, it found its own way, its own music.

"I'm actually enjoying the city," 11-year-old Trent Cook said, standing underground at the Van Ness Metro station with Jodie Cook, his aunt. Trent was on a visit from Binghamton, N.Y. He had a little drummer boy's sweetness about him. Or maybe it was just that there was room to swirl and twirl on the platform. "This is a better time to catch the trains," he said, bouncing joyfully.

A train whizzed into view. There were empty seats everywhere, and an everyday commuter stared in disbelief.

Above ground, sunlight fell everywhere. Hemingway, who was into clean, well-lit places, would have loved the day, its warmth. Through the tree branches, through the leaves, the sunlight took on a golden glow.

Whole swaths of city blocks were quiet. So you heard birds chirping. Saw diners slumped back in chairs, as if this were Paris and it were April.

Joggers ran about fearlessly, like gazelles. "It's certainly easier here on Connecticut Avenue," said Maura Lee, a lawyer, slowing up. "I don't have to zigzag today, don't have to deal with a lot of stop-and-go coming across the bridge, either."

The big banners outside the National Zoo advertised Mei Xiang and her cub, Tai Shan. This may be the year of King Kong, but the pandas are still quite the sensation. The lines have been painfully long. But yesterday, at times, there was unalloyed joy. "There was no line when I entered," said Tsutomu Oyabu, a 65-year-old visitor from Japan in town for a convention. He confessed he had heard about the long lines, then smiled at his own luck. As for the pandas, they thrilled him. "I was at a distance, but I could still see enough."

There were simply plain blessings. "I could find a place to park. Isn't that great?" piped Amy Beth Harmon, 31, a freelance violinist. "Although there was nobody in my building to let the furnace guy in this morning, and I had to get up and let him in."

Robert Daughtry, who lives in Southeast Washington, who is 61 and semi-retired, was standing outside Union Station yesterday. He had his sketchbook with him. He lives for a quiet city, a city on holiday. "This is a good time of year," he said, allowing as to how he bolts in these days after major holidays to find perches to sketch buildings. "When tourist season picks up you have to choose your time and places," he explained. "But now I can go around and get inside buildings and sketch and then get out."

It's true, this is the best time of the year in the DC area: you can get a table at the popular restaurants, the malls are quiet if you want to do some shopping. You can get around town without the usual traffic hassles. This is actually the best time of the year to visit DC if you don't mind the risk of snow (we rarely have a white Christmas.) I'm going to try to get to the Zoo to see the new panda before the end of the week.

Winter 'Cue

It is so warm in the Mid-Atlantic coming into the New Year that I'm thinking about firing up the grill. I'm missing East Carolina-style barbecue, which I can't get around here, so I have to make it. Here's a sauce recipe, I make it spicier (I keep a suite of pepper sauces in the fridge) but this is a middle of the road East Carolina sauce. It's perfect on hickory-smoked pork shoulder and baby back ribs, but I like it on beef (brisket or london broil) as well. Use 1/4 of this recipe for marinating, reserve the rest for basting.

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 quarts cider vinegar
* 1/4 cup salt
* 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
* 3 tablespoons red pepper flakes
* 1 cup light brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce

In a large bowl, mix together cider vinegar, salt, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, light brown sugar, and hot pepper sauce. Stir until salt and brown sugar have dissolved. Cover, and let stand at least 3 hours before using as a basting sauce or serving on meat.

I like to let the ingredients "marry" for a day before introducing it to whatever meat I'm cooking. Then, I like to marinate the meat overnight before cooking. Pat it dry before you put it on the grill on a very slow heat, 225-300 degrees F. Baste with reserved sauce only during the last half of cooking.

Recommended Reading

One of the conversations I've had over and over with sociologists, anthropologists, historians and ecclesiasticians is that we are living through unprecendented times. I won't bore you with laying out the historical precendents for how we got here, but we are on untrammeled ground. Nearly all of my history and theology professors agreed, and their reasons had nothing to do with denominational concerns. I laid out my own speculations in my oral comprehensive exam, which is not the place to do speculation, but I found that they agreed. Sometimes, I get lucky.

I spend more time with sociologists and anthropologists than I do with theologians or historians these days, and the social scientists get even more excited when we get around to talking about "The Hinges of History", a concept named by writer Thomas Cahill, but not unique to him. We are living through an opportunity for a change of imagination about what it means to be human, what our relationship with the larger universe is, and what we should do about it. A couple of decades ago, this was called "The Age of Aquarius." More recently, it has been called "global mind change."

I'm at work on both an article and a book on this subject, but while I'm finishing those up, I offer for your perusal Eamon Kelly's Powerful Times: Rising to the Challenge of Our Uncertain World". The flu conference DemfromCT and I attended last month was mostly facilitated by Eamon, and I couldn't have asked for a better interlocutor. I've finally had time to start reading his book and it is quite the spade for digging up more ground for questions. Since the wiki partners and I are now getting into the books we got for the holidays, I recommend this one.

Katrina and Bird Flu

Sifting Through Official Speak on Bird Flu

by Jon Hamilton
Audio for this story will be available at approx. 10:00 a.m. ET

Morning Edition, December 28, 2005 · Federal officials are saying some scary things about bird flu these days.

Earlier this month, for example, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said the virus that causes bird flu "could become one of the most terrible threats to life that this world has ever faced."

That's true. But it's hardly news. The current version of bird flu began infecting people back in 1997. Since then it's caused the deaths of about 150 million chickens and more than 70 people.

The most recent wave of bird flu began sweeping across Asia in 2003 -- long before the Bush administration began issuing a stream of dire warnings.

Risk communications expert Peter Sandman says that's not because the virus became more of a threat recently. Sandman says the change appears to be a response to criticism that the government wasn't prepared for another known threat: Hurricane Katrina.

"Prior to Katrina, the federal government in my judgment was profoundly over-reassuring about the risk of a pandemic," Sandman says. "Katrina had, I think, a lot to do with the federal government reversing its rhetoric and sounding much more alarming about pandemics."

Sandman and his wife, psychiatrist Jody Lanard, have done work on pandemic preparedness for the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Sandman also works as a consultant on risk communications for a range of corporate clients.

Together they've written dozens of articles on how to communicate the risks associated with bird flu and other infectious diseases.

Lanard says her own interest in bird flu began well before the Bush administration started talking about it so publicly.

"I became concerned and then alarmed about pandemic influenza in about January 2004," she says, "while Thailand was still covering up the very obvious signs they had bird flu outbreaks in their poultry. I thought about what we should do. I thought about stockpiling food. I felt the fear of this thing spreading in Thailand."

Lanard spent months learning everything she could about the virus and its risks.

Lanard and Sandman say risk communicators must walk a tightrope. On one side is the risk of promoting irrational fear. On the other side is irrational complacency. The goal is to instill appropriate fear that gets people to take appropriate precautions.

Lanard says accomplishing this means presenting information that is accurate, complete, and often frightening.

"Good information should increase the level of fear in people that haven't been thinking about it at all," she says. "It should decrease the level of fear in people who are over-imagining how bad it could be."

Sandman and Lanard praise the Bush administration for finally sounding the alarm about pandemic flu. But they say the administration's message has been undercut at times by statements that are misleading, self-serving or simply wrong.

One example is an image federal officials frequently use to describe the pandemic.

In a speech at the National Institutes of Health, President Bush described it this way: "A pandemic is a lot like a fire, a forest fire. If caught early it might be extinguished with limited damage. If allowed to smolder undetected it can grow to an inferno that spreads quickly beyond our ability to control it."

Lanard says the forest fire image does capture the speed at which a pandemic can spread. But she says it's profoundly misleading to suggest that a flu pandemic can be snuffed out like a smoldering cigarette.

"The quote as it stands gives an overly optimistic impression of the likelihood of stomping it out," she says. "This has never been done. Surveillance is terrible in most of the developing world."

Links to Jody and Peter's work can be found at The Flu Wiki and Jody contributes to the discussion forum.

Good risk communication (and I hope I'm doing it here) means communicating the full range of possibilities, from the most hopefull to the most frightening. Each of us have to deal with our own adjustment reaction and to move on from there to getting done what needs to be done to be ready for whatever risk we think most confronts us.

I know that ice storms and hurricanes are in my future. I can build on what I know needs to be done to prepare for them for a more prolonged pandemic event. This is not rocket science, it is merely good risk assessment and planning.

Learn about The Gambler's Fallacy and don't succumb to it.

Risk Assessment

A Shared Uncertainty
Hurricane Unites Evacuees on Both Sides Of New Orleans's Divide of Race and Class

By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 28, 2005; Page A01

NEW ORLEANS Joseph and Kesa Williams have come home once since Hurricane Katrina chased them off to Atlanta. Once was all they could bear.

Inside their ruined house on Delery Street in the Lower Ninth Ward, they found ceilings collapsed, possessions rotted and mold triumphant. They had expected as much from watching TV news. Much more disturbing was the abandoned-graveyard feel of the entire neighborhood, where working-class black families have owned houses for generations.

"From what I could see, nothing was happening," said Joseph Williams, 32, who has a new job as a probation officer in suburban Atlanta. "The only thing I found in my house that was worth taking was my high school class ring. I threw it back on the floor and we left."

Across town, Gary and Bea Quaintance, together with their son, Steven, 16, have moved back into their house on Memphis Street in Lakeview, a white middle-class neighborhood that was also wrecked by Katrina. Theirs, though, is an isolated, post-apocalyptic style of housekeeping. Lakeview is a neighborhood in name only, especially at night. The Quaintances are the only family on their block.

Armed with a portable propane heater and a gasoline generator, they sleep on the unflooded second floor. The house beneath them has been stripped of its stinking contents and gutted to the studs. There's no kitchen, no washing machine, no nearby stores and no neighbors to see the Christmas lights Gary Quaintance has strung around the house. Still, it is home.

"If you can't get back home, then you are living your life in limbo," said Bea Quaintance, 47, who raised her two college-age daughters on Memphis Street and is determined to finish raising her son there.

This is a wrenching holiday season for exiles from Memphis and Delery streets. Local politicians plead with them to come home, even as a panel of urban experts warns that both streets lie in neighborhoods too ruined and too flood-prone for immediate reconstruction.

The future of New Orleans teeters on choices made by families such as the Williamses and Quaintances. The sum of their private deliberations will determine the size of the reconstituted city, reset its racial balance and dictate its politics.

While white families from Memphis Street are more likely to return than are black families of Delery Street -- primarily because houses in Lakeview sustained less damage -- the storm has united evacuees on both sides of the city's formidable divide of race and class. What they share is uncertainty, which, like the mold in vacant houses, has mushroomed in the nearly four months since the hurricane. Decisions about coming home are vexed by fear of another storm, worry about money and doubt about government help. The passage of time and the power of distance also make it more difficult to leave new addresses where, despite loneliness and unfamiliarity, there is no risk of drowning in your attic.

So far, only the Quaintance family has returned to Memphis Street. Most others from their block are waiting. At least four are trying to sell. On Delery Street, where bulldozers will soon raze the many houses now marked with red "UNSAFE" stickers, no one is back and former residents say returning is all but impossible.

"I ain't coming back," said Judith Jordan, 53, a grocery store cashier who lived for 20 years on Delery with her brother and mother before the storm sent them away to Shreveport, La. "None of us is coming back."

Jordan has returned home once, with her brother John in early December. They found their wooden one-story house tilted off its foundation. It had that red sticker of doom on it: "Partial Collapse Possible. Do Not Enter." They took some pictures and drove back to Shreveport.

We have to imagine a new New Orleans, one that may not have the world-class draw and culture of the original, one which may have to make itself up from scratch from its roots. And the roots are there, but the geography is not. A city which can be scoured out of a river basin by a combination hurricane and flood in an historic hurricane zone is not a going proposition as we head into a decadal cycle of historic hurricanes. My impulse would be to get out of the way.

Swiss Re, the global re-insurer, says,

"While the industry dealt in a robust way with the largest insured loss ever, there are significant lessons to be learnt, if the industry is to continue to meet the considerable and growing demand for catastrophe cover." Losses to insurers as a result of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma between August and October have been estimated by the industry at between 40 and 50 billion dollars (33 and 41.5 billion euros).

Michel Lies, Swiss Re's head of client markets, said insurers needed to "produce new models for risk pricing and assessing capital requirements, which more accurately reflect the true magnitude of risk being underwritten".

He added that insurers should move to use exposure, rather than premiums, as a reference for risk. This could prevent a wave of downgrades by rating agencies as seen in the wake of Katrina."

Translation: don't expect to get insurance forever if you live in a hurricane or earthquake zone. Don't expect that you can afford it if it is available at all.

It is time to re-think.

No Controlling Civil Authority

Defense Lawyers in Terror Cases Plan Challenges Over Spy Efforts

By ERIC LICHTBLAU and JAMES RISEN
Published: December 28, 2005

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 - Defense lawyers in some of the country's biggest terrorism cases say they plan to bring legal challenges to determine whether the National Security Agency used illegal wiretaps against several dozen Muslim men tied to Al Qaeda.

The lawyers said in interviews that they wanted to learn whether the men were monitored by the agency and, if so, whether the government withheld critical information or misled judges and defense lawyers about how and why the men were singled out.

The expected legal challenges, in cases from Florida, Ohio, Oregon and Virginia, add another dimension to the growing controversy over the agency's domestic surveillance program and could jeopardize some of the Bush administration's most important courtroom victories in terror cases, legal analysts say.

The question of whether the N.S.A. program was used in criminal prosecutions and whether it improperly influenced them raises "fascinating and difficult questions," said Carl W. Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who has studied terrorism prosecutions.

"It seems to me that it would be relevant to a person's case," Professor Tobias said. "I would expect the government to say that it is highly sensitive material, but we have legal mechanisms to balance the national security needs with the rights of defendants. I think judges are very conscientious about trying to sort out these issues and balance civil liberties and national security."

While some civil rights advocates, legal experts and members of Congress have said President Bush did not have authority to order eavesdropping by the security agency without warrants, the White House and the Justice Department continued on Tuesday to defend the legality and propriety of the program.

Have we surrendered our common sense? The courts will tell us if we have lost our minds.

Fabled Fungi

I've been dreaming of truffles lately, it's a foodie thing. Probably the most delicious meals of my life, and I've had a few, included the white truffles of Spain and Italy and the black truffles of France. Virginia is becoming a truffle hunting place, but I haven't had the local variety yet, they are so rare that they go for hundreds of dollars each. French and Italian truffles, both black and white, are the easiest to find imported into this country. Fresh pasta needs little more than some cream and butter if you can serve it with shaved truffles. This recipe needs an egg cutter, but is quite do-able for the home cook and has the additional virtue of being something which could be served at any meal of the day. As a brunch with a hearty barley soup and salad, or first course for dinner, serve with champagne, nothing else will do. For dinner, I would serve this before pheasant or very French stewed chicken. The earthy taste of the truffle goes very well with game.

The presentation in this recipe assumes nice ceramic egg cups. My long dead grandmother had those, I don't. As an alternative presentation to serving in egg cups, with a pastry bag pipe make an egg sized 2" built up border of mashed potatoes two inches high using a star tip and the back and forth motion which will give you a Greek edge. Butter the tops of the potatoes and broil for one minute to brown lightly and let cool before inserting the egg.

Crowd four decent sized eggs into a simple pyrex dish standing up next to each other and you'll have a working method for steaming the eggs.

If your guests have never had truffle before, this simple and elegant preparation lets the truffle shine. Ingredients for 4 people.

6 farm eggs, cleaned
150 ml vegetable consommé
50 ml (3 tbsp.) truffle juice
Soy sauce
Balsamic vinegar (30 year-old, if possible)
1 truffle
1 bunch rosemary
Peanut oil

Method

1. Using an egg cutter, remove the tops from the eggs.
2. Mix the eggs with the truffle juice, vegetable consommé and a little soy sauce, pour back into the eggshells and steam.
3. Fry the rosemary in peanut oil and drain on a paper towel.

Presentation

1. With a coffee spoon, drizzle a little balsamic vinegar onto each egg.
2. Shave truffle over and garnish with crispy rosemary.

If you are trying to make someone fall in love with you, serve truffles. If that doesn't work, they weren't worth your time and the high cost of the truffle was worth it to sort the wheat from the, cough, chaff before you paid a much higher price down the road. Trust me on this. If a truffle doesn't make your love interest swoon, move on.

Yes, a one ounce truffle will set you back about a hundred dollars. Yes, I usually feature cheap cuisine on this site. But once in a while you have to let your ya-yas out, and if you are a foodie, it really doesn't get any better than this.

And it is a great test case for a love interest, if you are a foodie. ;>)

Familiar Goes Upscale

It's hard to believe, but deviled eggs are the "comfort food" of the moment in DC restaurants (these trends hardly last longer than a month these days.) Here is the recipe provided to The Washingtonian this month by chi-chi Vidalia's Jeff Buben.

12 eggs
1⁄2 cup mayonnaise
1 T butter, softened
2 t Dijon mustard
1⁄2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 T cornichon, finely minced
2 T Vidalia onion, finely minced
1 t Colman’s dry mustard
1⁄8 t cayenne pepper
1⁄8 t sugar
1 T La Chinata smoked paprika
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Optional: two slices country ham, cooked then minced

Cover the eggs with cold water in a large saucepan and add 1 T salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let stand for ten minutes. Shock the eggs in cold water, then peel them. Split the eggs in half and remove the yolks to a bowl. Using the back of a fork, mash them with the mayonnaise and butter until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients but paprika and ham, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Fill a pastry bag with the yolk mixture and pipe into the hollowed whites. Top with the minced ham and a sprinkle of paprika.

I prefer capers to the cornichon, but that's just me. Imagine this: you can serve deviled eggs for your New Years bash this year and be trendy.

If you want to make this look particularly attractive, slice the ham into extremely thin juilliene strips and tie them into a sideways figure 8 to place on top of the yolks. That's the Greek symbol for "eternity."

Troubling Signs

U.S. Stocks Retreat on `Flat Yield Curve;' Valero Shares Fall

Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks dropped the most in a week after a phenomenon in the Treasury market called a `flat yield curve' touched off concern economic growth may slow.

Two-year Treasury yields drew even with 10-year yields for the first time in almost five years. An inverted curve, where short-term yields exceed long-term yields, last occurred in December 2000 and has preceded each of the country's past four recessions.

``What's foremost in investors' minds is what's potentially going on in the bond market,'' said Stephen Massocca, co-chief executive officer of Pacific Growth Equities in San Francisco. ``With light trading days, it doesn't take much to move the market one way or the other. The fear is that it would lead to a short-term recession.''

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up as much as 0.3 percent before the selloff. Energy producers including Valero Energy Corp., the best performers in the index this year, dropped with the price of oil, fueling the market's decline.

The S&P; 500 lost 6.82, or 0.5 percent, to 1261.48 as of 12:06 p.m. in New York, for its biggest decrease since a 0.6 percent fall on Dec. 19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 47.30, or 0.4 percent, to 10,835.97 and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 15.93, or 0.7 percent, to 2233.49.

More than two shares declined for every one that advanced on the New York Stock Exchange. Some 575.3 million shares changed hands, 22 percent less than the same time a week ago. The U.S. market was closed yesterday for the Christmas holiday.

Trading may be lighter in U.S. stock markets this week, as investors take time off between the Christmas and New Year's holidays. In the past five years, the average number of shares that changed hands on the day after Christmas at the Big Board was 43 percent lower than the annual average.

`Yield Curve'

Two- and 10-year notes both yielded 4.37 percent at 11:13 a.m. in New York, according to Cantor Fitzgerald LP. Investors have pushed up short-term yields following 13 straight interest- rate increases by the Federal Reserve since June 2004. Longer- term debt typically yields more than shorter-term debt to compensate investors for such risks as faster inflation, which erodes the purchasing power of fixed-income payments.

The flat yield curve is ``causing some hesitancy even though the trend has been ongoing,'' said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at New York-based Miller Tabak & Co., in an e-mail message. Since it's the last week of the year, ``no one wants to see gains disappear so people are quick on the trigger to sell if no rally ensues.''

What have I been telling you for more than a year? Start moving out of equities now.

Tech Fear

Presents Causing Panic? The Gadget Doctor Is In
'Techplumber' Assembles High-Tech Gifts

By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 27, 2005; B01

In the '60s, people asked, "Who is your dealer?" In the '70s, it was, "Who's your Realtor?" In the '80s, your stockbroker, and in the '90s, your personal trainer. And now, Patty Joffee says, it's, "Who is your personal tech consultant?"

Especially on the day after Christmas, when you can't get the new #(*$(*&$# TiVo to work.

"What could be a more extravagant thing?" Joffee said. "But it's so necessary."

So at 8:30 a.m. yesterday, Joffee called the appropriately named Jason Hacker, who runs his own "techplumber" personal tech support business and, without trying to sound too desperate, asked if he could come over. "Santa came, and we have a TiiiiiVoooo," she sang into his answering machine. The kids are home, "and we'd love some help getting it to work."

When he arrived at her North Arlington home about 10 a.m., she flung open the door, announced that she'd gotten out of her pajamas just for his house call, then pulled out a checklist of all the other stuff she wanted Hacker's help with: Her cell phone is obsolete, her daughter's laptop keeps freezing . . . "and we do have some iPod issues."

She turned to visitors and said, "I was a liberal arts French major."

Dec. 26, the day after Christmas, has long been the unheralded day that makes all that Christmas joy work. Parents return rejected gifts for demanded ones or put together the new wagons and dollhouses that had been eagerly awaited presents.

Except these days they're figuring out cell phones, computers, USB flash drives, Xbox 360s, PSPs, BlackBerries, DVD players, Treo 650s, digital videos and cameras, fancy photo printers and TiVos. Now Dec. 26 means parents spend hours deciphering manuals or on the phone on hold to get tech support while kids forlornly wait for their shiny new toys to become more than expensive paperweights.

That's why Hacker ran this ad: "Call Us Because You Know You Need Us."

Hacker had prepared for this day -- finding four extra people in case he needed backup, like the guy he met at the drive-through coffee shop in Falls Church ("He seems techie"). And he'd borrowed friends' Xboxes and latest gadgets to make sure he was up to speed.

"The biggest noise is from the kids these days," Hacker said. "When the parents get computers or digital cameras and can't figure out how to work them, they take it in stride. When the kids' machines don't work, you hear about it immediately. They scream the loudest: 'Dad, I don't have 10,000 songs in my pocket! What am I going to do?' "

Hacker often fields desperate calls as early as 5:30 a.m. He described his job as "sometimes kinda like talking to someone on a ledge."

I'll admit I should do something about the tangle of wires behind the computer, but I think I can figure that out myself with some cable ties.

I think this guy is brilliant, making money off of other people's fear and laziness. None of this stuff is all that difficult.

Time to Go

Power That Bush Can't Just Take

By Eugene Robinson

Tuesday, December 27, 2005; Page A25

Since the holiday season is a time of generosity and goodwill toward all -- even those who torture the Constitution and hoodwink the nation into ill-advised wars -- let's do a little thought experiment.

Let's assume that George W. Bush's claim of virtually unfettered presidential power is not just an exercise in reclaiming executive perks that Dick Cheney believes were wrongly surrendered after Watergate. Let's assume that Bush genuinely believes he needs the right to blanket the nation with electronic surveillance, detain indefinitely anyone he considers a terrorist suspect, make those detainees disappear into secret, CIA-run prisons, and subject them to "waterboarding" and other degradations. Let's assume for the moment that the president's only desperate motivation is to prevent another day like Sept. 11, 2001.

Let's go even further and assume he decided to invade Iraq for the same reason. Even in a thought experiment, we can't forgive the way he snowed the country into believing there was some connection between Iraq and the Sept. 11 attacks; nor can we forget the way he hyped the flawed intelligence about weapons of mass destruction -- we're being generous here, not stupid. But let's assume that however calculated and cynical the machinations, and however wrongheaded the decision to go to war, the underlying motive was purely to avoid another catastrophic terrorist attack.

All right: Given these overly kind assumptions, can this administration's usurpation of power somehow be justified?

Every time I work it through, the answer I come up with is no. The president has no right to ignore the rule of law as if it were a mere nuisance.

The problem is that if the president really were determined to do anything it takes to prevent another terrorist strike, why not suspend habeas corpus, as Lincoln did during the Civil War? That way you could arrest everyone who could possibly be a terrorist, or who once lived next door to a suspected terrorist's uncle, and you could hold those people as long as you wanted. Why stop at surveillance of international telephone calls and e-mails? Why not listen in on, say, all interstate calls as well? Or just go for it and scarf up all the domestic communications the National Security Agency's copious computers can hold?

Why stop at waterboarding? Why not go all the way and pull out some fingernails, if that would give Americans another tiny increment of security? Wouldn't electric shocks make us safer still? Just order the White House lawyers to draw up yet another thumb-on-the-scale legal opinion explaining how torture isn't really torture, and have at it.

If potential terrorists may be walking among us, why not have police officers stand on street corners all day and subject anyone who looks "suspicious" to questioning and a search? That's what Fidel Castro does in Cuba, and believe me, Cuba is an extremely safe country.

In Vietnam we destroyed villages in order to save them. In this war on terrorism, why not go ahead and destroy our freedoms in order to save them?

The reason we don't do these absurd things, of course, is that we see a line between the acceptable and the unacceptable. That bright line is the law, drawn by Congress and regularly surveyed by the judiciary. It can be shifted, but the president has no right to shift it on his own authority. His constitutional war powers give him wide latitude, but those powers are not unlimited.

If you go along with my experiment and assume that the president has the best of motives, then the problem is that he wants to protect the American people but doesn't trust us.

If W can void the 4th Amendment without a lot of outcry on the part of the sheeple, ignoring the 22nd won't be much of a problem.

Meme of Fours

The reveres tagged me with "the meme of fours," without telling me about it.

Four jobs you've had in your life: hardware store clerk; statistical typist; database trainer; paralegal.

Four movies you could watch over and over: Young Frankenstein; The Wizard of Oz; The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming; Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Four places you've lived: International Falls, MN; Brookline, MA; Davidson, NC; Arlington, VA

Four TV shows you love to watch: Emeril Live!; Inside Washington; The Great Railroads; Mystery!

Four places you've been on vacation: Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Canada; Rekjavik, Iceland; Mykonis, Greece; Aarhus, Denmark.

Four websites you visit daily: Effect Measure (thanks, reveres); The Next Hurrah; Suburban Guerrilla; The Newsblog.

Four of your favorite foods: fettucine Alfredo; filet of beef (rare) with bernaise sauce; anything with Italian truffles; lobster rolls.

Four places you'd rather be: San Jose, Costa Rica; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Spoleto, Italy; London.

I'm tagging: pogge, Suburban Guerrilla, Tyler Cowen, and Steve Gilliard.

Our Values

AFTER 9/11: Fear destroys what bin Laden could not
ROBERT STEINBACK
[email protected]

One wonders if Osama bin Laden didn't win after all. He ruined the America that existed on 9/11. But he had help.

If, back in 2001, anyone had told me that four years after bin Laden's attack our president would admit that he broke U.S. law against domestic spying and ignored the Constitution -- and then expect the American people to congratulate him for it -- I would have presumed the girders of our very Republic had crumbled.

Had anyone said our president would invade a country and kill 30,000 of its people claiming a threat that never, in fact, existed, then admit he would have invaded even if he had known there was no threat -- and expect America to be pleased by this -- I would have thought our nation's sensibilities and honor had been eviscerated.

If I had been informed that our nation's leaders would embrace torture as a legitimate tool of warfare, hold prisoners for years without charges and operate secret prisons overseas -- and call such procedures necessary for the nation's security -- I would have laughed at the folly of protecting human rights by destroying them.

If someone had predicted the president's staff would out a CIA agent as revenge against a critic, defy a law against domestic propaganda by bankrolling supposedly independent journalists and commentators, and ridicule a 37-year Marie Corps veteran for questioning U.S. military policy -- and that the populace would be more interested in whether Angelina is about to make Brad a daddy -- I would have called the prediction an absurd fantasy.

That's no America I know, I would have argued. We're too strong, and we've been through too much, to be led down such a twisted path.

What is there to say now?

All of these things have happened. And yet a large portion of this country appears more concerned that saying ''Happy Holidays'' could be a disguised attack on Christianity.

I evidently have a lot poorer insight regarding America's character than I once believed, because I would have expected such actions to provoke -- speaking metaphorically now -- mobs with pitchforks and torches at the White House gate. I would have expected proud defiance of anyone who would suggest that a mere terrorist threat could send this country into spasms of despair and fright so profound that we'd follow a leader who considers the law a nuisance and perfidy a privilege.

Never would I have expected this nation -- which emerged stronger from a civil war and a civil rights movement, won two world wars, endured the Depression, recovered from a disastrous campaign in Southeast Asia and still managed to lead the world in the principles of liberty -- would cower behind anyone just for promising to ``protect us.''

President Bush recently confirmed that he has authorized wiretaps against U.S. citizens on at least 30 occasions and said he'll continue doing it. His justification? He, as president -- or is that king? -- has a right to disregard any law, constitutional tenet or congressional mandate to protect the American people.

Is that America's highest goal -- preventing another terrorist attack? Are there no principles of law and liberty more important than this? Who would have remembered Patrick Henry had he written, ``What's wrong with giving up a little liberty if it protects me from death?''

Bush would have us excuse his administration's excesses in deference to the ''war on terror'' -- a war, it should be pointed out, that can never end. Terrorism is a tactic, an eventuality, not an opposition army or rogue nation. If we caught every person guilty of a terrorist act, we still wouldn't know where tomorrow's first-time terrorist will strike. Fighting terrorism is a bit like fighting infection -- even when it's beaten, you must continue the fight or it will strike again.

Are we agreeing, then, to give the king unfettered privilege to defy the law forever? It's time for every member of Congress to weigh in: Do they believe the president is above the law, or bound by it?

Bush stokes our fears, implying that the only alternative to doing things his extralegal way is to sit by fitfully waiting for terrorists to harm us. We are neither weak nor helpless. A proud, confident republic can hunt down its enemies without trampling legitimate human and constitutional rights.

Ultimately, our best defense against attack -- any attack, of any sort -- is holding fast and fearlessly to the ideals upon which this nation was built. Bush clearly doesn't understand or respect that. Do we?

More Splits

Iraq Vote Shows Sunnis Are Few in New Military

By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
Published: December 27, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 26 - An analysis of preliminary voting results released Monday from the Dec. 15 parliamentary election suggests that in contrast to the remarkable surge in Sunni Arab participation in the political process, the Sunnis still have comparatively little representation in the Iraqi security forces.

The indication is troubling because Sunni Arabs, who are about 20 percent of Iraq's population, came out in greater numbers largely as a response to the recent domination of the government by Shiites and Kurds. In particular, Sunni Arabs say they fear that the security forces will be used against them.

American military commanders say that it is crucial to build an Iraqi Army representative of Iraq's ethnicity, and that the alternative is to risk the consequences of Shiite and Kurdish forces' trying on their own to pacify insurgent hotbeds dominated by Sunni Arab militants.

It has been suspected that Sunni Arabs are underrepresented in the new military and police. Election officials believe that a special tally from the Dec. 15 vote helps to detail the disparity, mostly because voting in Iraq has almost completely been along ethnic and sectarian divisions.

In the special tally - which the officials said overwhelmingly consisted of most of the ballots cast by security forces, but also included votes from hospital patients and prisoners - about 7 percent of the votes were cast for the three main Sunni Arab parties. Across the whole population, though, officials have estimated, Sunni Arab candidates won about 20 percent of the seats in the new Parliament.

Along the same lines, the tally also suggested that Kurdish pesh merga militiamen seemed to have a heavily disproportionate presence in the security forces.

The figures, which are preliminary, are far from exact and are nothing like a census of the security forces. And it is impossible to know whether Sunni Arab soldiers and police officers turned out to vote to the same high degree as the overall Sunni population.

A spokesman for the American military command that oversees training of the Iraqi forces also said that while he did not know the security forces' ethnic mix, he believed that there were more Sunni troops than the election data suggest.

Yet the results provide some clues to the composition and political sympathies of Iraqi soldiers, a crucial but elusive factor in a country struggling to overcome deep sectarian divisions and defeat the mostly Sunni Arab insurgency. And the estimation seems to be a sign of how complete the reversal of fortune has been for Sunni Arabs, who dominated security forces under Saddam Hussein.

This is yet another stress in a society under great stress, perhaps enough to bust apart or burst into civil war, as some say is already happening. At any rate, I doubt it is a good thing.

Rebuilding or What?

With Coastline in Ruins, Cajuns Face Prospect of Uprooted Towns

By JERE LONGMAN
Published: December 27, 2005

GRAND CHENIER, La. - Cameron Parish, where generations of Cajuns have hunted ducks and pulled up redfish, lost about 400 people to Hurricane Audrey in 1957. Last fall, when Hurricane Rita destroyed thousands of structures and flattened the coastline, some state officials began to question whether life there was still worth the risk.

Now Louisiana planners are proposing an idea that would have been unimaginable here a few months ago: moving an entire string of seaside towns and villages - and the 4,000 longtime residents who live in them - 15 or 20 miles inland to higher and presumably safer ground.

"If we could get 100 percent participation, which admittedly is extraordinarily difficult, if possible at all, we could conceivably take the entire population of Cameron Parish largely out of harm's way for future events," said Drew Sachs, a consultant to the Louisiana Recovery Authority. He has been asked to develop bold suggestions for rebuilding the state's coastal region in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The idea, of course, is already encountering resistance, particularly among younger residents. The tightly knit group of Cajuns who have lived here in unincorporated villages like Cameron, Johnson Bayou, Holly Beach, Creole and Grand Chenier are fiercely independent and self-sufficient. They have resided for generations on inherited family property in the state's southwest corner, 160 miles to the west of New Orleans, living off the land and giving resonance to Louisiana's nickname as the Sportsman's Paradise.

"My grandfather would roll over in his grave if I sold our land," said Clifton Hebert, 44, operations chief of the parish emergency operations center. "He'd haunt me the rest of my life."

But others admit there may be some wisdom in a move, as painful as it would be. Wanita Harrison, a retired biology and chemistry teacher from Grand Chenier, loves the way the marsh fills with pelicans when a cold front pushes through. Her husband, Lee, relishes the splendid rural isolation and the ability to run off to Houston for a week without bothering to lock the house.

With their ruined belongings now piled along Highway 82, however - the piano is somewhere back in the woods - the Harrisons are actually considering the idea. Mrs. Harrison, in fact, says that if she goes north, it will be beyond Cameron Parish.

"It's a good idea to consider moving inland," said Mrs. Harrison, 70. "I love my area, but we have to face reality."

No one died in Hurricane Rita, which struck early on Sept. 24, thanks to a vigorous evacuation plan, but the storm destroyed or rendered structurally unsound about half of the 5,400 parish homes and commercial buildings examined by the Army Corps of Engineers, parish officials said. They caution that many more structures may also have to be condemned. In the lower part of the parish, as few as 20 of 1,000 residences may be inhabitable, according to the most dire estimates. Residents remain scattered.

There is a great fear here, residents say, that the hurricane destroyed not only property but a way of life. Many of the parish's 10,000 residents say they feel both neglected by the federal response and suspicious that outsiders will dictate their future with prohibitive building codes and flood insurance requirements. They worry that even if they want to return to lower portions of the parish, they may not be able to afford it.

Do we preserve a way of life which is a national treasure or do we surrender to geography? This is a question which needs to be asked.

Facing Janus

For the New Year:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

For us all, prophets of a future not our own, may the new year be rich in beauty.

At Break of Day

At end of year, I want to ask my nearest and dearest, "How was it for you, hon?" This year, I don't have to ask. One of my best friends is no longer with us and I spent the weekend of his funeral so bent over a toilet that I couldn't help.

How was it for you, Hon?

This is going to be a crockpot week at Bump, a time for long thoughts. If you are brave enough to send them to the front page, we'll post them. Learn to live with controversy. I won't be posting much, I have things to do to redirect my life which aren't on the computer, I need to make my house work better. And that means trips to Home Depot to buy tools I barely understand.

For 2006, Mary, my friend is caught in grief and and I'm missing Charles nearly as much as she. I was too sick to attend his funeral.

May it be better for you.

This is a work in progress.

Melane

The Clothes That Make the Pope

In the 72 hours I've been home with mom for Christmas, about 43.6 of them have been spent debating the Benedict clothing controversy.

Yeah, you might have heard about this: Pope Benedict XVI is gaining a lot of media attention (an AP story appeared in the Arizona Republic, which my mom subscribes to down here in Phoenix; I don't know if the Seattle Times ran that same AP story) for wearing red shoes, designer sunglasses, and some fancy coats with elegant trim.

My mom's verdict: Benedict, as shepherd of the global Catholic Church, should be setting a better example. Society being what it is, Benedict can, should and must know he has a responsibility to shun the trappings of power. This is very emblematic of all that's wrong with Benedict's papacy.

I have a different verdict. I have a ton of problems with Benedict and his papacy, and cringe at the direction the Church is taking under his (silent, bureaucratic, overly technical, insufficiently warm, PR-poor) brand of not-so-vibrant leadership. But this story is something of a red herring, in my mind.

Benedict's choices of clothing are, like the (non-)actions of so many American Catholic Bishops, extraordinary PR failings that project a poor image of the Church to the masses at the very time when the Church needs a better, newer, fresher image. The lack of PR skills among Catholic leaders--in America and the Vatican--is astounding, given that these men are supposed to be communicators of the Gospel par excellence. When one's job is to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the masses within the contexts of a given time and place, the total inability to do this creates a mixture of numb shock and way-over-the-top outrage for anyone who cares about the Catholic faith and, more importantly, the fate of the world.

But with that having been said, Benedict's clothing choices are just that--PR failures. Unlike mom, I don't view the red shoes or the Gucci sunglasses as representing failures beyond that level or realm.

It's weird: on the surface, anyone who knows me would be inclined to think that I'd be outraged at Benedict for draping himself with high-priced products. After all, I try and spend as close to zero on myself as humanly possible; for me, the finer things in life are giving, giving, giving, giving, and (fifth in order) sportswriting.

But why am I not outraged at Benedict ON THIS ISSUE?

Because I'm a journalist.

Yes, Benedict is showing zero PR acumen by parading around in these accessories, but at the end of the day, he still wears the clerical garb, making a fixation on these other items rather trivial. Journalism is supposed to be all about the covering of substantive news, and what f---ing clothes the pope wears above his alb and cassock do not represent substantive news.

The fact that the pope's clothes are being reported on, instead of much more pressing stories inside and beyond the Catholic Church, is the real outrage.

The fact that my mom is so obsessed with and fixated on the pope's clothing is a sad commentary in itself. For this issue to gain emotional momentum and real-world visibility can only distract my mom--and other passionate yet conflicted Catholics--from the real issues at hand. Precisely when this asinine debate about the "War on Christmas," and the supposedly satanic nature of the phrase "Happy Holidays!" is distracting Christians from what really matters (helping the poor), Catholicism now has its own distraction: the pope's clothes.

Let's be very clear on this: the problem with Benedict's papacy is that he's not getting the Catholic Gospel message out to the world with the skill and craftiness John Paul II displayed... and on issues across the board, beyond (for an American audience, anyway) gays in seminary and abortion.

Benedict's problem is not what he puts on his feet--if people are consumed by that question, they're showing evidence they're imprisoned by our mindless, celebrity-focused, bread-and-circus culture of emptiness and surface imagery. No, Benedict's problem--like the problem of the American Catholic episcopacy--is that he's silent (silent at least in terms of getting the global media to eagerly transmit his message; apparently, he does talk about the scandal of poverty, but somehow, such talks don't reach the pages of daily American papers) precisely when the social teachings of the Church need to be broadcast and communicated more robustly and urgently than ever before.

Clothing? It's a distraction. It is much more the fault of the media for reporting this story than it is a failing on Benedict's part for wearing a few comfy things while trying to lead the global church. Benedict is failing at the church leadership part; what shoes he wears are not reflective of his pastoral skills, for better or worse.

Benedict just needs to get a clue about PR savvy, as do his bishops, particularly here in the states. (Where the heck is your collective voice, USCCB? Do you have any influence left? Show me, please!) If he led the Church well, I somehow think my mom wouldn't view clothing to be much of an issue at all.

Bad journalism, bad leadership, and a cultural obsession with the trivial when far more significant problems go unattended: developments with these three commonalities are far too prevalent these days.

It's enough to make a grown Catholic journalist cry... or smash a pair of designer sunglasses.

Please, world: let's focus on what matters. Can we actually do that in 2006?

The Inn Within

A very brief reflection on this Christmas Day... time on the Internet isn't (and frankly, shouldn't be) superabundant on this day.

One of the enduringly poignant elements of the Christmas story is that Jesus and his parents weren't allowed a room at an inn. If we're to honor the spirit and meaning of Christmas, we must see the Baby Jesus in the guise of all the others who lack room at the inns and homes of America. Then, having made this connection, we must make room in our hearts and our lives for these same folks. Our hearts must become the inns and shelters where Jesus--the incarnate God who endures within every one of us--can be revealed, acknowledged and celebrated.

For the poor to have an inn in which to sleep and rest, they must first find an inn within the hearts of people like you and me. Remember "the inn within yourself" this Christmas, and encourage others to make room for Jesus in the most sacred dwelling place of all: your own very large heart.

Merry Christmas.

"UMass student visited by Homeland Security over Little Red Book" Story a Hoax

Long story short: the UMass Dartmouth student who was the original complainant was lying his ass off. And later 'fessed up, when confronted by the spectacle of the elephant in his living room.

Although he is an authentic scumbag, this does put the kid a couple of cuts above W and his buddies, who have yet to 'fess up to the lies which have buried more than 2000 Americans, uncounted thousands of Iraqis, and the nation-state of Iraq, soon to be either de-facto partitioned or else slide into outright civil war.

This has already been reported on dKos. It has also been dissected on Bruce Schneier's blog. Atrios hasn't picked it up yet. Ah, well, I can forgive the momentary lapse on account of his Christmas Eve kitten blogging. They remind me of my younger two except that they are cuter and not nearly as big.

The whistleblower of record was the newspaper that originally broke the story, "The Standard-Times". The original story is here. The retraction and extensive followup is here.

BTW, Melanie. The Standard-Times seems to be one of the few really decent newspapers out there. By way of evidence, the original story was on page A9. But the retraction was on page A1. This is a quite unexpected and pleasant reversal of the usual weary paradigm. My personal thanks and appreciation go to its writers and editors for their guts and honesty. Too curst bad we can't clone the whole bloody paper, staff, editors, and all, and seed its replicates densely throughout the whole interior of the Beltway.

Merry Christmas

I never met Tom Duffy, but he is legendary in the Washington, DC diocese.

The Keen Spirit of Father Duffy

By E. J. Dionne

Sunday, December 25, 2005; Page B07

Imagine a pastor who begins his Christmas sermon with a Garrison Keillor story about a priest serving a church called Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility.

The line goes over well in a congregation acutely familiar with Catholic guilt. And it follows an excellent rule for homilies: Get 'em to laugh and you'll get 'em to listen. Since Proverbs teaches us that "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine," it's even biblical.

Monsignor Tom Duffy, who told that Keillor story in a Christmas sermon many years ago, is a man with a very merry heart. He needed it to keep the peace at our politically diverse parish, Blessed Sacrament, on the northern edge of our nation's capital. This will be my first Christmas in a long time without Father Duffy as my pastor -- he retired this year at 79.

We are living through a moment when the definition of "Christian" seems to come down to which party you belong to, how you stand on a few hot-button issues and how often you say "Merry Christmas." Duffy represents a Christianity that is more capacious and more demanding.

As a personal matter, he combines good humor, intellectual curiosity and an uncontrived humility. Mary McGrory, my tough-minded late colleague who was a member of our roomy parish, once described Duffy as "kindness itself" and rightly said that he is "not one of those autocratic, bellowing prelates who rules with fear and the expectation of total deference." He is dedicated to the simple but difficult things prescribed in the Gospel: visiting the sick, comforting the aggrieved, strengthening the faith of doubters, helping families, lifting up the poor.

Do not for an instant think he's some stereotypical liberal priest. Such a man wouldn't survive in a parish that includes so many principled conservatives along with its many devout liberals. Duffy was so successful at maintaining warm relations among his parishioners on all sides of politics that a friend once said that he "must either be very good or very vague." When I mentioned this to Duffy one Sunday, he replied, with a twinkle in his eye, "Sometimes, I like to believe I'm both."

In truth, he's not at all vague on the things that matter. Consider that Christmas sermon. In Duffy's telling of the Keillor story, an imaginary priest named Father Emil thunders at those in his prosperous congregation "who have left what you were brought up with that was good, that was true, and that was so beautiful beyond compare."

"They were clever," Emil snarls about the apostates, "and they learned how to rationalize their indolence and their sadness as a rebellion against orthodoxy and made it seem adventurous when in fact it was just their spirits that had become dull."

And then the priest finally, grudgingly, gets around to tidings of comfort and joy -- sort of. "The Lord had come to earth to save us from dullness of spirit," he says, "and this is what the shepherds found in one dazzling moment."

Having offered this challenge to his parishioners, Duffy promptly identified with the people in the pews, not with his imaginary preacher. "Christmas isn't the moment for pointing the finger of shame," Duffy said. "Unfortunately, we all suffer from the dullness of spirit that Father Emil spoke about, that slowness to perceive the wonder of God in our lives." But notice what Duffy has done here:

He challenged the members of his congregation to think hard about their own dullness of spirit and to consider whether they take seriously the dazzling point of the faith that they celebrate every Christmas.

I dearly hope that my children and their children will encounter priests with Duffy's spirit. He was shaped by the moment of the two Johns -- Pope John XXIII and John F. Kennedy. Duffy, who occasionally celebrated Mass for JFK, recalled that era as an exciting time when Catholics all over the world sensed new possibilities and when American Catholics finally found themselves fully accepted in their democracy. Across the Christian denominations there was less defensive peevishness and an opening to a theology of hope.

I'm grateful Tom Duffy was willing to warn a Washington congregation full of us aspiring and worldly folks against a "dullness of spirit." He offered us the Christ described in Luke's Gospel anointed "to preach good news to the poor . . . to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed." Every Christmas I hope I'll remember what Duffy preached.

May your spirit shine in the New Year.

At Close of Day

Like most other bloggers, I'll be away from early tomorrow until Monday night, taking the train up to see the bro and SIL and stay overnight. The day will begin early so I can finish wrapping presents and get ready to take an early train. The no-longer guest-posters, now co-bloggers will be around as they can around their family time, and I'll try to poke my head in if my bro doesn't slap my hands away from the keyboard (hey, it happens, he's got nearly a foot and almost 60 pounds on me.) I'll be cooking with him for most of the next two days, when not tearing paper off of packages or playing with the puppies. Bump will be a quiet place, as befits the dignity of this holiday for those of us who are Christians. It's a time for reflection on what our faith means to us and to think about what we are called to do with it in the coming year. It's a time for looking back and looking ahead. I hope Bump's Jewish readers will take advantage of the recipe threads to add their own reflections for their 8-day holiday, one which I also observe with a menorah. Jews are our older uncles and I honor that tradition, as well.

In the past year, Bump has added the voices of Mike, Chuck, Charles, RT, Wayne,
Rich, and Matt. I couldn't have gotten through the year without them, the server crashes and all the other nonsense. Thank you, guys, and I'm handing you the blog to run as I take up my new responsibilities in the new year. It will be in good hands. Pogge might even put in the occasional appearance. I'll be around, and

Back to Normal

Believe it or not, at some point in the next week you are going to get tired of leftovers and rich foods and long for something simpler. This will fill the bill:

The Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich

* 2 slices sourdough bread
* 2 oz Grafton Reserve Cheddar, grated, or a sharp white Vermont cheddar
* 1 tsp whole grain mustard
* 1/2 Granny Smith apple, *very* thinly sliced, no need to peal
* 1 TB butter, softened

Makes one sandwich

Spread one slice of bread with mustard and arrange apple slices on top. Add cheese and top with bread. Spread butter outside both slices. Place sandwich on a skillet over medium high heat and brown each side until golden and cheese in center has melted.

Gawd, this is good. The apple is what makes it.

If you want to add chopped bacon on top of the cheese before you close the sandwich, go ahead. I won't tell. The combination of bacon and apple is awesome, but don't think this is a low-cal recipe!

Serve this with your turkey carcass, beef and vegetable or pea and ham soup later in the week to a group of satisfied campers.

As an aside, a satisfying and nutritious breakfast I often eat is just a thinly sliced Granny Smith apple with thin shavings of sharp cheddar. That's enough fuel for a day. Or add finely cubed Granny to your morning scrambled eggs just before serving. The contrast of textures is quite fun.

New Year's Eve With The Grownups

I've never been a big fan of smoked or cured salmon, but this is a different and delicious take on the traditional recipe. These are meant to be served as appetizers or cocktail hors d'oevres, but it could also be a superb main course with latkes instead of blinis for Chanukah. Passed as hors d'oevres this would be an elegant focus for a cocktail party.

Citrus-Cured Gravlax with Lemon-Caper Cream Cheese Spread and Chive Blinis

1 medium orange, washed, wiped dry, and cut into eighths
1 lemon, washed, wiped dry, and cut into eighths
1 lime, washed, wiped dry, and cut into eighths
2 cups kosher salt
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cracked black peppercorns
1 (3 to 3 1/2-pound) side of salmon fillet, skin and pin bones removed, rinsed under cool water, and patted dry
1 cup roughly chopped fresh basil leaves
1 cup roughly chopped fresh dill
1 cup roughly chopped fresh mint leaves
1 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 recipe Lemon-Caper Cream Cheese Spread, recipe follows
Chive Blinis, for serving, recipe follows
Chopped chives, for garnish, optional
Fresh dill sprigs, for garnish, optional

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the fruit, salt, sugar, and pepper and process to a paste.

Center a 2 by 3-foot piece of cheesecloth in a non-reactive baking dish or plastic container large enough to hold the fish flat, about 9 by 13 inches. Pack half of the citrus-salt mixture onto the skin-side of the fish, spreading out to the edges, and top with half of the herbs. Place the fish skin-side down in the middle of the cheesecloth and spread the remaining salt mixture and herbs over the flesh. Fold the cheesecloth in over the fish and carefully roll and turn the fish over into the cheesecloth to completely enclose.

Top with a second large non-reactive baking dish. Place weights or large heavy cans on the second dish to weight and press the fish. Let cure in the refrigerator for 48 hours, turning once.

Remove the weights and top baking dish and place the fish on the work surface. Discard the wrap and scrape the remaining salt and herb mixtures from the fish. Rinse the fish under cold running water for 1 minute to remove any remaining mixture and gently wipe dry with paper towels. Wrap in plastic wrap, place on a platter, and freeze until firm enough to slice easily, 30 to 45 minutes. (Alternatively, refrigerate until ready to slice.)

Remove the fish from the freezer and slice the salmon as thinly as possible at a slight angle. Arrange the slices decoratively on the platter and serve with the Lemon-Caper Cream Cheese Spread and the Chive Blinis. (Alternatively, blinis may be spread with the Lemon-Caper Cream Cheese Spread and then topped with a small piece of gravlax and passed or plated as hors d'oeuvres. Garnish with fresh dill or chives before serving.)

Lemon-Caper Cream Cheese Spread:
10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 ounces sour cream, at room temperature
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped, drained capers
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Place all the ingredients in a medium bowl and cream together using a rubber spatula or heavy wooden spoon. Spoon into a decorative bowl and serve immediately.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Chive Blinis:
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 cups warm milk, 105 to 115 degrees F
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
2 teaspoons sugar
5 egg whites
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt

Dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of the warm milk and add 1 teaspoon of the all-purpose flour. Place the mixture in a warm place until it rises and doubles in size, about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the warmed milk. Sift in the remaining all-purpose flour and the buckwheat flour. Add the sugar, 3 of the egg whites, the butter and the chives. Beat until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Stir the mixture lightly and let it rise again for 30 minutes.

Whisk the remaining egg whites until frothy and add to the mixture. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and spray with nonstick cooking spray (or lightly brush with butter). Drop tablespoonfuls of batter into the skillet and cook until bubbles form and blinis are golden brown on the bottom, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Turn blinis and cook until golden brown on the second side, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Yield: about 5 1/2 dozen (2-inch) blinis

Tip: Blinis may be made in advance and frozen, wrapped well in plastic wrap and placed inside a resealable food storage bag.

On the Side

If the centerpiece of your holiday meal is going to be beef, this makes a spectacular side.

Bleu Cheese Potatoes Delmonico

Serves Six

* 8 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup milk
* 1 cup cream
* 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
* 1/3 cup bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place the potatoes in a large saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a casserole dish.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in the milk and cream so there are no lumps. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the blue cheese until smooth. Pour over the potatoes in the dish. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top.
3. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until top is nicely browned.

Es ist ein' Ros'

1. Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming
from tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
as those of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright,
amid the cold of winter,
when half spent was the night.

2. Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
the Rose I have in mind;
with Mary we behold it,
the Virgin Mother kind.
To show God's love aright,
she bore to us a Savior,
when half spent was the night.

15th Century German traditional, translated by Theodore Baker

A Poet Ahead of his Time

September 1, 1939

W. H. Auden

I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade;
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.

Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence
From Luther until now
That has driven a culture mad,
Find what occurred at Linz,
Find what huge imago made
A psychopathic god:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
To an apathetic grave;
Analysed all in his book,
The enlightenment driven away,
The habit-forming pain,
Mismanagement and grief:
We must suffer them all again.

Into this neutral air
Where blind skyscrapers use
Their full height to proclaim
The strength of Collective Man,
Each language pours its vain
Competitive excuse:
But who can live for long
In an euphoric dream;
Out of the mirror they stare,
Imperialism's face
And the international wrong.

Faces along the bar
Cling to their average day:
The lights must never go out,
The music must always play,
All the conventions conspire
To make this fort assume
The furniture of home;
Lest we should see where we are,
Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.

The windiest militant trash
Important Persons shout
Is not so crude as our wish:
What mad Nijinsky wrote
About Diaghilev
Is true of the normal heart;
For the error bred in the bone
Of each woman and each man
Craves what it cannot have,
Not universal love
But to be loved alone.

From the conservative dark
Into the ethical life
The dense commuters come,
Repeating their morning vow;
"I will be true to the wife,
I'll concentrate more on my work,"
And helpless governors wake
To resume their compulsory game:
Who can release them now,
Who can reach the deaf,
Who can speak for the dumb?

Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.

For Dinner Tonight

This is an Italian tradition for Christmas Eve feasting:

Cioppino

This will serve 12-14.

INGREDIENTS:

* 3/4 cup butter
* 2 onions, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
* 2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
* 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 tablespoon dried basil
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 cup water
* 1 1/2 cups white wine
* 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp - peeled and deveined
* 1 1/2 pounds bay scallops
* 18 small clams
* 18 mussels, cleaned and debearded
* 1 1/2 cups crabmeat
* 1 1/2 pounds cod fillets, cubed

DIRECTIONS:

1. Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large stockpot, add onions, garlic and parsley. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until onions are soft.
2. Add tomatoes to the pot (break them into chunks as you add them). Add chicken broth, bay leaves, basil, thyme, oregano, water and wine. Mix well. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.
3. Stir in the shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels and crabmeat. Stir in fish, if desired. Bring to boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer 5 to 7 minutes until clams open. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with warm, crusty bread!

Start the meal with an antipasto of olives, fresh mozzerella and roasted red peppers:

INGREDIENTS

* 4 large, thick-fleshed red bell peppers
* Roasted garlic (see note below)
* Balsamic or red wine vinegar
* Fresh basil
* Salt and pepper to taste
* Olive oil

Charring the Peppers: Wash the peppers but leave them whole. Place them on a very hot grill, in a grill pan or under the broiler and grill until charred on all sides. Place the hot peppers in a closed plastic bag or under a towel. Let them "sweat" until tender and cool enough to handle. Remove the skin; it will come off very easily with your fingers. Cut open the peppers, remove the stem, core and seeds. Slice in 1-1/2 to 2-inch thick strips.

Place the peppers in a bowl. Sprinkle with the remaining ingredients. Go easy with the vinegar and oil and taste to adjust. It doesn't take much to lightly flavor and you don't want to overpower. Serve at room temperature.

Note: You can use minced fresh garlic, but I prefer the mellow taste of roasted with these peppers. To roast the garlic, remove the loose layers of peel, but do not peel completely. Cut the top end off of a whole head so that the garlic is exposed all over. Place the head, cut side up, in a small ovenproof dish or baking sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil. Roast at 375° F until very tender, about 40 minutes. When it's just cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic out of each clove. What you don't use may be refrigerated for several days. You can use the same method using separate cloves if you don't want to use the whole head.

While Trimming the Tree

Hot Mulled Cider

1. Pour one gallon of fresh cider into a large pot on the stove or into a crockpot or slow cooker.

2. Add a half cup of brown sugar.

3. Place 1 teaspoon of whole cloves, 1 teaspoon of whole allspice, and 3 cinnamon sticks on a square of cheesecloth and tie up. Add to the pot.

4. Heat the cider to a boil, stirring regularly. Leave the pot uncovered so that you and your family or guests can enjoy the warm, delicious aroma.

5. Once the cider boils, lower the setting to simmer for at least another 15 minutes to allow for thorough infusion of the spices. Stir occasionally.

6. Remove the spices from the pot and ladle hot mulled cider into mugs or other glasses designed for hot beverages.

Tips:

1. If you don't have cheesecloth on hand, use a tea ball or a coffee filter to hold the spices.
2. Add a splash of rum or brandy to really warm up a chilly day.
3. For a decorative touch, you can stud an apple with cloves and allow that to float in your cider pot instead of adding cloves to your spice bag.

On the Radar

Tracking Santa with Real, WMP or Quicktime.

Oh Holy Night

Let me repeat the words of my friend Fr. Chip from a couple of years ago:

It is important, occasionally, to ask yourself, feeling the chill of the evening when you are walking the dog on a snowy night, "What if I had to spend the night out here? What would that be like?" That’s all you need to do. Look around and see if you can find a spot that might be suitable for you to sleep. It keeps the plight of the homeless in your consciousness and plants a seed or two which might grow into some kind of solution to the problem which you may have some gift to resolve and didn’t think about. At the very least, we develop and maintain an empathy with those much less fortunate than ourselves, who can’t do anything but endure. It reminds us of the birth of a son to a young couple, very long ago, who found shelter on a cold winter’s night in a freezing, drafty, stable. As we prepare, in the warmth of our homes, for the celebration of his birth, let us remember the circumstances of that birth, feel the chill for a moment, and remember that he was born so that we might come to know the troubles our brothers and sisters face, and find the compassion and the wisdom to do something about it.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

(words by Christina Rossetti, setting by Gustav Holst)

Divinum Mysterium

Of the Father's love begotten
Ere the worlds began to be
He is Alpha and Omega
He the source, the ending he.

Of the things that are, that have been,
and that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore.

Time to Come Home

Remember all those names they called Rep. John Murtha a couple of weeks ago when he called for bringing the troops home?

Rumsfeld Announces Troop Cuts in Iraq
'Adjustment' of Two Brigades Comes After Day of Violence, Post-Election Anger

By Jonathan Finer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, December 24, 2005; Page A14

BAGHDAD, Dec. 23 -- As anger over Iraq's disputed recent election boiled over in Baghdad's streets and mosques Friday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced that the number of American combat troops in the country would be reduced by about 7,000 early next year.

Rumsfeld said the "adjustment" was made possible by political progress demonstrated in the elections last week and the development of Iraq's U.S.-trained police and army. U.S. officials have maintained that any reduction of American forces was contingent upon the capability of Iraqi security forces, who now number about 216,000.

"To successfully have three elections, fashion a constitution and ratify a constitution, and elect a government under that new constitution is a truly impressive accomplishment," said Rumsfeld, flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari and the country's interior and defense ministers. "We feel very pleased with the progress being made by the Iraqi security forces and the increased role they are playing in providing security in Iraq."

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced Friday that three American soldiers died in improvised bomb attacks in Baghdad. One was killed while on patrol Thursday, and two died Friday when a blast struck their vehicle. Elsewhere, a suicide bombing and other insurgent attacks killed at least 17 people north of the capital.

While Rumsfeld spoke inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, more than 10,000 demonstrators gathered in the western part of the city to protest an election they called a sham. The imam of an influential Sunni mosque told followers to expect more unrest ahead.

I don't listen to anything Rummy says, he's living in the same bubble as W. I do listen to Juan Cole. You should, too.

Warrantless Searches

Spy Agency Mined Vast Data Trove, Officials Report

By ERIC LICHTBLAU and JAMES RISEN
Published: December 24, 2005

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 - The National Security Agency has traced and analyzed large volumes of telephone and Internet communications flowing into and out of the United States as part of the eavesdropping program that President Bush approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to hunt for evidence of terrorist activity, according to current and former government officials.

The volume of information harvested from telecommunication data and voice networks, without court-approved warrants, is much larger than the White House has acknowledged, the officials said. It was collected by tapping directly into some of the American telecommunication system's main arteries, they said.

As part of the program approved by President Bush for domestic surveillance without warrants, the N.S.A. has gained the cooperation of American telecommunications companies to obtain backdoor access to streams of domestic and international communications, the officials said.

The government's collection and analysis of phone and Internet traffic have raised questions among some law enforcement and judicial officials familiar with the program. One issue of concern to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which has reviewed some separate warrant applications growing out of the N.S.A.'s surveillance program, is whether the court has legal authority over calls outside the United States that happen to pass through American-based telephonic "switches," according to officials familiar with the matter.

"There was a lot of discussion about the switches" in conversations with the court, a Justice Department official said, referring to the gateways through which much of the communications traffic flows. "You're talking about access to such a vast amount of communications, and the question was, How do you minimize something that's on a switch that's carrying such large volumes of traffic? The court was very, very concerned about that."

Since the disclosure last week of the N.S.A.'s domestic surveillance program, President Bush and his senior aides have stressed that his executive order allowing eavesdropping without warrants was limited to the monitoring of international phone and e-mail communications involving people with known links to Al Qaeda.

What has not been publicly acknowledged is that N.S.A. technicians, besides actually eavesdropping on specific conversations, have combed through large volumes of phone and Internet traffic in search of patterns that might point to terrorism suspects. Some officials describe the program as a large data-mining operation.

The current and former government officials who discussed the program were granted anonymity because it remains classified.

Bush administration officials declined to comment on Friday on the technical aspects of the operation and the N.S.A.'s use of broad searches to look for clues on terrorists. Because the program is highly classified, many details of how the N.S.A. is conducting it remain unknown, and members of Congress who have pressed for a full Congressional inquiry say they are eager to learn more about the program's operational details, as well as its legality.

Officials in the government and the telecommunications industry who have knowledge of parts of the program say the N.S.A. has sought to analyze communications patterns to glean clues from details like who is calling whom, how long a phone call lasts and what time of day it is made, and the origins and destinations of phone calls and e-mail messages. Calls to and from Afghanistan, for instance, are known to have been of particular interest to the N.S.A. since the Sept. 11 attacks, the officials said.

This so-called "pattern analysis" on calls within the United States would, in many circumstances, require a court warrant if the government wanted to trace who calls whom.

Note to British and Canadian readers: your governments are part of this scheme. Uh-huh.

Welcome to my nightmare. The only thing which makes this remotely tolerable is that the Bushies are demonstrably incompetent.

The Troops

From Heckles to Halos
# In dramatic contrast to the Vietnam War era, U.S. service personnel now are being treated to strangers' spontaneous bursts of gratitude.

By Faye Fiore, Times Staff Writer

There's a diner called Peggy Sue's about eight miles outside of Barstow, and as hard as Lt. Col. Kenneth Parks tries, he can never seem to pay his bill.

He orders a burger and a chocolate shake. But before he's finished, the waitress informs him the tab has been taken care of by yet another stranger who prefers to remain anonymous but who wants to do something for a soldier in uniform.

Many Americans have conflicted feelings about the Iraq war, but not about the warriors. The gestures of gratitude and generosity that occur with regularity at Peggy Sue's — across Interstate 15 from Ft. Irwin, a military desert training site — have become commonplace across the United States.

A spontaneous standing ovation for a group of soldiers at Los Angeles International Airport. Three $20 bills passed to a serviceman and his family in a grocery store in Georgia. A first-class seat given up to a servicewoman on a plane out of Chicago.

These bursts of goodwill have little to do with the holiday season or with political sentiments about the war. In contrast to the hostile stares that greeted many Vietnam veterans 40 years ago, today's soldiers are being treated as heroes throughout the year, in red states and blue, by peace activists and gung-ho supporters of the Iraq mission. The gestures are often spontaneous, affiliated with no association or cause, and credit is seldom claimed.

"It makes you feel great. It may just be a burger and a shake, but it's the thought behind it," said Parks, 41, who has served two tours in Iraq. Stationed at Ft. Jackson, S.C., he goes to Barstow regularly for training.

"My father went over to Vietnam three times, and he felt like he was not respected," Parks said. "Sometimes he felt like he was not even an American. But I see a big difference. I feel we're appreciated. An airport is about the best place for a soldier to be."

That was Sgt. Baldwin Yen's experience when he landed at LAX on Thanksgiving Day 2004. The pilot asked whether the other passengers would mind letting the soldiers on board exit first so they could get home to their families all the sooner. Not a passenger complained. Still in their combat fatigues, the soldiers were assembled in a corner of the airport when a bystander began to applaud. Soon, people were standing up and clapping in spontaneous tribute as far as Yen could see.

"I was kind of embarrassed," said Yen, 27, of West Hollywood. As an Army reservist who wore his uniform only infrequently until he was called to Iraq, he was unaccustomed to such attention. "I'm a slight, Asian man — 5-feet-9 and 140 pounds. People usually didn't think I looked like the military type. But then all these people were standing up. I was touched and surprised."

This is not a nation at war so much as it is an army at war. Service members and their families mostly bear the weight of the Iraq and Afghanistan missions alone — family separations, career dislocation and danger. Many soldiers are serving third tours, and there is no clear end in sight.

For civilians, the chance to directly touch a military member or family can be irresistible, so much so that people break the comfortable anonymity of public places — airports, hotels, supermarkets — to walk up and pat a soldier on the back.

"For probably the first time in American history, civilians are asked to make no sacrifices in a time of war. We don't have a draft. There is no gas rationing the way there was in World War II. There is no increase in taxes; we get tax cuts instead," said Charles Moskos, a leading military sociologist at Northwestern University. "These acts are small ways of showing some recognition, because we're not doing it any other way."

http://www.anysoldier.com

They need phone cards, toiletries and all the little things a touch from home can provide. Whether or not you agree with the Iraq War, and I certainly don't, our shortsided troops can use your help for things like shampoo.

anysoldier.com can take your gift in cash or trade goods.

He or she are stationed in Kuwait or Korea. What matters is that they are far from home.

We're needed.

The New Boss

Alito's Zeal for Presidential Power

Published: December 24, 2005

With the Bush administration claiming sweeping and often legally baseless authority to detain and spy on people, judges play a crucial role in underscoring the limits of presidential power. When the Senate begins hearings next month on Judge Samuel Alito, President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, it should explore whether he understands where the Constitution sets those limits. New documents released yesterday provide more evidence that Judge Alito has a skewed view of the allocation of power among the three branches - skewed in favor of presidential power.

One troubling memo concerns domestic wiretaps - a timely topic. In the memo, which he wrote as a lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department, Judge Alito argued that the attorney general should be immune from lawsuits when he illegally wiretaps Americans. Judge Alito argued for taking a step-by-step approach to establishing this principle, much as he argued for an incremental approach to reversing Roe v. Wade in another memo.

The Supreme Court flatly rejected Judge Alito's view of the law. In a 1985 ruling, the court rightly concluded that if the attorney general had the sort of immunity Judge Alito favored, it would be an invitation to deny people their constitutional rights.

In a second memo released yesterday, Judge Alito made another bald proposal for grabbing power for the president. He said that when the president signed bills into law, he should make a "signing statement" about what the law means. By doing so, Judge Alito hoped the president could shift courts' focus away from "legislative intent" - a well-established part of interpreting the meaning of a statute - toward what he called "the President's intent."

In the memo, Judge Alito noted that one problem was the effect these signing statements would have on Congressional relations. They would "not be warmly welcomed by Congress," he predicted, because of the "novelty of the procedure" and "the potential increase of presidential power."

These memos are part of a broader pattern of elevating the presidency above the other branches of government. In his judicial opinions, Judge Alito has shown a lack of respect for Congressional power - notably when he voted to strike down Congress's ban on machine guns as exceeding its constitutional authority. He has taken a cramped view of the Fourth Amendment and other constitutional provisions that limit executive power.

The Supreme Court and the lower federal courts have had to repeatedly pull the Bush administration back when it exceeded its constitutional powers. They have made clear that Americans cannot be held indefinitely without trial just because they are labeled "enemy combatants." They have vindicated the right of Guantánamo Bay detainees to challenge their confinement. And they will no doubt have to correct the Bush administration's latest assertions of power to spy domestically. The Senate should determine that Judge Alito is on the side of the Constitution in these battles, not on the side of the presidency - which the latest documents strongly question - before voting to confirm him.

Get your Reichstag fire right here! Yesirree, step up and get your marshmallow on a stick right here!

Home for the Holidays

Lingonberries and lefse, what is not to like? Sigh.

The White House Judge

Alito Urged Wiretap Immunity
Memo Offers Look at Nominee on Privacy

By Jo Becker and Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, December 24, 2005; Page A01

Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. once argued that the nation's top law enforcement official deserves blanket protection from lawsuits when acting in the name of national security, even when those actions involve the illegal wiretapping of American citizens, documents released yesterday show.

As a lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department, Alito said the attorney general must be free to take steps to protect the country from threats such as terrorism and espionage without fear of personal liability. But in a 1984 memo involving a case that dated to the Nixon administration, Alito also cautioned his superiors that the time may not be right to make that argument and urged a more incremental approach.

"I do not question that the Attorney General should have this immunity," Alito wrote. "But for tactical reasons, I would not raise the issue here."

To date, much of the debate involving Alito's nomination has centered on his views on abortion. The latest of Alito's memos to be disclosed opened a window on his thinking in the area of national security vs. privacy rights, an issue that is currently under considerable scrutiny.

The release of the memo comes as President Bush is under attack for launching a secret National Security Agency program to bypass the courts and eavesdrop on the overseas telephone calls and e-mail of U.S. citizens with suspected ties to terrorists. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) has said he will press Alito for his views on that subject when the panel opens confirmation hearings Jan. 9.

Democrats were quick to link the issues yesterday, saying Alito's memo raises questions about his commitment to protecting civil liberties by checking executive power. The type of absolute immunity that Alito discussed would have shielded attorneys general even when their actions violated constitutional rights.

"At a time when the nation is faced with revelations that the Administration has been wiretapping American citizens, we find that we have a nominee who believes that officials who order warrantless wiretaps of Americans should be immune from legal accountability," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

But Alito supporters noted that the memo does not defend the practice of warrantless eavesdropping, instead dealing only with the question of whether government officials who often must act quickly can be sued for damages when they err. Nor did the memo deal with the question of whether a warrant was necessary to investigate foreign threats.

"Despite Democrats' attempts to link this memo to reports of NSA activities, the two have nothing to do with each other," said White House spokesman Steve Schmidt.

The memo was among more than 700 pages released by the National Archives yesterday in response to a public records request from The Washington Post.

They portray a strategic legal thinker attuned to the sensitivities and ideological balance of the Supreme Court. Coupled with previously released memos, they paint a picture of a man who often preferred more indirect approaches over headlong charges in advancing the Reagan administration's legal agenda.

The guy never met an executive order he didn't like. Reining in the president isn't on his dance card.

A Perfect Short Bread

INGREDIENTS:

•3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

•2 tsp. baking soda

•1 1/2 tsp. salt

•2 tsp. cinnamon

•2 tsp. nutmeg

•3 cups sugar

•4 eggs, beaten

•2 cups of fresh pumpkin --> 16 ounces if using canned pumpkin

•2/3 cup water --> if pumpkin is canned

•1/2 cup water --> if pumpkin is fresh or frozen

•1 cup vegetable oil •1 cup chopped pecans
DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar in large mixing bowl. Add eggs, water, oil and pumpkin. Stir until blended. Add nuts. Mix well. Pour into two 9x5" loaf pans. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Cool slightly and take out of pans to let cool on a rack. This tastes best if you wrap, refrigerate and wait a day to eat it. It keeps well in the refrigerator and can be frozen.

'Pop' Goes the Bubble

New Home Sales Fall More Than Expected

By Daniela Deane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 23, 2005; 1:51 PM

Americans bought far fewer new homes than expected in November and the number of unsold homes that builders are carrying jumped to a record high, government figures released today showed, further evidence that the sizzling housing market has officially cooled off.

The Commerce Department reported today that 1.245 million new single-family homes were sold in November at an annual rate, a precipitous drop of 11.3 percent from October's all-time high, the biggest monthly drop in almost 12 years.

Construction continues in a file photo from Nov. 9, 2005, at RiverWalk, a new housing development in Bedford, N.H. New home sales slumped 11.3 percent in November, the largest drop in nearly 12 years. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)
Construction continues in a file photo from Nov. 9, 2005, at RiverWalk, a new housing development in Bedford, N.H. New home sales slumped 11.3 percent in November, the largest drop in nearly 12 years. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File) (Jim Cole - AP)

Wall Street analysts had been expecting a drop of about 8 percent.

"Housing has peaked," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at online economic consulting firm Economy.com. "And all indications are that sales will weaken further in the months ahead."

Zandi said the "most worrisome" aspect of the government data released today was that the number of unsold homes that builders were carrying rose to a record 503,000 in November from 487,000 a month earlier.

"Builders are building too many homes and have begun discounting the homes they've got to try and move inventory," Zandi said. "Prices of new homes have also not risen, reflecting that discounting."

The median price of a new home sold in November was $225,200, up just 0.3 percent from November a year ago, the weakest year-over-year price change in two years.

Although sales of new and existing homes are still on track to set records for a fifth straight year in 2005, analysts are forecasting home sales will drop in 2006 as the five-year housing boom comes to an end.

"We're predicting a 3 to 5 percent decline in new home sales next year," said Phillip Neuhart, economic analyst with Wachovia Corp., one of the country's largest lenders, "which is not a crash-and-burn scenario. We're predicting a soft landing, but a landing nevertheless."

Rising lending rates are one of the principal reasons for the slowdown, economists say. The Federal Reserve raised its target lending rate for the 13th straight time on Dec. 13 to 4.25 percent.

Average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 6.33 percent last month from 6.06 in October. That compares with averages of 5.85 percent for the year.

Sales are dropping, and they've got unusually high inventories of unsold houses. Not a good combination.

The reason why this is a problem, of course, is that a lot of people have maintained their spending habits in the face of falling incomes by borrowing on their houses, through home equity loans and the like. When their houses drop in value, they owe more on the house than they can sell the house for. Then if they have to sell the house, they wind up owing a bunch of money. So if they lose their jobs and have to move to find work, they start over in a new city with nothing but debt. Or bankruptcy.

In other economic news, the Commerce Department also reported that orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods surged to a record $223 billion in November, a 4.4 percent increase from October.

Although the gain in demand for durable goods was well above the 1.1 percent increase Wall Street had been expecting, the growth was concentrated in an increased demand for commercial aircraft. Outside that area, manufacturing demand was weak with businesses trimming their orders for most types of equipment.

If that 4.4% increase was because people were buying more refrigerators and washing machines, that would be good news. But it sounds like that's far from the case. Joe and Jane Sixpack aren't doing so well. The median household income was $46,058 in 2000, and it was down to $44,389 in 2004. (In constant dollars.) Meanwhile, productivity has increased by 13.5% over the past four years. The economic pie has grown, but Joe and Jane's slice of the pie has shrunk.

To put it bluntly, all those campaign contributions by Bush's Pioneers and Rangers have paid off magnificently for them, but the rest of the country's getting screwed.

There ought to be a Democratic message in there somewhere, ya think? If there's one core reason for there to be a Democratic Party, it's to fight to keep the little guys from being screwed by the big guys. But so many of the Beltway Dem elite are so far removed from the reality of everyday Americans that this doesn't even seem to register on their radar.

New Year's Resolution

Slogging and Blogging Through Iraq

By David Ignatius

Friday, December 23, 2005; Page A21

The military blogs coming out of Iraq are some of the most interesting reading I've found this holiday season. Soldiers have sent letters home in every war, but this is the first time civilians back home have been able to read over their shoulders. The best collection I've found is at a Web site called Milblogging.com. It has compiled more than 1,000 military blogs in 22 countries, including 258 coming out of Iraq.

As in every war, these soldiers have their own language. They travel with Arabic interpreters they call "terps"; when they go outside, they put on the "business suit" (body armor). And they have every shade of political opinion you would find in the United States. Some are jingoistic superpatriots ("Pull the troops out?" thunders Captain B. "Did these people eat a bowl of frosted dumbass for breakfast?") Others are skeptical that the war is making much progress. ("Most of us seem to be here to justify our own presence," says the author of a blog called "Sisyphus Today.")

I don't know how many Rupert Brookes this war will produce, but the blogs carry some vivid imagery. An example is "365 and a Wakeup," written by a company commander in southern Baghdad. Walking the perimeter of his base, he sees an Iraqi moon that "glittered in the winter sky like a silver lantern." At dawn, sunrise breaks over the eastern sky "like dye spreading in a still water." He knows it's mealtime when he hears the rumble of tanks arriving with containers of hot food. "The troops held out their plates like Buddhist monks seeking alms, until the plastic dishes looked like the steep-sided slopes of a steaming volcano."

There are some haunting images of the Iraqi people. A blogger named Michael, who spends his days dodging roadside bombs in Ramadi, sees an Iraqi man driving a tractor and wearing a New York Yankees cap. "I wondered if he hated the Red Sox," he writes. The author of "Sisyphus Today" describes moving with a speeding convoy when he sees a little Iraqi boy "crying at the top of his lungs" beside the road and realizes that the boy is alone and afraid. "I wanted to stop, in my mind the risk was minimal, but I couldn't stop the convoy. Where would I have taken the boy anyway? I can only say 'stop' and 'hello' in Arabic. So we drove on past."

The bloggers dream about being home for Christmas. IraqiDirtChick has been trying desperately to make it back to Missouri, but she keeps missing flights out of Baghdad. To distract herself, she thinks of shopping: "Shampoo, body washes (SO DAMN YUMMY . . . stuff that makes you smell so damn good) gold necklaces, a ring, a bracelet."

And when the soldiers finally make it home, there is joy -- and also introspection, like that voiced by a blogger who calls himself Where's Your Baghdaddy? and who left Iraq a few weeks ago: "I once read somewhere that, 'going into a combat zone is a one-way door since the person that leaves is not the same person that returns.' This new person returning is committed to being a better husband, father and friend. I have felt the pain of leaving all that I hold dear, and I will not take it for granted again."

Amen. I wish this for all of us in the new year.

$172 Million Judgment Against Wal-Mart

Calif. Jury Backs Wal-Mart Workers
Thousands Claimed They Were Denied Lunchtime Breaks

By Amy Joyce
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 23, 2005; Page D01

A California jury yesterday awarded $172 million to thousands of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. workers who claimed that they were illegally denied lunch breaks.

The company was ordered to pay $57 million in general damages and $115 million in punitive damages to about 116,000 current and former California workers.

The jury found that Wal-Mart violated a 2001 state law requiring employers to give an unpaid half hour lunch break to employees who work at least six hours. Workers who are denied the break are supposed to receive an extra hour's worth of pay.

The lunch break lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court covers former and current workers who worked in the state from 2001 to 2005. The employees claimed they were owed more than $66 million plus interest, and sought damages to punish the company for alleged wrongdoing.

Wal-Mart said in a written statement that it would appeal the verdict.

"Wal-Mart has acknowledged it had compliance issues when the statute became effective in 2001. The problems were also experienced by other employers in the State of California. Wal-Mart has since taken steps to ensure all associates receive their meal periods, including adopting new technology that sends alerts to cashiers when it is time for their meal breaks," the statement said. The company settled a similar lunch break case in Colorado for $50 million last year.

The California suit is one of about 40 cases nationwide alleging workplace violations against Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer. In 2002, a federal jury in Oregon found Wal-Mart employees were forced to work off the clock and awarded back pay to 83 workers.

One of the pending cases, which accuses the company of paying men more than women, is the largest private employer civil rights class action in history. Wal-Mart has asked an appeals court to overturn the class action status of the case.

The ruling yesterday was "a very important decision, in part because this was an important case, but also there are 40 or so other class actions pending against Wal-Mart," said Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at University of California at Berkeley. "This is sort of a testing of the waters as to how a jury is going to respond when a group of workers sues Wal-Mart."

"I think [the verdict] is going to let employers know they must apply with the law and can't take unfair advantage of their employees," said Mike Christian, an attorney representing the workers. "And Wal-Mart has to pay particular attention to that because it has similar pending cases" around the country, he said.

The company has been struggling to repair its image in recent months after critics cast negative light on the company, claiming it pays poverty wages and offers few benefits. An internal document leaked earlier this year suggested the company might cut health care costs by hiring younger, healthier workers. Wal-Mart, in response, has launched a massive public relations campaign to improve its reputation.

Wal-Mart has a reputation as a tough legal opponent. Where other companies may settle a case to minimize court costs, Wal-Mart typically fights the cases. "This really is a wake up call to Wal-Mart that these class action suits in front of a jury can be costly," Shaiken said.

The company is also embroiled in a wage and hour case pending in New York state that claims the company failed to give promised breaks to employees.

$172 million gets into the neighborhood of real money, even for an operation of Wal-Mart's size. And on top of that, the article suggests there's quite a potential multiplier effect here, as cases like this are pending against Wal-Mart all across the country.

Eventually Wal-Mart may actually have to start complying with labor laws, if this trend keeps up.

But they'll have to clean up their act quite a bit before I start shopping there again.

They're Doing *SUCH* A Good Job of Protecting Us

Federal Investigators Probe High-Tech Explosives Theft
About 400 Pounds of Explosive Material Missing

ABC News, Dec. 19, 2005 — Officials are investigating the theft of 400 pounds of high-powered plastic explosives in New Mexico. The material was stolen from a bunker owned by a bomb expert who works at a national research lab outside Albuquerque, N.M.

ABC News has been told it's one of the most significant thefts of high-power explosives ever in the United States.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed today they are investigating the large theft from Cherry Engineering, a company owned by Chris Cherry, a scientist at Sandia National Labs.

The theft was discovered Sunday night by local authorities. The thieves used blowtorches to cut through thick steel walls at the bunker, authorities told ABC News.

The missing 400 pounds of explosives includes 150 pounds of what is known as C-4 plastic, or "sheet explosive," which can be shaped and molded and is often used by terrorists and military operatives.

"It is a very dangerous material, we want to keep this off the streets," Cherry told ABC News.

Also, 2,500 detonators were missing from a storage explosive container, or magazine, in a bunker owned by Cherry Engineering.

Authorities have no leads in the theft and said there is no indication terrorism is involved.

The theft is one of the largest reported cases from a facility in the United States in the last decade ending 2004. During that time, a total of about 1,000 pounds was reported stolen from government facilities in 14 reported incidents. It is unknown whether there is any connection to terrorism.

A special agent at ATF said the incident was unusual because such high-powered material was targeted.

The missing material could potentially make numerous bombs.

You've got to wonder just what they've been doing for four years, besides fighting turf wars inside DHS. Are there any Federal standards for owning, controlling and securing this stuff? Have they been strengthened since 9/11? And will anyone in the media ask questions like these?

All I Want for Christmas

A FOIA request on Judge Alito's documents in the National Archive was answered this morning with a document dump just in time for Christmas right here. Enjoy!

Silent Night, Please

I don't know how it is where you are, but everyone is on their cell in public spaces all the time around here. I think I'm the only one in the grocery store who doesn't have to check in with someone else to find out what I need to pick up. And I'm getting tired of being nearly mowed down by drivers more interested in their conversations than steering their cars. I have a cell, for emergencies, but I am not so important that whatever I have going on can't wait until I can get to a landline. I resonate with this Al Kamen piece from the WaPo's "In the Loop."

Carol of the Cells

The Federal Communications Commission's Staff Carolers, about a dozen in all, gave their annual performance last week in a reception area outside the commissioners' offices. One carol, to the tune of "Silent Night," was about the moronic proposal to allow airline passengers to yell into their cell phones throughout flights. "(Not So) Silent Flight" goes like this:

Silent flight, quiet flight

Passengers squeezed in tight.

Wait a minute, what's that drone?

Someone's yakking on his cell phone

Can't he wait till we've landed?

I'd like to sleep in peace

Nowhere to flee, no privacy

Jabbering relentlessly

Must I listen to more discourse

'Bout his boss or his divorce?

Pray his battery gives out

Then I can sleep in peace

In Ruins

Brown's Turf Wars Sapped FEMA's Strength
Director Who Came to Symbolize Incompetence in Katrina Predicted Agency Would Fail

By Michael Grunwald and Susan B. Glasser
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 23, 2005; Page A01

On Sept. 15, 2003, one of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's deputies lobbed a bureaucratic hand grenade across his desk. In a seven-page memo, the new department's undersecretary for emergency preparedness and response told Ridge that his organizational plan would cripple America's ability to respond to disasters.

The memo, like so many that flew around Washington during the largest government reshuffling in decades, involved turf: Ridge had decided to move some of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's preparedness functions to an office less than one-fifteenth its size. The writer warned that the shift would make a mockery of FEMA's new motto, "A Nation Prepared," and would "fundamentally sever FEMA from its core functions," "shatter agency morale," and "break longstanding, effective and tested relationships with states and first responder stakeholders."

The inevitable result, he wrote, would be "an ineffective and uncoordinated response" to a terrorist attack or a natural disaster.

The author was Michael D. Brown, who was FEMA's director as well as a Department of Homeland Security undersecretary. Two years later, Brown would lose both titles after Hurricane Katrina, when his prophecies of doom came true.

Katrina exposed FEMA as a dysfunctional organization, paralyzed in a crisis four years after the supposedly galvanizing attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. And it turned Brown -- a former executive of the International Arabian Horse Association who had no emergency management experience before joining the Bush administration -- into a symbol of government ineptitude. But Brown's well-chronicled gaffes in Louisiana had less impact on FEMA than his little-known power struggles in Washington. Brown lost almost all of them -- partly because he was widely despised at DHS for his relentless infighting -- and FEMA paid a price in money, manpower, missions and prestige.

In his first extensive interview about FEMA's chaotic integration into DHS, Brown acknowledged that the agency deteriorated on his watch. But he blamed its decline on the mammoth reorganization that forced FEMA into the new department, and on his constant setbacks once inside.

"The slogan was 'Do No Harm,' but we were doing harm," Brown said. "People became distracted from the mission, because we spent so much time and energy fighting for resources and working on reorganization. It just disintegrated our capacity."

Initially, Brown's bosses at DHS and the department's architects in the White House shared the same goal of a beefed-up FEMA; their catchphrase was "FEMA on steroids." But that is no longer the vision or the reality. And FEMA's deterioration is not only the most visible failure of DHS: It is also emblematic of the turf battles that have plagued the rest of the department.

Notice that it is all somebody else's fault.

On June 5, 2002, White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. called then-FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh with stunning news. President Bush was about to announce a secret plan to merge 22 agencies into a Department of Homeland Security, and FEMA was on the list.

Allbaugh immediately decided to quit. His handpicked deputy, his old friend Mike Brown, would replace him once the department took shape.

"Joe signed on to be agency head, not to play second fiddle," said Bruce P. Baughman, a former senior FEMA official. "He didn't want to be reporting to anybody but the president."

After managing Bush's 2000 campaign, Allbaugh had been exiled to FEMA when he lost a power struggle with the other members of Bush's "Iron Triangle," Karl Rove and Karen Hughes. But FEMA had enjoyed a renaissance under President Bill Clinton, who had entrusted it to his Arkansas emergency management director, James Lee Witt, and elevated the post to Cabinet level. And after Sept. 11, Allbaugh recognized that his obscure agency could take a lead role in the fight against terrorism.

With Vice President Cheney's support, Allbaugh cleared out FEMA's second floor to make room for an Office for National Preparedness. He also began plotting to seize the Justice Department's three-year-old Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP), which already distributed anti-terrorism grants. Allbaugh wanted FEMA to oversee the inevitable cascade of post-Sept. 11 emergency dollars.

The White House officials who designed DHS also envisioned a more robust FEMA, leading America's efforts to prepare for and respond to terrorist attacks as well as natural disasters. Ridge, Bush's homeland security adviser before he became DHS secretary, was a FEMA fan; as a congressman, he had written the Stafford Act, which governs the agency. The self-styled "Gang of Five" -- the mid-level aides who sculpted DHS in the White House basement -- also hoped to strengthen FEMA into a "prime-time agency," said Richard A. Falkenrath, a member of the gang. It would no longer be an independent Cabinet agency -- it would not even be called FEMA -- but it would swallow the ODP and control all federal emergency grants.

The goal was for FEMA to "go away and become something bigger, more important and more central to the role of the department," said Lawlor, another member of the gang.

FEMA's staff worried that their expertise with natural disasters would get lost in a terrorism-focused department. But while Ridge said the administration was aware of the "huge angst" at FEMA, it never considered preserving its independence. "If you didn't have a FEMA-like agency at Homeland Security, you'd have to create one," he said. Overall, Ridge figured, FEMA would benefit from the overhaul, because it would gain control of the ODP.

Wait, it gets worse.

After Chertoff was sworn in last winter, he promptly began a "Second Stage Review," preparing to reconfigure the new department. And Brown promptly began bombarding his office with memos, relitigating fights that FEMA had lost under Ridge.

On the National Response Plan: "The time is right for FEMA to be given full responsibility for all aspects."

On the shift of the ODP: "This reorganization has failed to produce tangible results."

On DHS raids on FEMA's budget: "A total of $77.9 million has been permanently lost from the base."

Brown even took his appeal public, declaring in a speech to emergency managers that all of the department's preparedness grants should go back to FEMA. Chertoff's aides, worried that Brown was boxing in the new secretary, frantically prepared a release clarifying that DHS policy had not changed.

Chertoff, a blunt-spoken former prosecutor and judge, was not swayed by Brown's appeals. "I don't box in very easily," he said. He agreed with Brown that preparedness was a serious deficiency, but not that FEMA was the place to fix it.

Instead, Chertoff endorsed a plan that had originated at the ODP -- to replace Brown's EP&R; directorate with a new preparedness directorate that would absorb whatever remained of FEMA's preparedness mission. He agreed with Brown's bureaucratic rivals that FEMA was too busy responding to daily disasters to focus on the long-term planning needed to prepare for a major catastrophe.

DHS officials dangled the possibility of heading the new directorate in front of Brown, but he was not interested. "It's a Hobson's choice," Brown e-mailed a friend in the White House. "Take something that I don't believe in and that I don't think will work, or stay at FEMA and try to keep it from failing. Geez, what a life!"

Brown sent one last-ditch memo to Chertoff's deputy, warning that under the new plan, "FEMA is doomed to failure and loss of mission." But his appeal was rejected, and after his White House contacts said they could not find him a job elsewhere in the administration, Brown decided to submit his resignation after Labor Day.

FEMA's career professionals made similar choices. Eric Tolbert, chief of the agency's response division, said he quit this year because DHS was siphoning away "huge chunks" of his budget. Chertoff points out that FEMA's budget has increased since Sept. 11, but Tolbert said the periodic incursions "dramatically impacted my ability to maintain a readiness level."

For example, a FEMA exercise simulating a Category 4 hurricane in New Orleans was suspended when funding ran out. "Those of us involved became pretty disenchanted near the end," Tolbert said.
'Can I Quit Now? Can I Go Home?'

On Sunday, Aug. 28, Brown was supposed to be finalizing his resignation letter. Instead, he was on his way to Louisiana for Katrina and chuckling into his BlackBerry. Hagin had e-mailed from Bush's ranch, teasing that his imminent departure no longer seemed so imminent: You didn't get out in time!

Brown would be gone soon enough.

His agency, as he had predicted, was not ready. Its relations with state and local agencies, as he had warned, were in shambles. Three of its five operations chiefs for natural disasters and nine of its 10 regional directors were temporary fill-ins. And as Katrina approached, Brown and his aides were still balking at a DHS directive to join an interagency crisis management group -- and ignoring DHS requests for information.

"Let them play their reindeer games as long as they are not turning around and tasking us with their stupid questions," Brown's deputy chief of staff e-mailed him.

Once Katrina came ashore, the newly completed National Response Plan spectacularly failed its first test. Chertoff neglected to activate it until the day after landfall, and Brown resisted the secretary's efforts to name him the principal federal official. And the 426-page plan proved to be mostly irrelevant once local responders were unable to participate; FEMA had not finalized the "Catastrophic Annex" that was supposed to guide that situation.

"Can I quit now?" Brown e-mailed a press aide during the storm. "Can I go home?

Katrina also triggered the biggest deployment in the National Disaster Medical System's history. Thompson called the result "a national embarrassment." In an after-action report, NDMS team leader Timothy Crowley, a doctor on the Harvard Medical School faculty, called the deployment a "TOTAL FAILURE."

Crowley's team was summoned late, then sent to Texas instead of Louisiana, then parked in Baton Rouge for a week while New Orleans suffered. When the team was finally sent to the disaster zone, it was immediately overwhelmed, but NDMS leaders told Lowell there was no help available, even though he later found out that a host of other teams "had been sitting on their butts for days waiting and asking for missions."

"The current management team and disaster response is completely dysfunctional," Crowley wrote. "I never learned what sort of political agenda or just plain incompetence or stupidity were behind these decisions." His report was harsh, but not atypical.

"I was holding back!" he said.

Katrina has inspired a round of soul-searching throughout DHS. A terrorist attack, after all, would not provide several days' warning; Chertoff has vowed to "retool FEMA, maybe even radically, to increase our ability to deal with catastrophic events."

But Brown believes that if DHS leaders had not spent so much time retooling FEMA in the first place, his name would not be a synonym for poor performance. He's proud of the losing battles he fought inside DHS, and he could not resist a final dig at his old bosses.

"To this day," he said, "I'm not sure they've got a vision for the department."

Pandemic influenza, anyone?

Power Grab

Power We Didn't Grant

By Tom Daschle
Friday, December 23, 2005

In the face of mounting questions about news stories saying that President Bush approved a program to wiretap American citizens without getting warrants, the White House argues that Congress granted it authority for such surveillance in the 2001 legislation authorizing the use of force against al Qaeda. On Tuesday, Vice President Cheney said the president "was granted authority by the Congress to use all means necessary to take on the terrorists, and that's what we've done."

As Senate majority leader at the time, I helped negotiate that law with the White House counsel's office over two harried days. I can state categorically that the subject of warrantless wiretaps of American citizens never came up. I did not and never would have supported giving authority to the president for such wiretaps. I am also confident that the 98 senators who voted in favor of authorization of force against al Qaeda did not believe that they were also voting for warrantless domestic surveillance.

On the evening of Sept. 12, 2001, the White House proposed that Congress authorize the use of military force to "deter and pre-empt any future acts of terrorism or aggression against the United States." Believing the scope of this language was too broad and ill defined, Congress chose instead, on Sept. 14, to authorize "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations or persons [the president] determines planned, authorized, committed or aided" the attacks of Sept. 11. With this language, Congress denied the president the more expansive authority he sought and insisted that his authority be used specifically against Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.

Just before the Senate acted on this compromise resolution, the White House sought one last change. Literally minutes before the Senate cast its vote, the administration sought to add the words "in the United States and" after "appropriate force" in the agreed-upon text. This last-minute change would have given the president broad authority to exercise expansive powers not just overseas -- where we all understood he wanted authority to act -- but right here in the United States, potentially against American citizens. I could see no justification for Congress to accede to this extraordinary request for additional authority. I refused.

The shock and rage we all felt in the hours after the attack were still fresh. America was reeling from the first attack on our soil since Pearl Harbor. We suspected thousands had been killed, and many who worked in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were not yet accounted for. Even so, a strong bipartisan majority could not agree to the administration's request for an unprecedented grant of authority.

The Bush administration now argues those powers were inherently contained in the resolution adopted by Congress -- but at the time, the administration clearly felt they weren't or it wouldn't have tried to insert the additional language.

Daschle, clearly in an effort to be polite, left out two key terms: fascism and impeachment. With the statements made by the leaders of this administration over the past week, there can be no other rational conclusion for what is taking place and what must be done.

FEMA Follies

Would someone explain to me why anyone connected with this agency is still working for the Federal Government in any role more complicated than a janitor?

FEMA Slows Search for Kids From Katrina

By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 23, 2005

Efforts to locate 500 children still classified as missing after Hurricane Katrina are stalled because the Federal Emergency Management Agency, citing privacy laws, has refused to share its evacuee database with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to investigators tracking the cases.

Not until the White House and Justice Department intervened earlier this month did Department of Homeland Security officials agree to a compromise that grants FBI agents limited access to information that may provide clues to many of the unresolved cases.

In recent days, FEMA has released data that helped close 15 cases. Yesterday, after inquiries from The Washington Post, the agency sent the FBI a computer disk with the names of 570,000 evacuees.

But as the four-month anniversary of the worst natural disaster in U.S. history approaches, congressional leaders, law enforcement authorities and family advocates say FEMA's slow response has meant that many families that could have been reunited this holiday season instead remain apart.

"We are deeply disappointed by the low priority FEMA assigned to the cases of missing children," Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) wrote yesterday to FEMA's acting director, R. David Paulison. "And while FEMA may not have sole responsibility to investigate cases of missing children, it should do what is in its power to assist other agencies in completing the investigations."

Officials believe it is likely that many of the 500 children are safe, perhaps even in the care of a family member. But a case is not closed until the relative who reported the child missing learns the youngster's whereabouts and is assured the child is unharmed.

Under U.S. privacy laws, FEMA is prohibited from releasing information such as names and Social Security numbers to anyone.

"The information that people provide us when they are in the midst of, or recovering from, a life-altering event includes Social Security number, income levels, very personal information," said FEMA spokeswoman Nicol Andrews. "We take our charge to protect that information very seriously."

Nicol, don't talk down to us. Of course you should protect that information, that's why we have laws on the books about it. By the same token, anyone with half a brain would understand that if you are having a problem getting families back together, the rules might need to be adjusted some.

Look who else was involved with searching for the families. It's not some rn of the mill Internet charity that stumbled across your e-mail doing a search on Yahoo.

When Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, the Justice Department and Louisiana officials asked the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to handle missing-person reports.

.....

The center, created by Congress 21 years ago to serve as a quasi-governmental clearinghouse for missing children, dispatched teams of former law enforcement officers to the four affected states and negotiated agreements with the Red Cross and U.S. Postal Service to share evacuee information.

In early October, as leads began to dwindle, the center requested access to FEMA's list of the 2.8 million families that had applied for federal disaster assistance. FEMA balked, saying it was illegal to share the private information. Lawyers at the center argued that because it was working on behalf of the Justice Department "it would fall within one of the exceptions of the Privacy Act for this limited purpose," Allen said. For years, investigators for the center have had access to FBI databases.

On Oct. 25, the center provided the list of 1,600 children missing at the time to FEMA and made its request for the database in writing. On Nov. 23, nearly three months after Katrina hit, FEMA rejected it.

See, it's stupidity like this that makes people reluctant to trust the government (at any level) to get things done. Short of FEMA having a bug in its butt about being part of "Homeland Security", I have no idea why they balked at sharing this information (for that matter, why did it take a month to reach a conclusion?). Haven't they caused enough pain to the Katrina victims already?

Russian Winter

Outside of this article and a piece on NPR a week or so ago, this is a topic that isn't getting too much play in America.

Revised Russian Bill Governing NGOs Fails to Mollify Critics

By Peter Finn
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, December 22, 2005

MOSCOW, Dec. 21 -- The Russian parliament on Wednesday passed a revised version of a controversial bill governing grass-roots activity in the country. Nongovernmental organizations welcomed a few of the amendments but reiterated their concern that the measure will authorize strict government supervision and allow the shutting down of some groups.

An earlier version set off a barrage of international and domestic criticism that it could shutter the Moscow offices of foreign NGOs and foundations, such as Human Rights Watch, by forcing them to register as Russian organizations. That provision has been dropped.

he new version restricts foreign funding of political activity but doesn't define what constitutes political activity, and whether it could, for instance, include human rights work or the training of election monitors. The measure will also force foreign and domestic NGOs to re-register with a state body that will examine their work before using what critics say are vague grounds to decide if they can continue operations.

More than 400,000 NGOs operate in the country, in charitable, medical and educational work as well as the kind of political and human rights activity that the bill appears designed to rein in.

.......

Critics charge that the legislation, even after the amendments, will bring one of the last areas of independent activism in Russian life under the control of the Kremlin, which already dominates parliament and much of the country's broadcast media. They said that narrower, more specific legislation could have targeted terrorist activity and illegal political activity.

The measure "is aimed at establishing sweeping control over all organization of civil society, interfering in the activities of independent organizations," Yuri Dzhibladze, president of the Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, said at a news conference in Moscow this week. "It will harm not only these organizations. It will harm Russia."

While the author tries to give us some glimpse of hope that things really aren't as bad as we think they are, the article really doesn't sell it too well. The fact is that Russia has slipped back into the old ways with, essentially, single party control over an authoritarian leader. Putin is doing all he can to return back to that closed society which few outsiders can peer into.

And the sad thing is that most Russians probably support him. The transition into a capitalistic, "democracy" was abrupt, unplanned, and showed the worst tendenceies of both. No wonder so many Russians long for the "good old days" of Communism.

Let's have a moment of silence for that brief spark of democracy that many of us thought we saw through perestroika and glasnost. I remember watching Yeltsin standing up to the tanks on CNN as we watched from St. Charles Ave. There was hope then that the US and Russia would become allies in peace.

Instead, we have become reluctant allies in the War on Terror (tm), agreeing not to criticize the other so long as they don't stray into our sphere(s) of influence or try to make us look foolish on the international stage. At least that is the way it is for now... who knows what it will be like if the Russian economy ever gets back on its feet.

Diebold Loses Another

First it was California, now my home state of North Carolina has gotten into the act.

Diebold withdraws as N.C. voting equipment vendor; only one left

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press Writer

The effort to upgrade voting equipment in North Carolina by next spring took a hit when an approved vendor pulled out of the running, saying it couldn't follow a new law that required it to share its software coding with the state.

Diebold Election Systems told the State Board of Elections it would be impossible to meet a Thursday deadline to account for all software used by the company for machines certified to be sold in all 100 counties.

Ok, there reporter makes a mistake here while trying to be "fair". It's not impossible for Diebold to present it's information, they are not chosing to do it, period. Why is that I wonder?

Diebold is worried it could be charged with a felony if officials determine the company failed to send a copy of all the software its machines use to a special holding company assigned by the state. They say they don't have permission to provide code that is owned by third parties such as Microsoft Corp.

Although a trial judge agreed Wednesday that the elections board had followed the law in choosing vendors, Owen said Diebold believed the law is too broad and the company can't provide regulators all the information it needs.

In a separate case last month, a Wake County judge declined to issue an injunction that would have protected Diebold from prosecution if someone accused it of failing to provide all of its software to the state.

In one county, the leaders practically begged the state to allow the Diebold machines only to have the State Elections Board meet long enough to reject the request.

North Carolina was burned very badly by an electronic machine that failed in 2004 and just lost *poof* a few thousand votes out on the coast. While that didn't effect any Federal races, it did leave a pair of state races up for grab for a very long time (and the State Legislature engaged in some... creative lawmaking to solve one of them). Consequently, Diebold's word along just isn't good enough.

Of course, you'd never know that from the article's tone. The touch screen devices are pretty, but I want something that works and that I can trust, in so far as these things are trustworthy. Maybe for a change, the Old North Staet can be at the forefront of a reform movement, instead of the grumbly old guy in the back of the van whining all the way there.

The Holiday Table

In case you are still dithering about what to do for your holiday feast, I offer this:

ROAST TENDERLOIN OF BEEF WITH MUSTARD
SAUCE

2 tsp. soy sauce
2 1/2 lbs. beef tenderloin
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 med. garlic clove, minced
3 med. shallots, minced
1/3 c. dry red wine
1 1/2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 c. canned low-sodium beef broth
1/4 c. plus 1 tbsp. heavy cream
2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1. Rub the soy sauce all over the beef and let sit for 30 minutes. Season with the pepper.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a large, heavy, oven-proof skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Add the beef and cook until well browned on all sides, about 6 minutes.

3. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast the tenderloin for about 20 minutes, turning once, until the internal temperature reads 120 degrees on a meat thermometer for rare. Transfer the meat to a cutting board, cover loosely with foil and let sit for 10 minutes.

4. Pour off any fat from the skillet. Add the garlic and shallots and cook over low heat, stirring, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Pour in the wine, increase the heat to high and simmer for 1 minute. Stir in the mustard, broth and cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to moderate and simmer until the sauce has reduced to 1 cup and is thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon, about 6 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the butter until incorporated.

5. Using a sharp knife, cut the meat into 12 slices. Arrange the meat on plates or a platter, spoon the mustard sauce on top and serve hot. 6 servings.

If you have carving cujones, slice this on a cutting surface which offers some drainage, it is an impressive piece of work which will heighten the appetite of your dinners.

Serve with mashed potatoes (get a ricer, I'm not kidding) and green beans, and horseradish sauce. I like it so hot that it makes your eyes water, but that's me.

Our Booming Economy

Max Sawicky debunks whichever Bush sockpuppet was just on CNN talking about the wonderful Bush economy:

1. Profits are up, but the wages and the incomes of average Americans are down.

* Inflation-adjusted hourly and weekly wages are still below where they were at the start of the recovery in November 2001. Yet, productivity—the growth of the economic pie—is up by 13.5%.

* Wage growth has been shortchanged because 35% of the growth of total income in the corporate sector has been distributed as corporate profits, far more than the 22% in previous periods.

* Consequently, median household income (inflation-adjusted) has fallen five years in a row and was 4% lower in 2004 than in 1999, falling from $46,129 to $44,389.

2. More and more people are deeper and deeper in debt.

* The indebtedness of U.S. households, after adjusting for inflation, has risen 35.7% over the last four years.

* The level of debt as a percent of after-tax income is the highest ever measured in our history. Mortgage and consumer debt is now 115% of after-tax income, twice the level of 30 years ago.

* The debt-service ratio (the percent of after-tax income that goes to pay off debts) is at an all-time high of 13.6%.

* The personal savings rate is negative for the first time since WWII.

3. Job creation has not kept up with population growth, and the employment rate has fallen sharply.

* The United States has only 1.3% more jobs today (excluding the effects of Hurricane Katrina) than in March 2001 (the start of the recession). Private sector jobs are up only 0.8%. At this stage of previous business cycles, jobs had grown by an average of 8.8% and never less than 6.0%.

* The unemployment rate is relatively low at 5%, but still higher than the 4% in 2000. Plus, the percent of the population that has a job has never recovered since the recession and is still 1.3% lower than in March 2001. If the employment rate had returned to pre-recession levels, 3 million more people would be employed.

* More than 3 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since January 2000.

4. Poverty is on the rise.

* The poverty rate rose from 11.7% in 2001 to 12.7% in 2004.

* The number of people living in poverty has increased by 5.4 million since 2000.

* More children are living in poverty: the child poverty rate increased from 16.3% in 2001 to 17.8% in 2004.

5. Rising health care costs are eroding families' already declining income.

* Households are spending more on health care. Family health costs rose 43-45% for married couples with children, single mothers, and young singles from 2000 to 2003.

* Employers are cutting back on health insurance. Last year, the percent of people with employer-provided health insurance fell for the fourth year in a row. Nearly 3.7 million fewer people had employer-provided insurance in 2004 than in 2000. Taking population growth into account, 11 million more people would have had employer-provided health insurance in 2004 if the coverage rate had remained at the 2000 level.

Tinhorn Dictator

Warrantless Wiretapping: Why It Seriously Imperils the Separation of Powers, And Continues the Executive's Sapping of Power From Congress and the Courts

By EDWARD LAZARUS

I might even accept, for the purposes of argument, that, in the panicky aftermath of 9/11, it was understandable for the President to act unilaterally to protect against a potential second-wave attack, regardless of constitutional limits.

But over four years have passed, and there has been copious time for deliberation and, if necessary, Congressional action. In this context, it simply cannot be that the President, acting alone, has the permanent authority he now claims to override a carefully-wrought congressional scheme for fighting terrorism, and enact his own set of secret rules.

Naturally, such a scheme implicates civil liberties, as enshrined in our Constitution. It is not the President's job, alone, to make the nation's trade-offs between security and privacy. Congress ought to legislate, and if it goes too far, the Supreme Court ought to make sure its legislation stays within constitutional bounds.

But even worse, such a scheme threatens basic democratic principles. This Administration wants virtually unlimited power with essentially no accountability. I might almost be able to stomach Bush's "just trust me" claims of Executive power, if the President could be made truly accountable for his decisions down the road. But Bush wants the power with no public debate and a minimum of public disclosure.

I wouldn't trust any Administration with such a blank check. And this isn't just any Administration. It's an Administration with a deeply troubling history of mistakes and obfuscation, an Administration that seems to expand its definition of terrorism however it finds convenient, an Administration that brooks none of the internal dissent that might check authoritarian impulses.

Against that backdrop, the new revelations of warrantless wiretapping, and the Administration's latest set of explanations, sound less like a plan to fight terror than like tyranny's engines, raring to go.

Those Pesky Amendments

Police Infiltrate Protests, Videotapes Show

By JIM DWYER
December 22, 2005

Undercover New York City police officers have conducted covert surveillance in the last 16 months of people protesting the Iraq war, bicycle riders taking part in mass rallies and even mourners at a street vigil for a cyclist killed in an accident, a series of videotapes show.

In glimpses and in glaring detail, the videotape images reveal the robust presence of disguised officers or others working with them at seven public gatherings since August 2004.

The officers hoist protest signs. They hold flowers with mourners. They ride in bicycle events. At the vigil for the cyclist, an officer in biking gear wore a button that said, "I am a shameless agitator." She also carried a camera and videotaped the roughly 15 people present.

Beyond collecting information, some of the undercover officers or their associates are seen on the tape having influence on events. At a demonstration last year during the Republican National Convention, the sham arrest of a man secretly working with the police led to a bruising confrontation between officers in riot gear and bystanders.

Until Sept. 11, the secret monitoring of events where people expressed their opinions was among the most tightly limited of police powers.

Provided with images from the tape, the Police Department's chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne, did not dispute that they showed officers at work but said that disguised officers had always attended such gatherings - not to investigate political activities but to keep order and protect free speech. Activists, however, say that police officers masquerading as protesters and bicycle riders distort their messages and provoke trouble.

The pictures of the undercover officers were culled from an unofficial archive of civilian and police videotapes by Eileen Clancy, a forensic video analyst who is critical of the tactics. She gave the tapes to The New York Times. Based on what the individuals said, the equipment they carried and their almost immediate release after they had been arrested amid protesters or bicycle riders, The Times concluded that at least 10 officers were incognito at the events.

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, officials at all levels of government considered major changes in various police powers. President Bush acknowledged last Saturday that he has secretly permitted the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without a warrant on international telephone calls and e-mail messages in terror investigations.

In New York, the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg persuaded a federal judge in 2003 to enlarge the Police Department's authority to conduct investigations of political, social and religious groups. "We live in a more dangerous, constantly changing world," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said.

Before then, very few political organizations or activities were secretly investigated by the Police Department, the result of a 1971 class-action lawsuit that charged the city with abuses in surveillance during the 1960's. Now the standard for opening inquiries into political activity has been relaxed, full authority to begin surveillance has been restored to the police and federal courts no longer require a special panel to oversee the tactics.

Mr. Browne, the police spokesman, said the department did not increase its surveillance of political groups when the restrictions were eased. The powers obtained after Sept. 11 have been used exclusively "to investigate and thwart terrorists," Mr. Browne said. He would not answer specific questions about the disguised officers or describe any limits the department placed on surveillance at public events.
.....

Among the events that have drawn surveillance is a monthly bicycle ride called Critical Mass. The Critical Mass rides, which have no acknowledged leadership, take place in many cities around the world on the last Friday of the month, with bicycle riders rolling through the streets to promote bicycle transportation. Relations between the riders and the police soured last year after thousands of cyclists flooded the streets on the Friday before the Republican National Convention. Officials say the rides cause havoc because the participants refuse to obtain a permit. The riders say they can use public streets without permission from the government.

In a tape made at the April 29 Critical Mass ride, a man in a football jersey is seen riding along West 19th Street with a group of bicycle riders to a police blockade at 10th Avenue. As the police begin to handcuff the bicyclists, the man in the jersey drops to one knee. He tells a uniformed officer, "I'm on the job." The officer in uniform calls to a colleague, "Louie - he's under." A second officer arrives and leads the man in the jersey - hands clasped behind his back - one block away, where the man gets back on his bicycle and rides off.

Shorter version: 9/11 is a great excuse to strip away any restraints there ever were on the police and their abuses of powers. The police in New York, like in many cities, see this as a carte blanche grab on the 1st and 4th Amendments to the Constitution. After all, those biker riders might have been supporting terrorists within the dreaded bicycling industry who want to destroy our way of life.

Since we might have some uninvited visitors, let's remind them, and everyone, what those wise amendments say:

Amendment 1: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment 4: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause , supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Manufacturing Controversy

Advocates of 'Intelligent Design' Vow to Continue Despite Ruling

By Michael Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 22, 2005; Page A03

A federal judge's ruling in Pennsylvania that "intelligent design" is religious fundamentalism dressed in the raiment of science has wounded a politically influential movement.

"It was a real disappointment," biochemist Michael J. Behe, who testified in the trial, said from his office at Lehigh University. "It's hard to say this chills the atmosphere, because if you're publicly known as an ID supporter you can already kiss your tenure chances goodbye. It doesn't help."

But Behe and other proponents of intelligent design emphasized that the court decision would not cast them into the political and cultural wilderness. They have pushed their theory, which holds that life is too complicated to have arisen without the hand of a supernatural creator, to the center of legislative debates in more than a dozen states, and they intend to keep it there.

Some politically influential backers of intelligent design warned that U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III, who was appointed by President Bush, so overreached that his ruling will outrage and inflame millions of conservative and religiously observant Americans.

"This decision is a poster child for a half-century secularist reign of terror that's coming to a rapid end with Justice Roberts and soon-to-be Justice Alito," said Richard Land, who is president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and is a political ally of White House adviser Karl Rove. "This was an extremely injudicious judge who went way, way beyond his boundaries -- if he had any eyes on advancing up the judicial ladder, he just sawed off the bottom rung."

Look, I have a graduate degree in theology. Catholicism, the protestant mainline and Judaism have no problem with evolution. Judge Scalito may be a practicing Catholic, but if he's going to ram ID down the throats of US students, he's defying the tenets of his own church. ID isn't science and there is no controversy about this within the scientific community, regardless of the crap CNN is pushing.

Finding the Ghosts in the Machines

State wants more tests of voting machines
Diebold's electronic systems shown vulnerable to hackers

John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writer
Wednesday, December 21, 2005

A controversial electronic voting system must undergo federal security testing before it can be approved for use in California, Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said Tuesday.

Diebold Election System's optical scan and touch-screen voting systems, which were scheduled to be used in 17 California counties in June's election, will have their state certification delayed for the second time, McPherson said.

"We have determined that there is sufficient cause for additional federal evaluation,'' he said in a statement. "I have consistently stated that I will not certify any system for use in California unless it meets the most stringent voting system requirements.''

Studies in other states have suggested that the company's new memory cards may be vulnerable to hackers. A test in Leon County, Fla., showed that hackers using the same access as election department employees could reprogram the cards to change election results and leave no trace.

McPherson had talked about running a similar test in California, bringing in a Finnish hacker who had been involved in the Florida study to test Diebold's security in California. Tuesday's decision, however, punts the entire security question back to the federal government.

"Unresolved significant security concerns exist with respect to the memory card" because the federal government never reviewed the software that programs the card, said Caren Daniels-Meade, head of the secretary of state's election division, in a letter to Diebold. "We strongly believe it is the duty and responsibility of the secretary of state and you to make sure that the ultimate users of your products -- the voters of California -- have a voting system that has been thoroughly and rigorously evaluated.''

Diebold officials declined to comment directly on McPherson's concerns.

Now is the time for the Democrats to demand, in a rational way, for fair and transparent voting procedures and not shams like the Help America Voting Act which made it easier for these REPUBLICAN controlled companies to get a larger share of the precincts in America. The tests have shown that it takes nothing more than a talented 14 year old hacker to get into these systems and change the outcome. A couple of hundred votes here and there, well within the "margain of error", and those exit polls appear to be inaccurate.

This demand must be done first on a state level and also at a national level or there will be more Georgias, Floridas, and Ohios.

Making S**t Up

File the Bin Laden Phone Leak Under 'Urban Myths'

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 22, 2005; Page A02

President Bush asserted this week that the news media published a U.S. government leak in 1998 about Osama bin Laden's use of a satellite phone, alerting the al Qaeda leader to government monitoring and prompting him to abandon the device.

The story of the vicious leak that destroyed a valuable intelligence operation was first reported by a best-selling book, validated by the Sept. 11 commission and then repeated by the president.

But it appears to be an urban myth.

The al Qaeda leader's communication to aides via satellite phone had already been reported in 1996 -- and the source of the information was another government, the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan at the time.

The second time a news organization reported on the satellite phone, the source was bin Laden himself.

Causal effects are hard to prove, but other factors could have persuaded bin Laden to turn off his satellite phone in August 1998. A day earlier, the United States had fired dozens of cruise missiles at his training camps, missing him by hours.

Bush made his assertion at a news conference Monday, in which he defended his authorization of warrantless monitoring of communications between some U.S. citizens and suspected terrorists overseas. He fumed that "the fact that we were following Osama bin Laden because he was using a certain type of telephone made it into the press as the result of a leak." He berated the media for "revealing sources, methods and what we use the information for" and thus helping "the enemy" change its operations.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday that the president was referring to an article that appeared in the Washington Times on Aug. 21, 1998, the day after the cruise missile attack, which was launched in retaliation for the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa two weeks earlier. The Sept. 11 commission also cited the article as "a leak" that prompted bin Laden to stop using his satellite phone, though it noted that he had added more bodyguards and began moving his sleeping place "frequently and unpredictably" after the missile attack.

Two former Clinton administration officials first fingered the Times article in a 2002 book, "The Age of Sacred Terror." Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon wrote that after the "unabashed right-wing newspaper" published the story, bin Laden "stopped using the satellite phone instantly" and "the United States lost its best chance to find him."

The article, a profile of bin Laden, buried the information about his satellite phone in the 21st paragraph. It never said that the United States was listening in on bin Laden, as the president alleged. The writer, Martin Sieff, said yesterday that the information about the phone was "already in the public domain" when he wrote the story.

This is right up there with Reagan's "welfare queens."

Not Just Here

I've always jokes about fleeing to the UK if things got too bad here, but now I'm not sure.

Britain will be first country to monitor every car journey

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 22 December 2005

Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years.

Using a network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years.

The network will incorporate thousands of existing CCTV cameras which are being converted to read number plates automatically night and day to provide 24/7 coverage of all motorways and main roads, as well as towns, cities, ports and petrol-station forecourts.

By next March a central database installed alongside the Police National Computer in Hendon, north London, will store the details of 35 million number-plate "reads" per day. These will include time, date and precise location, with camera sites monitored by global positioning satellites.

Already there are plans to extend the database by increasing the storage period to five years and by linking thousands of additional cameras so that details of up to 100 million number plates can be fed each day into the central databank.

Senior police officers have described the surveillance network as possibly the biggest advance in the technology of crime detection and prevention since the introduction of DNA fingerprinting.

But others concerned about civil liberties will be worried that the movements of millions of law-abiding people will soon be routinely recorded and kept on a central computer database for years.

The new national data centre of vehicle movements will form the basis of a sophisticated surveillance tool that lies at the heart of an operation designed to drive criminals off the road.

In the process, the data centre will provide unrivalled opportunities to gather intelligence data on the movements and associations of organised gangs and terrorist suspects whenever they use cars, vans or motorcycles.

Gee, I feel so safe knowing that my every movement is being monitored and that there is very little oversight as to how this data is being used. Ah well, maybe Norway is nice this time of year.

Serf Society

A blogger sent me this and if it doesn't make your blood boil, you haven't been paying attention:

Ohio Congressman Boehner's "Tricks" Are Not For Kids
By Daniel Auld

When Ohio Congressman John Boehner recently told a gathering of student loan bankers that he had some "tricks up my sleeve to protect you," he wasn't talking about new tricks.

He was talking about the oldest trick in the book: "Protecting" business people from competition and innovation. Stopping consumers from getting lower rates and better terms for their student loans.

These tricks are not for kids.

The student loan business is now one of the most profitable in America, says Fortune Magazine. And it did not get that way because student loan bankers are smarter, better or less expensive than bankers in other industries.

It is more profitable because they have more protection from competition. And now Boehner, head of the House Committee that oversees student loan legislation, is promising them even more protection from the one force that drives down prices, improves service, and stimulates innovation: Competition, of course. Which in the student loan business in almost non-existent.

Thank you, Congressman Boehner.

That is the way it was until earlier this year, when in January, the Department of Education ruled that borrowers looking to reconsolidate their student loans could sidestep the longstanding anti-competitive rule against doing so.

It was cumbersome, but effective. Borrowers had to use a two-step process of reconsolidating into the federal governement's Direct Loan Program, then reconsolidating again with a private lender offering better rates. Before then, borrowers were locked in to their current lender no matter what other lenders offered them a better deal.

In May, the Department of Education set aside another longstanding anti-consumer policy by ruling that borrowers who are still in school could convert their variable rate student loans into fixed-rate consolidaton loans before rates increased in July. That way they could take advantage of historically low interest rates, much as millions of other borrowers do with their home loans.

While borrowers celebrated, consumer bankers plotted.

Enter Boehner. Buried deep in legislation to raise prices on student loans are provisions that will largely outlaw the reforms that introduced so much competition into student loans earlier this year.

If passed, student loans would once again be the only thing sold in America that cannot be freely refinanced.

Columnist Dick Morris calls the anti-refinancing scheme an "obnoxious .. ripoff." Terry Savage, the financial columnist of TheStreet.com, says there is "no way" borrowers should support this plan." The New York Times calls it "Robbing Joe College to Pay Sallie Mae," the country's largest student loan provider. The Times Union of New York, calls plans to outlaw refinancing a "student loan shame.'

Boehner's tricks are not for kids.

30 years ago I worked in student loan collections for a bank. We knew that they were going to be mostly write-offs, but the phone calls had to be made. My student loans took ten years to pay off and had to be refinanced twice because I was making next to nothing. But, because of refinancing, I was able to pay them off and rescue my credit rating. W/R/T the credit rating, let's say the last four years have a been a, cough, challenge.

I Googled aroung and I couldn't find much on this. Anybody have Lexis to check it out?

Of course, if you think I should have Lexis, there is always the PayPal link at the top right....

And, no I haven't finished my shopping or made that trip to UPS yet. Tomorrow is going to be very long and very expensive. This is the first year I've been able to think about buying half-way decent Christmas presents in years. I'm kinda enjoying it.

But next year, I plan to learn to knit. I still think homemade is best.

I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill

Tolls Start to Mount: Financial, Medical, Emotional

Every apartment block, office, store or sidewalk had its tales of people who were unable to get to work, of businesses that had trouble functioning or were able to operate only at a daunting cost, of workers and employers who reached their jobs and found there had been little point in trying because the customers were missing.

The economic burden was felt citywide, but there were other costs, too - hundreds of thousands of children missing school, commuters spending extra hours shuttling to work and back, and pervasive fear of how long this will go on.

"This should be our biggest week, but I had to shut down my business," said Olga Diaz, owner of Olga's Salon in the financial district in Lower Manhattan. "If it wasn't for the strike, I would be back to back, maybe 30 clients a day through here, but yesterday I had only one, and today only two. I could lose $3,000 worth of business this week."

The hairdressers in that shop, like Maria Lozano, earn only on commission. So no work, no pay. Ms. Lozano, who lives in Queens, was unable to get to work on Tuesday. So on Tuesday night, she left her children with her mother and went to her boyfriend's home on Staten Island. She commuted to work by ferry yesterday, but there was little to do.

"I still have to buy a lot of presents, and I'm stuck," she said. "I don't have any money."

Visiting Nurse Service said it feared that if the strike continued, its workers would not be able to keep up with the need for in-home care. It warned hospitals that in the coming days, they might have to hold patients longer than usual, rather than releasing people who need home care.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg continued to describe the strike's economic impact in dire terms, saying that business at restaurants fell by 40 percent, that street traffic on Fifth Avenue's glittering shopping district was down by 50 percent, that sales dropped by 60 percent at the stores on Fordham Road in the Bronx. The office of City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. estimated that if the strike continues through Christmas, the cost to the city's economy would reach $1.5 billion.

Experts agreed that the pain would be widespread and deep, but cautioned that so far, the only measure is anecdotal evidence. The first reliable data may be from sales tax reports, which the state's Department of Taxation and Finance said would not begin to trickle in until the first of the year.

Stores and restaurants appeared to be especially hard hit, losing customers and workers at what would ordinarily be their busiest season. The financial company A. G. Edwards estimated yesterday that Federated Department Stores, the nation's largest department store chain and owner of Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor, would lose 1 to 2 percent of its December sales for the entire nation because of the New York strike.

The greatest hardship may be felt by smaller businesses and their employees, who have fewer resources to fall back on.

I led a half dozen strikes back in the early nineties. I told my fellows, regardless of the righteousness of your issues, you are going to be hated. No matter what we do or how we do it, someone will find a way to make us look bad and publish it in the New York Times. If we strike, it is because we have no other option and know that the New York Times will hate everything we do. Know that up front.

The Times is the second most anti-union paper in the country behind the WashPo.

If you really want to know how legal authorities treat union members in this country, you need to read two books: "Which Side Are You On?" by Tom Geoghagan and "Holding the Line: The Women of the Phelps Dodge Mining Strike," by Barbara Ehrenriech.

I was fired out of my union career principally because of my activities as an organizer and a strike leader

The Powers hate workers. Just read the New York Times to find out how much. Fuck the New York Times.

Just try organizing your workplace and see if it doesn't happen to you.

Lazy OR Incompetent, You Decide

The Poor Need Not Apply

Published: December 21, 2005

On Sept. 15, speaking from New Orleans's Jackson Square, President Bush was eloquent: "As all of us saw on television, there is also some deep, persistent poverty in this region as well," he said. "We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action. So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday, and let us rise above the legacy of inequality."

Did the president really mean anything by those fine words? As Leslie Eaton and Ron Nixon reported in The Times last week, federal loans to rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina have been flowing to wealthy neighborhoods in New Orleans but not to poor ones.

The Small Business Administration, which runs the federal government's main disaster recovery program for both businesses and homeowners, has processed only a third of the 276,000 home loan applications it has received. And it has rejected a whopping 82 percent of those, a higher percentage than in previous disasters, on the grounds that applicants didn't have high enough incomes or good enough credit ratings.

That is exactly the kind of barrier to upward mobility that Mr. Bush talked about battering down. Poor people live from paycheck to paycheck, unable to accumulate assets. They let their water bill go unpaid one month so that they can pay their light bill. Their credit ratings tend to reflect that.

Those are basic truths that the Bush administration obviously understands. Yet it encouraged poor people to apply for low-interest loans to rebuild their homes while keeping rules that would make it clearly impossible for most of them to qualify. Despite the widespread poverty in the most damaged regions, according to the Times article, the Small Business Administration has not adjusted its creditworthiness standards, which are roughly comparable to a bank's. As a result, well-off neighborhoods have received 47 percent of the loan approvals, while poverty-stricken ones have gotten 7 percent.

George W. Bush is Ebeneezer Scrooge. Merry Christmas, you faux Christian. Liar AND hypocrite.

The Truth Hurts

Chertoff: FEMA Changes Could Be Radical

Wednesday December 21, 2005 8:16 AM

By LARRY MARGASAK and LARA JAKES JORDAN

Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) - Internal meeting notes released by a union official say Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told employees that many changes planned for federal disaster response were a public relations ploy.

The purported statements were in typed notes issued Tuesday by a union representative for federal emergency workers. A Homeland Security Department spokesman said Chertoff considers the post-Hurricane Katrina changes one of his highest priorities and never would have made such comments.

Under the heading ``Retooling/Chertoff's remarks,'' the typed notes said, ``The re-tooling is partially a perception ploy to make outsiders feel like we've actually made changes for the better.''

The notes were released by Leo Bosner, president of the American Federation of Government Employees local that represents headquarters workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA, once independent, is now part of the massive Homeland Security Department.

Bosner said he obtained the notes from another FEMA official, whom he would not identify.

Chertoff is an abolute frikkin' idiot to say this in public.

Impeachment Read-Around

Return of the 'I-Word'

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Wednesday, December 21, 2005; 1:21 PM

The "I-word" is back.

The revelation that President Bush secretly authorized a domestic spying program has incited a handful of Congressional Democrats to discuss his possible impeachment. And while continued Republican control of Congress makes such a move extremely unlikely, the word is reemerging into mainstream political discourse.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) sent a letter on Monday to four unidentified presidential scholars, asking them whether they think Bush's authorization of warrantless domestic spying amounted to an impeachable offense.

Boxer wrote that her interest was sparked after former Nixon White House counsel John Dean said the surveillance order was an impeachable offence.

"I take very seriously Mr. Dean's comments, as I view him to be an expert on presidential abuse of power. I am expecting a full airing of this matter by the Senate in the very near future," she wrote.

Todd Gillman writes in the Dallas Morning News: "Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., suggested that Mr. Bush's actions could justify impeachment. The longtime civil rights leader said the spying program evokes 'the dark past when our government spied on civil rights leaders and Vietnam War protesters,' adding that he believed Mr. Bush violated the law. 'There is no question that the U.S. Congress has impeached presidents for lesser offenses,' he said."

Ron Hutcheson writes for Knight Ridder Newspapers that "some legal experts asserted that Bush broke the law on a scale that could warrant his impeachment.

"(TM)'The president's dead wrong. It's not a close question. Federal law is clear,' said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University and a specialist in surveillance law. 'When the president admits that he violated federal law, that raises serious constitutional questions of high crimes and misdemeanors.'

"There's little enthusiasm for impeachment in the Republican-controlled Congress, but few lawmakers have rallied to Bush's defense."

Here's commentator Jack Cafferty on CNN yesterday: "If you listen carefully, you can hear the word impeachment. Two congressional Democrats are using it. And they're not the only ones."

Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter writes about the spying program : "This will all play out eventually in congressional committees and in the United States Supreme Court. If the Democrats regain control of Congress, there may even be articles of impeachment introduced. Similar abuse of power was part of the impeachment charge brought against Richard Nixon in 1974."

(Alter also reports "that on December 6, Bush summoned [New York] Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger and executive editor Bill Keller to the Oval Office in a futile attempt to talk them out of running" the Dec. 16 Times story that first reported Bush's secret authorization of the eavesdropping.)

Liberal columnist Joe Conason writes in the New York Observer: "Until Mr. Bush openly proclaimed as commander in chief that he can brush aside the law, cries for impeachment were heard only on the political fringe, although most Americans have long since realized that he misled America into war. Much as he is disliked and disdained by liberals, even they have shown little enthusiasm for impeachment. In addition to the obvious obstacle of a Republican-controlled Congress, there appeared to be no firm proof of an offense that justified such action. To mention the word was to be dismissed -- even by people who believe that this President may well have committed 'high crimes and misdemeanors.' . . .

"As political strategy and as public policy, the impeachment of Mr. Bush is an unappealing prospect. (Besides, if he could be thrown out somehow, who would want Dick Cheney to succeed him?) And yet, the actions and attitudes of this President raise the question of how else we can preserve the bedrock principles of a democratic republic."

Even conservative Jonah Goldberg , writing in the National Review Online, is talking about impeachment -- except he's kidding.

"In the wake of the revelation that President Bush ordered secret surveillance of some Americans -- without a warrant or statutory authority -- some commentators are suggesting that his presidency is in dire trouble. Well, I have one idea for a pick-me-up that will put his approval ratings into at least the mid-60s: Impeach him. . . .

"The main reason Bush's poll numbers would skyrocket if he were impeached is that at the end of the day the American people will support what he did. The legal defense of Bush's ongoing use of warrantless wiretaps is debatable. But the political case for what he did is rock-solid."

Froomkin is a national treasure. When he goes on paternity leave (soon) I'm going to go into withdrawal.

Getting the Word Out

Democrats Seek All of Alito's Writings

Associated Press
Wednesday, December 21, 2005; Page A04

The Bush administration should release all of Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s internal Justice Department documents before confirmation hearings begin next month, Senate Democrats said yesterday.

The documents "will be important in evaluating Judge Alito's nomination," the eight Judiciary Committee Democrats said in a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

Alito worked for the solicitor general's office from 1981 to 1985, and as deputy assistant U.S. attorney general from 1985 to 1987 before becoming a federal prosecutor and judge. President Bush named him to the Supreme Court in October.

"There are currently thousands of public documents on Judge Alito's extensive 15-year judicial record that provide more than sufficient evidence into his judicial philosophy," Justice Department spokesman Brian J. Roehrkasse said. "Furthermore, as a number of former solicitors general from both Republican and Democratic administrations have noted, releasing internal . . . documents would significantly compromise the ability of the solicitor general's office to obtain advice necessary in defending the American people in legal proceedings."

The National Archives has released some of Alito's solicitor general documents, including a memo in which he urged fellow Reagan administration lawyers to seek the gradual erosion of abortion rights rather than mount an all-out repeal of Roe v. Wade , the 1973 ruling establishing a constitutional right to abortion.

Those documents "make it clear that we and the American people could learn much about Judge Alito's judicial philosophy and legal thinking" from the undisclosed documents, the Democrats wrote.

The Dems are not doing a good job of getting out the message of how scary this guy is:

Majority of Americans Support Alito Nomination

By Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 21, 2005; 10:21 AM

A majority of Americans now support the confirmation of U.S. Appeals Court Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The survey found that 54 percent of the public say the Senate should confirm Alito while 28 percent say he should not be approved. That marks a modest increase in public support for Alito since November, when 49 percent said he should be confirmed and 29 percent said he should not. In both surveys, about one in five Americans said they did not know enough about the nominee to have an opinion.

Christmas Budget

With Cheney's Vote, Senate Passes Budget Bill

By William Branigin, Jonathan Weisman and Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 21, 2005

The Senate narrowly passed a $40 billion budget-cutting bill today, with Vice President Cheney casting the deciding vote after the chamber split 50-50 on the measure.

Taking his seat as president of the Senate after cutting short a trip to the Middle East, Cheney announced he was voting for the legislation, making the final tally 51-50 in favor of passage.

The budget legislation would trim federal spending growth by nearly $40 billion over the next five years.

Fearing a close vote, Cheney cut short his Middle East trip yesterday and flew back to Washington overnight after five Republican senators signaled they would vote against the measure, possibly leading to a 50-50 tie.

That turned out to be the case, as the five Republicans joined all 44 Democrats and one Democratic-leaning independent to oppose the hard-fought budget bill, which tackles the growth of entitlement programs such Medicaid and Medicare for the first time in nearly a decade.

"The bottom line is, we stood firm and we made tough choices," said Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who joined other Republicans in hailing what they called a great, if narrow, victory.

You know, a statement like that just begs for some investigating. Ok Ricky... let's play. What tough choices did you make?

Medicare. Saves a net $6.4 billion from the health care program for the elderly. Saves $6.5 billion by increasing Medicare payments to insurers that cover sicker patients and lowering payments to those covering healthier patients. Accelerates premium increases for better-off Medicare patients for doctor visits. Increases Medicare beneficiaries' premiums for coverage of doctor visits by about $2.30 a month in 2007. Saves $2.8 billion by reducing payments for imaging services, and saves $2 billion by freezing payments to home health care providers. Provides $7 billion for doctor's fees to avoid a 4.4 percent cut otherwise taking effect Jan. 1.

Digital television. Requires television broadcasters to shift from analog to digital signals by February 2009, which would require about 21 million owners of non-digital TVs without cable or satellite service to purchase converter boxes. Sets aside $1.5 billion to give two $40 coupons per household for converter boxes, estimated to cost between $50 and $60 each.

Student loans. $12.7 billion in net savings, achieved chiefly by reducing lender subsidies and retaining a scheduled shift from variable interest rates to a 6.8 percent fixed rate on most loans.

What a brave group of representatives you are... beating up on the elderly, women, and students. My goodness, I don't know what we'd do without you. So how much of an impact will it have on the budget?

According to budget experts, the bill would barely dent the federal deficit, cutting less than one-half of 1 percent from an estimated $14.3 trillion in federal spending over the next five years. Opponents said the poor would bear the brunt of the cuts -- especially to Medicaid, child support enforcement and foster care -- whereas original targets for belt-tightening, such as pharmaceutical companies and private insurers, largely escaped sanction.

And a Ho, Ho, Ho to you too. At least we have all of you on record for being against these programs... I just with the two nuts that represent my state were up for reelection in 06 (and we picked someone besides Bowles to run).

Where We Look, How We Talk: A Focus for 2006

Yes, New Year's resolutions might still be a week and a half away, but while pre-Christmas Day juice is still flowing, it's important to get in an early word on the next year, and how life in America needs to change.

One need not be lengthy about this--after all, these next five days are the most crowded, stressful, anxiety-laden days on the entire calendar for most Americans--so I'll be mercifully brief. (After Christmas Day, I'll probably feel inclined to expand on this in greater depth and detail.)

Here is our 2006 challenge: less ideology, more people.

I realize it's important to not abandon the culture wars, but as life goes on in America, the way I see the calculus changing is that the more we fight ideological fights, the easier it is for the rhetoric to escalate. The more our polarized emotions intensify between Red and Blue America, between FOX/CNN/Mainstream Media America and Alternative/Blog Media America, the more the quality of political and moral debate will suffer.

What Jim Wallis and his friends at Sojourners have been doing in recent weeks is closer to the kind of movement we need: a movement of the heart, full of prophetic courage but bereft of particularly personal ad hominem attacks or overly manipulative Beltway games that corrode our political landscape. Protests of budget cuts for the poor must be connected to an awareness of and familiarity with the individual lives of those around us who struggle. When we hold up these lives and show how they need to be defended and advocated for, the other side can't hide the truth. When we keep issues focused on people, not on the ideological fights that only stir up emotions, we--who want our country back--will advance.

I know ideological stories and issues get the blood flowing and the adrenaline rushing--I've felt that pull many times, and it's darn near irresistible. But a certain discipline needs to emerge in 2006 and beyond--we need to focus not just on groups of people, but individual people. When we write to our elected officials, seeing the specific dynamics (and spiritual urgency) at work in one person's life story can give us the force and clarity with which to move forward in our work and struggle.

That's all for now. Remember these individuals in your thoughts during Christmas; advocate like heck for them in 2006 (if you haven't done so already).

Christmas Panic Open Thread

I've got meetings this morning and then I've got to finish shopping and get the goods to UPS. The co-bloggers will be around, but me, not so much. How's your last week before the holidays going?

A Matter of Principle

Spy Court Judge Quits In Protest
Jurist Concerned Bush Order Tainted Work of Secret Panel

By Carol D. Leonnig and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, December 21, 2005; Page A01

A federal judge has resigned from the court that oversees government surveillance in intelligence cases in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program, according to two sources.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson, one of 11 members of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, sent a letter to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. late Monday notifying him of his resignation without providing an explanation.

Two associates familiar with his decision said yesterday that Robertson privately expressed deep concern that the warrantless surveillance program authorized by the president in 2001 was legally questionable and may have tainted the FISA court's work.

Robertson, who was appointed to the federal bench in Washington by President Bill Clinton in 1994 and was later selected by then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to serve on the FISA court, declined to comment when reached at his office late yesterday.

Word of Robertson's resignation came as two Senate Republicans joined the call for congressional investigations into the National Security Agency's warrantless interception of telephone calls and e-mails to overseas locations by U.S. citizens suspected of links to terrorist groups. They questioned the legality of the operation and the extent to which the White House kept Congress informed.

Sens. Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Olympia J. Snowe (Maine) echoed concerns raised by Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has promised hearings in the new year.

Hagel and Snowe joined Democrats Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Carl M. Levin (Mich.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) in calling for a joint investigation by the Senate judiciary and intelligence panels into the classified program.

The hearings would occur at the start of a midterm election year during which the prosecution of the Iraq war could figure prominently in House and Senate races.

I can't make any predictions about how this is going to play out. More than one of my associates have noted that principled resignations by noted figures have had no impact at all on the course of the Bush/Cheney administration. Unless there is widespread public outrage, which I'm not seeing, I don't think anything changes.

Interesting Leak

Spying Program Snared U.S. Calls

By JAMES RISEN and ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: December 21, 2005

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 - A surveillance program approved by President Bush to conduct eavesdropping without warrants has captured what are purely domestic communications in some cases, despite a requirement by the White House that one end of the intercepted conversations take place on foreign soil, officials say.

The officials say the National Security Agency's interception of a small number of communications between people within the United States was apparently accidental, and was caused by technical glitches at the National Security Agency in determining whether a communication was in fact "international."

Telecommunications experts say the issue points up troubling logistical questions about the program. At a time when communications networks are increasingly globalized, it is sometimes difficult even for the N.S.A. to determine whether someone is inside or outside the United States when making a cellphone call or sending an e-mail message. As a result, people that the security agency may think are outside the United States are actually on American soil.

Vice President Dick Cheney entered the debate over the legality of the program on Tuesday, casting the program as part of the administration's efforts to assert broader presidential powers.

Eavesdropping on communications between two people who are both inside the United States is prohibited under Mr. Bush's order allowing some domestic surveillance.

But in at least one instance, someone using an international cellphone was thought to be outside the United States when in fact both people in the conversation were in the country. Officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the program remains classified, would not discuss the number of accidental intercepts, but the total is thought to represent a very small fraction of the total number of wiretaps that Mr. Bush has authorized without getting warrants. In all, officials say the program has been used to eavesdrop on as many as 500 people at any one time, with the total number of people reaching perhaps into the thousands in the last three years.

Mr. Bush and his senior aides have emphasized since the disclosure of the program's existence last week that the president's executive order applied only to cases where one party on a call or e-mail message was outside the United States.

Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the former N.S.A. director who is now the second-ranking intelligence official in the country, was asked at a White House briefing this week whether there had been any "purely domestic" intercepts under the program.

"The authorization given to N.S.A. by the president requires that one end of these communications has to be outside the United States," General Hayden answered. "I can assure you, by the physics of the intercept, by how we actually conduct our activities, that one end of these communications are always outside the United States."

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales also emphasized that the order only applied to international communications. "People are running around saying that the United States is somehow spying on American citizens calling their neighbors," he said. "Very, very important to understand that one party to the communication has to be outside the United States."

A spokeswoman for the office of national intelligence declined comment on whether the N.S.A. had intercepted any purely domestic communications. "We'll stand by what General Hayden said in his statement," said the spokeswoman, Judy Emmel.

The Bush administration has not released the guidelines that the N.S.A. uses in determining who is suspected of having links to Al Qaeda and may be a target under the program. General Hayden said the determination was made by operational people at the agency and "must be signed off by a shift supervisor," with the process closely scrutinized by officials at the agency, the Justice Department and elsewhere.

But questions about the legal and operational oversight of the program last year prompted the administration to suspend aspects of it temporarily and put in place tighter restrictions on the procedures used to focus on suspects, said people with knowledge of the program. The judge who oversees the secret court that authorizes intelligence warrants - and which has been largely bypassed by the program - also raised concerns about aspects of the program.

Remote System Compromise Vulnerability: Multiple Symantec Antivirus Products

This one could get ugly.

If you run any A/V product made by Symantec, this means you.

That includes Norton Antivirus, because Symantec bought them a couple of years ago.

This vulnerability hasn't hit the MSM as of this writing, so far as I know. Amazingly, it hasn't shown up at the SANS Internet Storm Center site, either.

BTW, that last is well worth bookmarking. They may have let this one slip past, but they often catch things that other reporting sources don't. This site is gold. Take it from a professional infosec geek.

There is, to the best of my admittedly limited knowledge, no published exploit code for this vulnerability as yet.

Once exploit code is out there and weaponized, this one will be all over the map. Every dirtbag criminal from Dnepopetrovsk to Denver will be using it.

All the victim needs to do is scan a maliciously crafted RAR archive and *BINGO*! His machine is compromised. Compromised in the sense that it isn't his anymore. It now belongs to some nameless gutter filth who will proceed to either mine it for personal info, or use it to propagate spam and/or fraud. Or any combination of the above.

Even people cautious enough to refrain from opening attachments before scanning them can get nailed by this one. They will step on the IED when they scan the attached RAR archive they just saved to disk.

If you can't filter RAR archives at an external hardware firewall, then, well ..... Most people have a webmail interface that will let them see attachment lists while the email is still on the server, and the A/V software is still safe from it. If it were me, I'd use webmail to check out email for attachments before downloading it. Then I'd either zap suspect emails or just let them sit on the server, safe, until Symantec fixes this.

That fix cannot be too long delayed, unless they've gone completely bughouse crazy over at Symantec. They have already acknowledged this, and it affects every single solitary A/V product that they sell.

Their main cash cow is in the slaughtering pen. I think it's a safe bet they will consider this issue a five-alarm fire until it's well and truly put out.

Remotely exploitable application vulnerability, multiple Symantec antivirus products.

Affected Products

• Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition 8.x - 10.x


• Symantec AntiVirus for Caching 4.x


• Symantec AntiVirus for Network Attached Storage 4.x


• Symantec AntiVirus for SMTP Gateways 3.x


• Symantec AntiVirus Scan Engine 4.x


• Symantec AntiVirus/Filtering for Domino 3.x


• Symantec Brightmail AntiSpam 4.x - 6.x


• Symantec Client Security 1.x - 2.x


• Symantec Mail Security for Domino 4.x


• Symantec Mail Security for Exchange 4.x


• Symantec Mail Security for SMTP 4.x


• Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2001 - 2005


• Symantec Norton AntiVirus 5


• Symantec Norton AntiVirus 5.0 for OS/2


• Symantec Norton AntiVirus Corporate Edition 7.x


• Symantec Norton AntiVirus for Macintosh 9.x - 10.x


• Symantec Norton AntiVirus for Microsoft Exchange 2.x - 3.x


• Symantec Norton AntiVirus Solution 7.5


• Symantec Norton Internet Security 2001 - 2005


• Symantec Norton Internet Security 2003- 2004 Professional


• Symantec Norton Internet Security for Macintosh 3.x


• Symantec Web Security 2.x - 3.x

Risk: System compromise.

Risk Mechanism: A heap-based buffer overflow allows arbitrary code execution when a malicious RAR archive is scanned.

Vendor Response: Symantec is aware of and has acknowledged this vulnerability. No patch or upgrade mitigation is currently known to be available.

Workaround: Filter RAR archives at email or proxy gateways.

References:

• http://secunia.com/advisories/18131/


• http://www.rem0te.com/public/images/symc2.pdf


• http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/419853


• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/15971
  

While Nestled in their Beds

A question to all of the supporters of the White House and their policies... if you have such a huge mandate for your ideas and legislation, why are you constantly pulling stunts like this?

House Voting More Often in the Wee Hours

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 20, 2005

It was well past midnight yesterday, and the food outside the sumptuous Capitol suites of the House Republican leadership was piling up, a smorgasbord of Chinese dishes, piles of pizza, and cartons of Mrs. Fields cookies. House lawmakers casually dined as they waited for their final votes, knowing full well they still had a long night ahead of them.

Those votes -- on a sweeping budget-cutting measure and a defense bill that also would open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling -- did not come until practically the break of dawn. But that was nothing new for a House that has taken its most controversial votes in recent years under the cloak of darkness -- well past the deadlines for the evening news or the morning paper.

The House voted at 6:07 a.m. yesterday to shave $39.7 billion from entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. At 5:04 a.m., lawmakers voted to open the Alaskan wilderness to oil exploration.

The House's original version of the budget-cutting bill, which was significantly tougher, passed Nov. 18 at 1:41 a.m. On July 28, the Central American Free Trade Agreement -- ardently opposed by labor unions, which had put excruciating pressure on industrial state lawmakers -- squeaked through the House just past midnight. On March 21, a measure that thrust the federal government into the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case passed the House at 12:45 a.m.

And on Nov. 22, 2003, in an extraordinary, three-hour roll call, the House took much of the pre-dawn morning to pass the bill adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare.

In no way do House leaders mean to hide their actions from the public, said Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Each case is different, but never were the late-night votes planned.

Ron... I know that your boss thinks we are all idiots, but let's use a little bit of logic here.

Each one of the programs/bills cited in this article are extremely unpopular by themselves. According to Polling Report:

48% of Seniors disapprove of the new Medicare Plan
55% of Americans disapprove of drilling in ANWAR
(not even discussing the shenanigans you've used to get it this far)
74% of Americans disapprove of your actions in the Schiavo case

Gee, I wonder why you are waiting until the wee hours of the morning to get this done?

Oh, and if your ideas are winners, can we get a straight up and down vote on ANWAR? Otherwise, you look like a coward who is afraid of a fight.

Dental Care and the Poor

Poor Families Aching for Dental Care

By Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 20, 2005; Page B01

When Shenna Foster called the 800 number to find a dentist for her teenage son, Maryland's health care program for the poor offered three options: Greenbelt, New Carrollton and Fort Washington. Foster lives in Waldorf, 15 miles from the nearest location.

She does not drive, and public transportation is spotty for the journey. Six months later, her son's teeth remain a problem, with on-again, off-again pain.

There is only one general dental practice within Charles County that routinely accepts patients covered by the state, and that office won't accept new patients until summer.

"I called and asked for the dentist closest to me, and I'm still trying to find one," said Foster, a mother of four. "I've been calling for over a year."

Foster's struggle to find a local dentist is a dramatic example of the statewide and national shortage of dentists who treat patients covered by government-run Medicaid. The 8,000 children who qualify in Charles have the lowest rate of access to dental care in Maryland, according to the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The shortage is particularly trying in this emerging Washington suburb, because of the relatively small pool of private dentists -- 63 for 137,000 people -- and the limited public transportation to reach offices beyond the county's borders.

The two community clinics in Charles each have one dentist available one day a week for both adults and children.

.......

The state's Medicaid program covers 409,000 children in families earning up to 300 percent of the poverty level, or $58,050 for a household of four.

Dental health care may not be as urgent as some other forms of health care, but it is something that needs to be looked at. Under the Maryland rules, if my twins were born when I started teaching 6 years ago, my family would have qualified for Medicaid with two adults working full time (both with advanced degrees).

Even those of us who have decent health care, it doesn't come attached with dental. The State of North Carolina, for example, offers its workers dental insurance but at an extra $348 a year for one person. If you just do two cleanings, there is no point in the insurance since you are paying @$240 for those two appointments.

Obviously, this gets quite a bit more expensive if you have small children and since the states are scaling back their health care activities, who is going to help people. Good teeth can help reduce a myriad of other health problems and if the government isn't willing to invest in preventive health care, then why should it complain when we have to pay for the problems that crop up as a result of our inattention?

After all, it's not like the employers are willing to invest in the health of their employees.

Fog of Lousy Rhetoric

The Fog of False Choices
Article

Published: December 20, 2005

After five years, we're used to President Bush throwing up false choices to defend his policies. Americans were told, after all, that there was a choice between invading Iraq and risking a terrorist nuclear attack. So it was not a surprise that Mr. Bush's Oval Office speech Sunday night and his news conference yesterday were thick with Orwellian constructions: the policy debate on Iraq is between those who support Mr. Bush and those who want to pull out right now, today; fighting terrorists in Iraq means we're not fighting them here.

But none of these phony choices were as absurd as the one Mr. Bush posed to justify his secret program of spying on Americans: save lives or follow the law.

Mr. Bush said he thwarted terrorist plots by allowing the National Security Agency to monitor Americans' international communications without a warrant. We don't know if that is true because the administration reverts to top-secret mode when pressed for details. But we can reach a conclusion about Mr. Bush's assertion that obeying a 27-year-old law prevents swift and decisive action in a high-tech era. It's a myth.

The 1978 law that regulates spying on Americans (remember Richard Nixon's enemies lists?) does require a warrant to conduct that sort of surveillance. It also created a special court that is capable of responding within hours to warrant requests. If that is not fast enough, the attorney general may authorize wiretaps and then seek a warrant within 72 hours.

Mr. Bush and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales offered a whole bag of logical pretzels yesterday to justify flouting this law. Most bizarre was the assertion that Congress authorized the surveillance of American citizens when it approved the use of "all necessary and appropriate force" by the United States military to punish those responsible for the 9/11 attacks or who aided or harbored the terrorists. This came as a surprise to lawmakers, who thought they were voting for the invasion of Afghanistan and the capture of Osama bin Laden.
....
Mr. Bush says Congress gave him the power to spy on Americans. Fine, then Congress can just take it back.

Bush can't actually craft an argument. Strawmen and false dichotomies are all the Bushies have to offer.

Civics 101

The "Think Progress" blog of the Center for American Progress has this today:

Move Over Supreme Court: Rice Anoints Gonzales As “The Highest Legal Authority In The Country”

Last night in an interview with Wolf Blitzer, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the president’s decision to authorize a warrantless domestic spying program:

The President spoke to this earlier and the Attorney General, who is, after all, the highest legal authority in the country, has spoken to this.

As any veteran of an 8th grade civics class can tell you, the highest legal authority in the country is the Supreme Court. Rice’s position illustrates the problem with this administration – the belief that the power of the executive is unchecked.

Scopes-- 2 Fundies -- 0

How many more times are we going to need to dance this dance? The tune is the same and, to no one's surprise, the law is the same.

Judge Bars 'Intelligent Design' From Pa. Classes

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 20, 2005

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- "Intelligent design" cannot be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, a federal judge said Tuesday, ruling in one of the biggest courtroom clashes on evolution since the 1925 Scopes trial.

Dover Area School Board members violated the Constitution when they ordered that its biology curriculum must include the notion that life on Earth was produced by an unidentified intelligent cause, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III said. Several members repeatedly lied to cover their motives even while professing religious beliefs, he said.

I can hear them now over on FOX... those evilly rasically liberals out to destroy our Christian heritage... that must have been one of those activist judges... except the Times noted earlier this week that:

He is a lifelong Republican appointed to the federal bench in 2002 by President Bush.

He (Judge John E. Jones III) ran for Congress 10 years earlier (he lost by one percentage point) and later considered running for governor. His supporters include Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and his mentor is Tom Ridge, the former governor of Pennsylvania and homeland security secretary.

Doh!

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that "Intelligent design" is nothing more than a smokescreen for Creationism. Thankfully, we have a case of a judge acting in a non partisan way and upholding the law instead of a doctrine.

No dobut there are people in the House lobbying for his impeachment as we speak. Maybe this issue will lay and rest some for another 80 years until a whole new generation forgets about the lessons learned here.

Our Booming Economy

Survey Shows Increases in Hunger and Homelessness

Tuesday, December 20, 2005; Page A20

Hunger and homelessness are growing in major U.S. cities, according to a national survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors released yesterday in San Francisco.

Overall, in the 24 major cities surveyed, the demand for food grew by 12 percent and the need for shelter by 6 percent over last year, according to the Conference of Mayors' 22nd annual Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness. Cities surveyed include some of the largest in the country, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and Philadelphia.

The survey also found that evacuees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita have not had a significant strain on resources in the cities surveyed, although officials in those cities worry that "a lack of federal commitment to the evacuees" may eventually have an impact on their resources devoted to the hungry and the homeless.

Da vinci Decoded

Software decodes Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile

17 December 2005

IT'S official: Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was 83 per cent happy, 9 per cent disgusted, 6 per cent fearful and 2 per cent angry.

Nicu Sebe at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands tested emotion-recognition software on the famous enigmatic smile. His algorithm, developed with researchers at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, examines key facial features such as the curvature of the lips and crinkles around the eyes, then scores each face with respect to six basic emotions.

Thank goodness! I know I can sleep easier at night now.

BTW: How are you 2% angry? Just wondering....

Uh-Oh

Customs Agents Seize Counterfeit Bird Flu Drug

Associated Press
Monday, December 19, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 18 -- Customs agents have intercepted more than 50 shipments of counterfeit Tamiflu, the antiviral drug being stockpiled in anticipation of a bird flu pandemic, marking the first such seizures in the United States, authorities said Sunday.

The first package was intercepted Nov. 26 at an airmail facility near San Francisco International Airport, said Roxanne Hercules, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Agents have since seized 51 packages, each containing as many as 50 counterfeit capsules labeled generic Tamiflu.

I haven't seen this anywhere else, which is probably a good thing. Do we really need a panic at this point (not that there is any proof that Tamiflu will do any good if/when the bird flu arrives)?

What They Don't Tell You

Geov Parrish: WorkingForChange.com
12.19.05
2005 media follies!
The year's most over- and under-reported stories

Welcome to the tenth year of my annual list of the year's most overhyped and underreported stories. As one would expect in a year when one of the underreported stories was our government's covert propaganda campaigns, there's plenty to unravel: stories that should never have been stories, stories whose reporting largely missed the point, and stories barely told at all in mainstream US media.

The good news is that, more than ever, mainstream media is no longer the last word in journalism. Foreign media, now universally available in English on the Internet, often tells a completely different (and usually more accurate) story than what we see, read, and hear here. So-called alternative media -- which has been way ahead of the mainstream media on any number of issues -- has repeatedly shown its relevance, to the point where the Internet is rapidly becoming the preferred news source for many Americans.

But it's the mainstream that still has the largest audiences, and so it is the stories that do and don't appear there that require our attention. Here's our list, which is surely incomplete. If you have suggestions for additions to the list, e-mail them to [email protected] and we'll run the best ones in a coming issue.
....
The Underreported Stories
The right-wing radicalism of Samuel Alito is no secret; it's just been deeply ignored by a too cautious press. Likewise, John Roberts' portrayal as a moderate was simply mind-boggling.

Early Morning Outgoing Mail

Mr. Jeffrey Dvorkin
Ombudsman, National Public Radio

Mr. Dvorkin,
The producer's decision to put Barbara Bradley Haggerty on this morning's "Morning Edition" story on "Intelligent Design" was an extremely poor one. Ms. Haggerty is not a science reporter, but one of your religion reporters and is well known as a Christian evangelical. A science reporter would have had the background to critique "Intelligent Design." Ms. Haggerty does not and has no interest in doing so.

Words

Editor in chief

ONE OF THE PERKS OF being commander in chief is that you get to edit the Constitution, even the Bill of Rights, from time to time. That is in essence the legal justification offered by the Bush administration for its authorization of a secret program to wiretap, without any court order, international communications of individuals within the United States suspected of ties to terrorist groups. Bush acknowledged in his Saturday radio address that he had authorized the National Security Agency to conduct such wiretaps in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the administration has been trying ever since to explain why it believed it could get away with such a brazen deviation from accepted practice.

In his radio address, Bush said he was empowered by a congressional resolution that authorized the "use of all necessary and appropriate force" to respond to the 9/11 attacks, on top of his normal constitutional powers as commander in chief.

"The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy," Bush testily said at his Monday news conference. He then made much of the fact that the monitoring program, which bypasses the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act's requirement that investigators seek secret court warrants in national security cases, only applies to international communications, where one caller or e-mail correspondent is out of the country.

"So in other words," Bush explained, "this is not a — if you're calling from Houston to L.A., that call is not monitored. And if there was ever any need to monitor, there would be a process to do that."

This distinction between international and domestic calls is perplexing. Americans in their own country do not waive their 4th Amendment right to privacy when they dial 011.

Moreover, the distinction doesn't even make sense on the administration's own terms. The FISA courts are notoriously accommodating to government requests, which can be made even after the eavesdropping has taken place. Nonetheless, Bush claims they're not nimble enough to be effective in the war on terror. Yet if that's the case, why is the government still relying on them in the domestic context? What if you had two suspected Al Qaeda cells communicating with each other within the United States?

If the current setup is so cumbersome, the president should have pushed for a change in the law. The fact that he instead made a secret decision to cut out judicial oversight of wiretaps may have had more to do with the White House's desire to expand executive power than with any real shortcomings in the process.

He likes the perks, but where is all that "hard work" he talks about in between his extensive vacations at the Crawford ranch? Ask the Katrina survivors about what he's done to shake down the executive branch agencies to "get the job done" for them. Look at the cuts to veterans programs. He spent the weekend crowing on TV about "victory" in Iraq. Well, where's the plan? He still doesn't have one other than rhetoric and it isn't at all clear to me that he can tell the difference between hot air and hot lead. The pissy and petulant presser he gave yesterday may pass for "hard work" in his tiny brain, but a press conference loaded with evasions ain't the same thing as, you know, actually "governing," of which we've seen none from this crony laden administration of incompetents. In a constitutional democracy, there is a difference between governing and "ruling," but the oligarchs don't understand the difference and it is not clear to me that the sheeple care.

I am a Crook

Let's make it clear here... with all of the recent revelations on domestic spying, including this article, it's 1973 all over again except for the great music.

F.B.I. Watched Activist Groups, New Files Show

By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: December 20, 2005

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - Counterterrorism agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted numerous surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations that involved, at least indirectly, groups active in causes as diverse as the environment, animal cruelty and poverty relief, newly disclosed agency records show.

F.B.I. officials said Monday that their investigators had no interest in monitoring political or social activities and that any investigations that touched on advocacy groups were driven by evidence of criminal or violent activity at public protests and in other settings.

After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, John Ashcroft, who was then attorney general, loosened restrictions on the F.B.I.'s investigative powers, giving the bureau greater ability to visit and monitor Web sites, mosques and other public entities in developing terrorism leads. The bureau has used that authority to investigate not only groups with suspected ties to foreign terrorists, but also protest groups suspected of having links to violent or disruptive activities.

But the documents, coming after the Bush administration's confirmation that President Bush had authorized some spying without warrants in fighting terrorism, prompted charges from civil rights advocates that the government had improperly blurred the line between terrorism and acts of civil disobedience and lawful protest.

One F.B.I. document indicates that agents in Indianapolis planned to conduct surveillance as part of a "Vegan Community Project." Another document talks of the Catholic Workers group's "semi-communistic ideology." A third indicates the bureau's interest in determining the location of a protest over llama fur planned by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

I want to know from the 50.5% that voted for these yahoos exactly how these groups rank up in importance with Al-Qaeda. Come on now... no pressure...

If they can't explain why, then they should contact their representatives and demand for impeachment hearings. The Catholic Workers are no more of a security threat than the Cub Scout group that meets in my church every tuesday and the FBI knows that (or should). If 9/11 changed everything, then why are we still focused on "semi-communistic" groups?

Pommes Frites, I have no Idea how to say that in Basque

According to the editor of "The Basque Table" this is way fries are cooked in Basque country. Well, this is simply good sense in my part of the country. These are a delicious side to any steak or burger dinner. These are so good that you will need to double this recipe for a group of four over the burger grill. Yes, you will. They are that good. All I can tell you about this is that these are so good that people will be asking for the recipe.

4 small potatoes (about 3/4 pound)
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt

1. Put the potatoes into a saucepan, and add enough water to cover them by several inches. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce the heat to low, and cook the potatoes for about 20 minutes, until they are fork-tender. Drain the potatoes, and set them aside to cool.

2. Peel the potatoes, and cut them into strips or crosswise slices.

3. In a deep skillet, heat the oil over high heat until it is very hot. Add the potatoes, and cook them for about 1 minute, or just until they are golden. Drain them on two layers of paper towels, salt them to taste, and serve them hot.

On the side: in Holland and Belgium, "frites" like this are served with mayonaisse, which I find, well, dreadful. If you want some acid to cut the grease, use the UK's favorite, malt vinegar. I haven't really found a decent use for ketchup yet (other than in my non-traditional beef stroganoff) so I'm going with bernaise sauce with the fries, if anything. Good fries shouldn't need much more than a shake of Kosher salt, and these don't. These are crunchy on the outside, mealy on the inside, pretty much the perfect fry..

This will serve four as a side to steak frites, but you'll need to double it to serve with burgers and fries for four. Use kosher salt liberally on the fries and people will wonder why you've been holding out on them with this recipe. Gawd, these are good. They will coax you into buying a deep frier. I kid thee not

The Good Stuff

GRANDPA ARROYO'S CUBAN BLACK BEANS &
RICE

2 lbs. black beans
2 lg. bell peppers
1 c. olive oil
1/2 c. sugar
2 lg. onions
8 oz. diced pimentos
1 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. sherry
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 c. vinegar (to taste)
2 c. rice
Salt & pepper to taste

Soak black beans overnight. Cover in pressure cooker with water 2 inches over top of black beans. Cook in pressure cooker for 45 minutes. Do not drain any remaining fluid. Dice onions. Cut bell peppers into 1/2 inch by 3/4 inch slices. Add all ingredients to black beans. Simmer for 2 to 4 hours. Beans should make their own broth.

Add liquid when necessary to prevent drying out or burning, but keep broth thick. Serve over rice. Use as side dish to chicken or steak, or main dish on its own. Also, try in flour tortillas to make unique Cuban burittos.

This is so good that it will make you hug yourself. I promise, Scouts' honor.

If you don't yet own a pressure cooker, this recipe will make you ask for one for Christmas. Yes, you will.

Posted by Melanie at 03:17 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

New Blogger

In praise of ... Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Leader
Monday December 19, 2005
The Guardian

It may seem mundane to others, but to the sleepless fanatics of the world wide web it has been their Princess Diana moment, a catalyst for a worldwide release of affection and emotion. The event? One more person has joined the 23 million others around the world who write blogs or online diaries. The difference is that this one is Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the web itself.

Sir Tim believes that blogging is a milestone for the creativity he intended for his invention. Characteristically modest, he started his blog, untrumpeted, a week ago. It was only on Friday that it was noticed by another blogger. Since then the news has spread around the internet in the usual word-of-blog way, creating a spontaneous gush of gratitude from hundreds around the world.

Typical was this comment from gus3: "Dear Sir Timothy/ For helping me with my job/ For helping me with my education/ For helping my mother find her family/ For helping my brother know about the medicines he needs/ And for so much more. With tears in my eyes, I say, 'thank you'." Another observed: "Without you, who are we?" A third said he was a god among men - maybe or just God. Another complained that Sir Tim should have had a dukedom, not just a knighthood.

It is not given to many to change someone else's life for the better. But Sir Tim has done that many millions of times over without seeking payment. His bequest to the human race is the world wide web itself - not a bad achievement for anyone's CV.

My new boss sent me the link earlier today:
http://dig.csail.mit.edu/breadcrumbs/node/38

Go and join the chorus of praise.

Froomkin Deconstruction

Here is Postie Dan Froomkin's analysis of Bush's speech last night and it's a lot better than anything I heard from the cable pundits:

The president is getting a lot of credit from journalists this morning for sounding chastened, conciliatory, even humble. Some are writing that he is finally admitting his mistakes and engaging his critics. But a close reading of his speech makes it quite clear that he did neither last night.

During the past two weeks, Bush has been more realistic than before about the obstacles in Iraq.

But when it came to admitting mistakes, Bush acknowledged tactical errors and intelligence failures by others. He didn't take responsibility for the bad intelligence -- just for "the decision to go into Iraq." He was still unwilling to admit he's made any mistakes himself. And in fact he said he has "never been more certain" about the mission in Iraq.

Some of Bush's speech was directed at his critics -- a first. He even voiced one of their major concerns -- that "we are creating more problems than we're solving" -- and called that an "important question." All quite unprecedented.

But Bush then moved right into one of his classic straw-man arguments, attacking those who believe that "the terrorists would become peaceful if only America would stop provoking them." The arguments made by critics are quite different. They argue, for instance, that the occupation is turning ordinary Iraqis into terrorists, is turning Iraq into a training ground for terrorists, and is distracting from the greater war on terror. Bush didn't mention those arguments.

And there is a big difference between speaking to critics from the Oval Office -- and actually hearing and responding to their criticisms in person.

The odious Kyra Phillips is spouting Bush's talking point "everything is different after 9/11" because she wouldn't know a straw man if it fell on her. CNN=Crappy News Network.

Unsupportable

Via Suburban Guerrilla:

Fox poll shows Alito support Alito just 35%

RAW STORY

A poll conducted by Fox News December 13 - 14 shows dwindling support for Bush SCOTUS nominee Samuel Alito. Overall support for Alito has dropped from 46% November 8 - 9 to just 35% among registered voters. This is significantly lower than the 51% support enjoyed by confirmed Bush nominee John Roberts.

The drop in support is across with board, with just 57% of Republicans (down from 75%), 28% of Independents (down from 39%), and a mere 17% of Democrats (down from 26%) reporting that they would vote to confirm Alito, if given the opportunity.

The group Alliance for Justice has made the Fox poll data available to RAW STORY. The data can be viewed in PDF format here.

Every Breath He Takes

War Data Cited by Bush Are Debatable
By Doyle McManus, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — President Bush offered only a few pieces of specific evidence Sunday to support his assertion that "we are winning the war in Iraq." And like so much in Iraq, even those are hotly debated.

The president said more than 126 Iraqi combat battalions were now engaged in "fighting the enemy" and "more than 50 are taking the lead."

Those numbers are based on current Pentagon estimates of Iraqi troop strength, officials said. An Iraqi battalion includes about 600 men. So Bush's estimate of 126 Iraqi battalions in combat would add up to about 76,000 men, about half the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.

And during a Nov. 30 address at the U.S. Naval Academy, Bush estimated that 40 Iraqi battalions were "in the lead."

But "taking the lead" does not mean an Iraqi unit is fully capable of fighting on its own. In U.S. military parlance, an Iraqi unit can "take the lead" when it is capable of launching combat operations with the help of U.S. support and logistics.

"When we say 'in the lead,' we mean putting them in charge, still with our transition teams and still with our enabling support," Army Gen. George W. Casey, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, told reporters last week. "So it's different than being operating totally independently."

Only one Iraqi battalion is currently listed at Level 1, capable of fully independent operations, officials said. The 50 battalions Bush cited are listed at Level 2.

On one point, the president appeared to have offered a conservative estimate: He said the United States had "transferred more than a dozen military bases to Iraqi control." Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Dec. 8 that "about 17 [military bases] have actually been turned over."

Bush also quoted selectively from recent opinion polls to suggest that Iraqis were satisfied with the course of events in their country. "Seven in 10 Iraqis say their lives are going well, and nearly two-thirds expect things to improve even more in the year ahead," he said.

He was quoting almost verbatim from the findings of a recent poll in Iraq that was sponsored jointly by ABC News, Time magazine and other news organizations.

But the same poll had findings that Bush left out: Fewer than half of Iraqis — 46% — said their country was better off than it was before the war; half said it was wrong for the United States to invade in 2003. Two-thirds said they opposed the continued presence of U.S. troops, and almost half said they would like to see U.S. forces leave soon.

"A lot of the numbers throughout his speech spin reality almost out of control," said Anthony H. Cordesman, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has been generally supportive of Bush's strategy in Iraq.

"He's cherry-picked numbers and I think rounded them up … [he's] ignored all the negatives," Cordesman said on National Public Radio, referring to the polling results.

Every word out of his mouth is a lie, including "and" and "the."

Defending the Boy King

Gonzales Defends Eavesdropping Program
Congress 'Authorized' Domestic Surveillance in Iraq War Resolution, Claims Attorney General

By Fred Barbash and Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 19, 2005; 10:03 AM

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales this morning defended the administration's domestic eavesdropping operation, saying it derived its legality from the congressional resolution permitting the use of force to fight terrorism as well as from the "inherent powers" of the president as commander-in-chief.

He acknowledged that such eavesdropping would be illegal under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. But that act, he said, makes an exception for eavesdropping when "otherwise authorized" by statute. That authorizing statute, he argued, was the 2001 resolution, known as the "Authorization to use Military Force."

That resolution makes no reference to eavesdropping or of detention policies. The administration has cited it in justification of both, however.

Responding to Gonzales' claim, Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold said on NBC's Today Show. "Nobody, nobody, thought when we passed a resolution to invade Afghanistan and to fight the war on terror, including myself who voted for it, thought that this was an authorization to allow a wiretapping against the law of the United States."

In a briefing for reporters after his television appearances, Gonzales said his position was bolstered by the Supreme Court's 2004 ruling in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld. In that decision, written by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the court said the resolution constituted "explicit congressional authorization for the detention of individuals" in the narrow category of terrorism related to the September 11 attacks. At the same time, the court said that the legality of any individual detention could not be determined by the government alone, but required a judgment by some neutral objective third party.

Gonzales' comments, made in briefings and on CNN and other network appearances this morning, constituted the administration's most elaborate attempt yet to explain the derivation of its authority to eavesdrop.

President Bush acknowledged Saturday that since October 2001 he has authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on international phone calls and e-mails of people within the United States without seeking warrants from courts.

The New York Times disclosed the existence of the program last week. Bush and other administration officials initially refused to discuss the surveillance or their legal authority, citing security concerns.

I'm listening to Bush's press conference this morning. He has never sounded more petulant. He talks down to the press and to us from the height of an imperial presidency. He is a dangerous sociopath.

Pillage, Then Burn

Leaders in Congress OK Cuts to Budget
# Lawmakers agree to slash $41.6 billion and to attach an Arctic drilling measure to a defense bill.

By Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — On the second day of a rare weekend session, House and Senate leaders Sunday approved the first significant spending cuts to domestic social programs in nearly a decade and agreed to attach a proposal allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to a bill funding the U.S. military.

Rushing to complete its business before leaving town for the holidays, the House met past midnight and was expected early today to take up the military spending bill, which includes the drilling measure, and the budget cuts.

The Senate has in the past blocked efforts to open the Alaskan refuge to energy exploration. But because the proposal is now part of a bill funding troops in wartime, President Bush's long-sought goal of allowing drilling in the refuge will be politically tougher for senators to oppose.

"Obviously, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I had the votes," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said Sunday as partisan tensions ran high over the maneuver to put one of the nation's most contentious environmental issues in a defense bill. The Senate is expected to vote on the drilling measure this week.
....
House and Senate negotiators also rejected an effort to include in the budget-cutting bill a measure to split the San Francisco-based U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals into two benches.

Environmental ruin, but the 9th Circuit stays together. Ugh. Rapacious barbarians.

Wretched Excess

The Market Is Getting Tight for High-End Jeans
# Demand sizzles for brands such as True Religion, but there's talk of a denim bubble.

By Leslie Earnest, Times Staff Writer

Prices show few signs of easing, buyers say they won't back off, and analysts are left to wonder whether the bubble is going to burst.

The commodity in question? Not Southern California housing but premium jeans — frayed, faded or ripped, and sometimes all three, selling for upward of $400.

Helping to fuel the frenzy is True Religion Apparel Inc., a Los Angeles company that would be happy to burst all that bubble talk. Three years after its start-up, the manufacturer has become the No. 2 premium denim brand in the United States. Now True Religion is continuing its expansion with the opening of its first store, in Manhattan Beach, this month.

Growth has been swift. The company projects that sales will pass $100 million this year and reach $136 million in 2006. Its stock price has doubled this year, closing Friday at $16.44, up 8 cents.

True Religion, through its early success and potential vulnerability, provides a window into the premium denim industry, which is dominated by Los Angeles County companies. The niche is populated with brands such as 7 for All Mankind, the top seller, as well as Citizens of Humanity and Chip and Pepper.

Wholesale revenues in the premium denim segment, still only a small fraction of the overall jeans market, have doubled this year to about $1 billion, said analyst Vera Van Ert of Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc. in Los Angeles.

The action at the retail level continues to sizzle, but "the question is: Is that a trend that can keep on going?" said analyst Eric Beder of Brean Murray, Carret & Co.

Those who sell the jeans say the premium prices are justified because the denim is top quality and the pants are painstakingly hand-finished by workers who sand them to the perfect shade, fray pockets and hems with grinders and sometimes stitch on patches in unique patterns.

"It's very expensive to do that," said Jeffrey Lubell, True Religion's chief executive and co-founder.

If you wonder whether or not we've reached the end of empire yet, this is proof. $400 for a pair of jeans. It is time to get out. What happens next is collapse.

Posted by Melanie at 04:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Details

Via The Agonist community:

Indian Ocean Islanders Take On a Superpower

By Padma Rao,
Der Spiegel
Published: December 8, 2005

The island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean is located perfectly from a strategic point of view. But when the US military adopted it as a military base in the 1960s and 70s, it was inconveniently populated. The natives were driven out -- but now, they want their home back. Skip to next paragraph

Former truck driver Norbert L'Emclume, 65, sits in a shabby hut in Cassis, a slum in Port Louis, the capital of the island nation of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. His wife hangs up laundry, while their grandchildren play on old mattresses laid across a narrow, open sewage ditch. In addition to serving as in impromptu playground, the mattresses are also where the 12 members of L'Emclume's family sleep.

Questions about L'Emclume's origins awaken sad memories and he often responds with an elegiac poem often recited in the slums. "I left my country, my little island; I lost my family and my heart."

This week, the fate of L'Emclume and other former Chagossians is the subject of a case being argued halfway around the world, before a court in London. Once again, lawyers and judges in faraway Great Britain are revisiting the story of a destroyed paradise in the Indian Ocean -- and a dirty chapter in the more recent history of the former colonial power.

At issue is a story from the days of slavery, except that this tale begins only four decades ago. It's the story of how Her Majesty's government depopulated and sold off the 60-square-kilometer (about 23 square miles) Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, along with their 2,000 inhabitants, including L'Emclume. Their imperial goals, after all, were more important.

The story begins in the 1960s, when the English -- then as now led by Queen Elizabeth II -- depopulated the islands. The Chagossians were starved out, pets were gassed before the eyes of the islands' children, and finally, the islanders were loaded onto freighters and shipped off to the Seychelles and Mauritius.

What to do with the inhabitants?

The emptied islands didn't remain empty for long, though. For $14 million -- paid indirectly in the form of a discount on Polaris rockets purchased by Great Britain from the United States -- America leased the largest island in the archipelago in 1966. Diego Garcia soon became one of the US's most important military bases the world over.

The choice of location was hardly accidental. From the beginning of the coldest phase of the Cold War -- beginning in the early 60s with the construction of the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis -- the US had been ramping up its search for strategically located military bases. A base in the Indian Ocean, they reasoned, would help keep the Soviet Union and China at bay. Films at Britain's national archive, the Public Records Office in London, offer extensive documentation of the exploratory trips taken by US military personnel. For the Americans, the Chagos Islands were the perfect location. The only problem? They were inhabited.

Well, you could just torture them and hold them in jails forever as enemy combatents. Oh, wait, we hadn't thought that one up yet.

If you aren't reading Sean-Paul and the Agonistas everyday, you are missing a great deal of information.

Fools and Knaves

Bush, Saying U.S. Is Winning, Asks Patience on Iraq

By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: December 19, 2005

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 - President Bush declared to the nation on Sunday night that the United States was winning the war in Iraq and pleaded with his viewers not to "give in to despair" over a conflict that has cost more than 2,100 American lives and an estimated 30,000 Iraqi deaths. Skip to next paragraph Joshua Roberts/Reuters

The president spoke to the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday night.

In a 17-minute live televised address from the Oval Office, his first in the formal setting since he announced that he had ordered the Iraq invasion in March 2003, Mr. Bush offered a vigorous reaffirmation of an unpopular war and asked his viewers for patience.

"Some look at the challenges in Iraq, and conclude that the war is lost, and not worth another dime or another day," Mr. Bush said. "I don't believe that. Our military commanders do not believe that. Our troops in the field, who bear the burden and make sacrifice, do not believe that America has lost."

He added, "And not even the terrorists believe it. We know from their communications that they feel a tightening noose and fear the rise of a democratic Iraq."

The president, speaking in a steady voice punctuated by the constant gesturing of his hands, nonetheless acknowledged his critics more than he has in the past, and adopted a more humble tone. "I also want to speak to those of you who did not support my decision to send troops to Iraq," Mr. Bush said. "I have heard your disagreement, and I know how deeply it is felt."

But he also made clear that he himself had not wavered in his commitment to the war.

"I do not expect you to support everything I do, but tonight I have a request," the president said. "Do not give in to despair, and do not give up on this fight for freedom."

The president held out the possibility of American troop withdrawals in 2006, but he made no promises, and did not mention anticipated Pentagon reductions of troops to 138,000 in the next few months, which would be a return to the military's "baseline" level before the election last Thursday. Currently there about 160,000 American troops in Iraq, a number that was increased to keep order during the vote.

"We will see the Iraqi military gaining strength and confidence, and the democratic process moving forward," Mr. Bush said. "As these achievements come, it should require fewer American troops to accomplish our mission. I will make decisions on troop levels based on the progress we see on the ground and advice of our military leaders, not based on artificial timetables set by politicians in Washington."

Democrats countered that while they welcomed the more realistic tone of Mr. Bush's speech, he had failed to explain the realities of the war. "He acknowledged that we have made mistakes and he acknowledged that he understood why people are upset with him," said Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of Delaware, in an interview after Mr. Bush's speech.

But "he made it sound like if we just get rid of Al Qaeda all will be fine in Iraq. As I said to the president on Friday, every single member of Al Qaeda in Iraq could be shot dead, but Mr. President, you would still have a civil war in Iraq."

Bush's "Fantasy War" threatens to destroy him. This is as it should be. The ever naive Liz Bumiller fails to ask the most obvious questions on behalf of the ever credulous media shill New York Times.

No wonder the reporters for the paper call it "the death star."

Joe Biden, call your office, you media whore.

The Slutworks

Same old shit. Your boy king hasn't learned a goddamn thing. This is news? It was like watching the same old newsreel. And the networks gave up time for this? Slutworks, the same as before.

Hacks.

A Great Recipe and a NOTE on Tools

Tamales are labor intensive, but, dayyum, they are good. I learned to make these in the kitchen, as I've mentioned before, of the couple who own Manuel's in Santa Cruz. I've given you a couple of other versions of the classic tamale, but this is my favorite. My then-boyfriend was a musician in the festival orchestra which was based at Aptos Community College each summer and we were housed with board members. John Cage was the guest composer in residence one summer and our hosts held the celebratory party for him at the Church of San Juan Bautista after one of the concerts. He's vegan, so we made the vegan variety for him. I prefer these chili cheese jobs, and they will give you rave reviews for a crowd. This makes about 12. If you are serving a meal or a pretty solid roster of passed or buffet foods, figure on one of these per person. They are pretty substantial and one makes lunch for me, or breakfast. Oh, definitely breakfast. This is a great rough carb and protein way to start the day with a calcium punch. Serve the cold ones (steamed over boiling water for ten minutes, the microwave dries them out) next to your eggs instead of hashbrowns in the morning, if you have left overs. But I'm pretty sure you won't. This is cucina de magre, food of the poor, and cheap to make.

1 8-ounce package dried corn husks
1 pound Mexican cheese, such as Ranchero, queso fresco, panela, or manchego, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, (about 3 cups) [ed. note, I prefer manchego, but try the others if you can find them]
4 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 1/2 cups Green Salsa (see recipe)

1 cup canned reduced-sodium chicken broth, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pound cold prepared ground masa for tamales
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening or cold lard

Twelve 6-inch square foil sheets

Sour cream

RECIPE METHOD

TO PREPARE TAMALES: Soak dried corn husks in hot water 2 hours or overnight. Drain on paper towels. Combine cheese, chiles and 1/2 cup salsa in medium bowl. Set cheese mixture aside.

Combine 1/2 cup salsa, chicken broth, salt and baking soda in 2-cup glass measuring cup. Set broth mixture aside. Using electric mixer, beat cold masa in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Gradually beat in broth mixture. With mixer on high speed, beat shortening or lard 1 tablespoon at a time into masa, beating well after each addition. Continue beating and scraping down sides of bowl until mixture is light and fluffy, about 15 minutes total. Test for lightness by dropping 1 tablespoon masa into cold water: If it floats, masa is light enough to use. If not, continue beating at high speed a few minutes longer.

TO WRAP TAMALES: Spread 1 or 2 whole husks lengthwise on counter with narrow end pointing away from you. Spread about 21/2 tablespoons masa mixture over 3x2-inch area of husk. Top with 1 heaping tablespoon cheese mixture. Fold sides over, then fold in ends to enclose filling completely. Place folded tamale on foil square and fold foil to enclose tamale. Repeat with remaining husks, filling and foil squares.

TO COOK TAMALES: Add enough water to large pot to come 1 inch up sides. Cover bottom of steamer basket with remaining corn husks. Arrange tamales upright and in layers in steamer basket. Cover pot and bring water to boil. When water begins to boil, place steamer basket with tamales into pot. Reduce heat to low. Cover and steam tamales until husks just pull away from masa without sticking, checking water level occasionally, about 1 hour. Remove basket from pot and let rest 10 minutes. (Cold tamales can be reheated in a steamer over simmering water for 30 minutes. They’re delicious for breakfast the next day, topped with a fried egg.)

Transfer tamales to platter and serve hot with remaining salsa verde and sour cream.

NOTE: If you cannot find masa for tamales at a Latin American market, mix 1 3/4 cup dry masa harina with 1 cup warm water and then chill.

Green Salsa Recipe

This is an uncooked recipe, you have to husk the tomatillos without blanching, but the sauce has such a fresh "green" flavor that you won't mind the extra work.

3/4 lb tomatillos, husked and quartered
2 serrano chili peppers, coarsely chopped
1/4 small yellow onion, sliced
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon salt, or as needed
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

RECIPE METHOD

In a blender or food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the tomatillos, chilies, onion and water; process briefly until chunky. Add the 1 teaspoon salt and the cilantro and purée until no large chunks remain, about 2 minutes longer.

Taste and add more salt, if needed. Pour into a bowl and serve, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Serve this as part of a Mexi buffet, and let the other dishes be prepared from a local carryout. Save the real effort for the tameles. They WILL eat your entire afternoon, but, dayyum, will they be worth it.

Like most foodies, I have favorite food memories and some of the recipes have been reproduced here. This is one of those. That day I spent in the kitchen cooking with Anna, Manny's wife changed the way I thought about food. I requested a food processor for the next Christmas and my hard-working Cuisinart is more than twenty years old now. None of these things are cheap, but can be purchased in pieces over time to turn you into an efficent cook who can read these recipes without turning pale at the amount of time involved. Most professional chefs are not entirely convinced by food processors, but for the home cook, I wouldn't willingly do without. The basic Cuisanart will cost you about a hundred bucks and will pay you back fast if you cook a lot. Much more expensive, but just as important, are a good set of knives, and I'm not talking about the Chicago Cutlery set on display at Walmart. I use a professional set of Henckels and Sabatiers, stored in a professional chef block with a real sharpening steel. This is going to set you back some money, but your fingers will love you for it because you won't chew them up with dull knives when you have to go chasing every ingrediant that went skittering across the counter when you cut yourself with a dull knife while chasing it. Every chef has a mass of cuts, but the sharp ones heal faster and leave fewer scars. You'll work faster and more efficiently with sharp knives that hold an edge.

Learn to chop and debone quickly by taking a knife class at your local community college or cooking school. You will literally be amazed at how much time you save by learning how to rock a french knife properly and save yourself some sore muscles. Sometimes the right tool for the job is your check book and an investment of a little time. These things don't take much time to learn but will save you hours in the kitchen. What is that worth to you? Unless you are a professional cook, I assume you have other things to do with your time.

A Visit to Ybor City

In the cities of south Florida, every deli and Cuban restaurant sells these. Cuban bread is hard to find outside of Florida, but French baguette can be substituted. If you have hispanic markets where you live, check around to see if anyone imports Cuban bread from Florida bakeries. If you have a Cuban restaurant, call them and ask where they get theirs. You might be surprised by how much luck you have. Cuban bread is a little spongier than French and holds up to the pressing and heating part of the preparation with less flaking of the crust.

CUBAN SANDWICH

Traditional Ingredients:

3 slices (almost shaved) of boiled ham
3 slices roast pork hot or cold
3 slices of salami
3 slices of Swiss cheese
3 or 4 slices of pickles
1/3 cut Cuban bread hard crust

Optional Ingredients:

3 slices of tomato
4 slices of green bell pepper
3 slices onion
1/3 cut French or Cuban bread
1 leaf romaine lettuce
mayonnaise, mustard to taste

It is important that the sandwich be prepared on Cuban bread, French or Italian bread - any artisan style bread with a hard crust.

All cold cuts should be sliced very thinly; almost shaved. Slice the bread in an open faced fashion and spread lightly with mustard first, then with mayonnaise. Remember this is not entirely traditional, but still good.

Add the ham, roast pork, turkey and salami. Next add a layer of tomato, pepper, onion and lettuce. Top the sandwich and press.

Press the sandwich on a hot skillet with a weight on top. A suitable weight would be a heavy (clean) cast iron skillet that has been heated until sizzling.

Or better yet, use a sandwich press or panini grill if one is available.

Cuban sandwiches are good cold and for picnics or take-alongs, too.

I make them with thinly sliced banana peppers on top, but that's me and not traditional.

Miserable Failures

Bigger brother

To the rest of us, the revelation in the New York Times that the National Security Agency has been eavesdropping on people within the United States without judicial warrants was stunning. In one of the more egregious cases of governmental overreach in the aftermath of 9/11, Bush secretly authorized the monitoring, without any judicial oversight, of international phone calls and e-mail messages from the United States. .... The scandalous abuse of Americans' civil liberties in that period led in the 1970s to a new set of laws aimed at curtailing domestic espionage by intelligence agencies. To balance national security needs with our constitutional liberties, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act created secret "FISA" courts in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal agencies can covertly obtain warrants to eavesdrop on suspected spies (now terrorists too) in the United States. These courts are generally efficient and deferential to the government. Yet the Bush administration still opted to cut them out of the process in some cases; warrants are still sought to intercept all communications that took place entirely within the United States.

Some critics say the FISA courts are too slow to issue decisions in an environment in which every minute counts, and that Cold War laws are ill-suited for a war on amorphous terrorist cells. If that's the case, the administration and Congress should have worked together to alter the courts' procedures or to amend the law. Instead, the White House unilaterally opted to exempt much of its antiterrorism efforts from any kind of judicial oversight — just as it tried doing with its policies regarding detainees.

The Supreme Court has already reined in the executive branch on that score, and the NSA's eavesdropping, arguably a violation of both the law and the Constitution, may lead to even greater legal woes for the president. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called reports of the NSA practices clearly unacceptable and said he would hold hearings early next year. There will be plenty to ask about.

One early defense of the program is a claim by the administration that it had to be implemented quietly — the president authorized it in a classified order — because otherwise terrorists would be alerted to its existence and work to evade it. But those same suspected terrorists would have already known that they might be wiretapped with the aid of a secret warrant. What is the difference?

Last week may come to be seen as a tipping point in the public's attitude, one that will cause the administration to reverse its encroachment on rights in the name of security. The report of the NSA's unsupervised eavesdropping program helped defeat an extension of certain controversial provisions of the Patriot Act in the Senate on Friday.
....
As for the Defense Department's counterterrorism database, the Pentagon was forced on Thursday to acknowledge that it hadn't followed its own guidelines requiring the deletion of information on American citizens who clearly don't pose a security risk. Imagine that: a domestic military intelligence program that failed to abide by its own safeguards.

Given this administration's history, none of these developments is especially surprising. But the latest revelations may serve as a timely reminder of why the American constitutional system requires the judiciary — the third branch of government — to review the actions of the executive branch when necessary to protect the people's liberty.

The level of outrage I'm feeling is only matched by the LAT edboard in the national dailies today. I am furious. The frikkin' incompetently pursued war on terra doesn't require any of this.

We are facing a constitutional crisis the likes of which we haven't seen since Watergate, arguably an important piece of news, and CNN goes wall-to-wall with Ariel Sharon's possible mild stroke. Blitzer, you are an embarrassment.

UPDATE: An early Bump post has been kicking around in the back of my head all day. It was about Chalmers Johnson's The Sorrows of Empire and a book and author talk I saw him give on Book TV. He just said, "No empire ever gave up voluntarily," and this seems to be a good time to be reminded of it. When asked what we should do now, he said, "Look into acquiring a condo in Vancouver."

Actually, I'm going to be looking in Toronto. I'm not kidding. With his executive order, Bush abolished constitutional democracy. It's time to leave.

Pravda Returns

Planted PR Stories Not News to Military

By Mark Mazzetti and Kevin Sack
December 18, 2005

WASHINGTON — U.S. military officials in Iraq were fully aware that a Pentagon contractor regularly paid Iraqi newspapers to publish positive stories about the war, and made it clear that none of the stories should be traced to the United States, according to several current and former employees of Lincoln Group, the Washington-based contractor.

In contrast to assertions by military officials in Baghdad and Washington, interviews and Lincoln Group documents show that the information campaign waged over the last year was designed to cloak any connection to the U.S. military.

"In clandestine parlance, Lincoln Group was a 'cutout' — a third party — that would provide the military with plausible deniability," said a former Lincoln Group employee who worked on the operation. "To attribute products to [the military] would defeat the entire purpose. Hence, no product by Lincoln Group ever said 'Made in the U.S.A.' "

A number of workers who carried out Lincoln Group's offensive, including a $20-million two-month contract to influence public opinion in Iraq's restive Al Anbar province, describe a campaign that was unnecessarily costly, poorly run and largely ineffective at improving America's image in Iraq. The current and former employees spoke on condition of anonymity because of confidentiality restrictions.

"In my own estimation, this stuff has absolutely no effect, and it's a total waste of money," said another former employee, echoing the sentiments of several colleagues. "Every Iraqi can read right through it."

Disclosures that the military used a private firm to plant stories written by U.S. troops in Iraqi newspapers have drawn widespread criticism.

The Pentagon has ordered an investigation, led by Navy Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk. Army Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Friday that he expected a report from Van Buskirk "in a week or so." Casey said that a preliminary assessment made shortly after the military's information operations campaign was revealed in a Times article last month concluded that the Army was "operating within our authorities and the appropriate legal procedures."

Military officials initially distanced themselves from Lincoln Group's activities, suggesting the company may have violated its contract when it masked the origin of stories placed in the Iraqi press.

On Dec. 2, Pentagon officials told Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.) that all of the published materials were supposed to be identified as originating with the U.S. military but that identification was occasionally omitted by accident.

But Lincoln Group documents obtained by The Times, along with interviews with military officials and the current and former Lincoln Group employees, show that those who worked on the campaign believed the media products would be far more credible if their origins were disguised.

Pentagon officials say Warner was given the most accurate information the Pentagon had at the time.

"Certainly, nobody was trying to deceive Sen. Warner," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, who declined to comment further on the military's role in the information campaign.

Senator Warner, call some hearings and put these people under oath and then use the full wieight of the law when they lie to you. Mark my words, they will. Read the rest of this article. If the LA Times can figure this out, I'm certain a Senate committee or two can discover even more. Heck, the Pentagon hired a pair of guys who didn't even have a track record of much of anything and gave them millions of OUR taxpayers dollars to do... what?

You've been in Washington way too long to believe Whitman, if not you don't have the IQ to be a Senator. These people would lie about the day of the week if it would protect their illegal activities. Stand up and defend the Constitution or the voters (non-Diebold of course) will put in people that will defend it.

Why This Matters

Transit Union Tries New Tack on Pensions
By SEWELL CHAN and STEVEN GREENHOUSE

In a move that could alter the shape of its deadlocked contract negotiations, the transit workers' union intends to file a complaint with a state labor board today, asserting that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority cannot legally insist that the union accept less generous pensions for future subway and bus workers.

The union, Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, said yesterday that it would ask the state's Public Employment Relations Board to seek a court order barring the authority from making pension demands part of its final offer for a new contract. The authority, in response, dismissed the legal action as a public-relations ploy and asserted that both sides had traditionally discussed pensions in their contract talks.

Neither side moved from its position yesterday, although top negotiators met for about four hours before taking an afternoon recess. Talks resumed and then recessed once again about 11 p.m.

If the state board were to rule in the union's favor on the pension issue - an outcome the authority insisted is doubtful - it could compel the authority to drop its demand for a worse pension plan for future transit workers. That demand, both sides say, is the main obstacle to a settlement.

The dispute added a new wrinkle to the brinkmanship that has characterized the last several days. The authority has said that it has made its final offer. The union has set a new strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday for the whole transit system and another for 12:01 a.m. tomorrow at two private bus companies in Queens that are being transferred to the authority's control. Union officials said yesterday that they had asked the authority to put its best and final offer on the table by 9 p.m. Monday so the union's executive board would have time to consider it before the Tuesday deadline.

There really isn't anything particularly noteworthy in this story, but I'm using it as a newspeg for some thoughts on labor negotiations and some reasons why this particular negotiation have significance for everyone, even those who are not in unionized work.

First of all, every negotiation which runs up to the end of the contract is going to engage in brinkmanship. That's the nature of any negotiation in which the stakes are high or are perceived of as high. Remember, this isn't about money, of which the MTA has plenty. It is about power.

Second, every benefit attached to work that we used to be able to take for granted (paid health insurance, pensions, vacation and sick pay, for example) have eroded for all workers in direct proportion to the decline of the labor movement and the erosion of those benefits for unionized workers. When a large union like the TWA takes a hit in benefits, so does everybody else. When you cross a picket line, you are hurting yourself.

Third, every news story about a negotiation is a snapshot, when a negotiation is a movie. All such stories should be taken with a lot of salt.

Last, the basic principal behind labor negotiations is that of any market transaction: the fair price of the negotiation is that discovered between a willing buyer and a willing seller. Outside parties don't get to determine what that fair price is. I wish some of my brothers in the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees could have remembered that.

Unprecedented

My distrust of the press these days nearly matches my distrust of government, but Bart Gellman has been on the intelligence beat for a long time and in a honorable fashion.

Pushing the Limits Of Wartime Powers

By Barton Gellman and Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, December 18, 2005; Page A01

In his four-year campaign against al Qaeda, President Bush has turned the U.S. national security apparatus inward to secretly collect information on American citizens on a scale unmatched since the intelligence reforms of the 1970s.

The president's emphatic defense yesterday of warrantless eavesdropping on U.S. citizens and residents marked the third time in as many months that the White House has been obliged to defend a departure from previous restraints on domestic surveillance. In each case, the Bush administration concealed the program's dimensions or existence from the public and from most members of Congress.

Since October, news accounts have disclosed a burgeoning Pentagon campaign for "detecting, identifying and engaging" internal enemies that included a database with information on peace protesters. A debate has roiled over the FBI's use of national security letters to obtain secret access to the personal records of tens of thousands of Americans. And now come revelations of the National Security Agency's interception of telephone calls and e-mails from the United States -- without notice to the federal court that has held jurisdiction over domestic spying since 1978.

Defiant in the face of criticism, the Bush administration has portrayed each surveillance initiative as a defense of American freedom. Bush said yesterday that his NSA eavesdropping directives were "critical to saving American lives" and "consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution." After years of portraying an offensive waged largely overseas, Bush justified the internal surveillance with new emphasis on "the home front" and the need to hunt down "terrorists here at home."

Bush's constitutional argument, in the eyes of some legal scholars and previous White House advisers, relies on extraordinary claims of presidential war-making power. Bush said yesterday that the lawfulness of his directives was affirmed by the attorney general and White House counsel, a list that omitted the legislative and judicial branches of government. On occasion the Bush administration has explicitly rejected the authority of courts and Congress to impose boundaries on the power of the commander in chief, describing the president's war-making powers in legal briefs as "plenary" -- a term defined as "full," "complete," and "absolute."

A high-ranking intelligence official with firsthand knowledge said in an interview yesterday that Vice President Cheney, then-Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet and Michael V. Hayden, then a lieutenant general and director of the National Security Agency, briefed four key members of Congress about the NSA's new domestic surveillance on Oct. 25, 2001, and Nov. 14, 2001, shortly after Bush signed a highly classified directive that eliminated some restrictions on eavesdropping against U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

In describing the briefings, administration officials made clear that Cheney was announcing a decision, not asking permission from Congress. How much the legislators learned is in dispute.

Former senator Bob Graham (D-Fla.), who chaired the Senate intelligence committee and is the only participant thus far to describe the meetings extensively and on the record, said in interviews Friday night and yesterday that he remembers "no discussion about expanding [NSA eavesdropping] to include conversations of U.S. citizens or conversations that originated or ended in the United States" -- and no mention of the president's intent to bypass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

"I came out of the room with the full sense that we were dealing with a change in technology but not policy," Graham said, with new opportunities to intercept overseas calls that passed through U.S. switches. He believed eavesdropping would continue to be limited to "calls that initiated outside the United States, had a destination outside the United States but that transferred through a U.S.-based communications system."

Graham said the latest disclosures suggest that the president decided to go "beyond foreign communications to using this as a pretext for listening to U.S. citizens' communications. There was no discussion of anything like that in the meeting with Cheney."
....
No president before Bush mounted a frontal challenge to Congress's authority to limit espionage against Americans. In a Sept. 25, 2002, brief signed by then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, the Justice Department asserted "the Constitution vests in the President inherent authority to conduct warrantless intelligence surveillance (electronic or otherwise) of foreign powers or their agents, and Congress cannot by statute extinguish that constitutional authority."

The brief made no distinction between suspected agents who are U.S. citizens and those who are not. Other Bush administration legal arguments have said the "war on terror" is global and indefinite in scope, effectively removing traditional limits of wartime authority to the times and places of imminent or actual battle.

"There is a lot of discussion out there that we shouldn't be dividing Americans and foreigners, but terrorists and non-terrorists," said Gordon Oehler, a former chief of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center who served on last year's special commission assessing U.S. intelligence.

By law, according to University of Chicago scholar Geoffrey Stone, the differences are fundamental: Americans have constitutional protections that are enforceable in court whether their conversations are domestic or international.

Bush's assertion that eavesdropping takes place only on U.S. calls to overseas phones, Stone said, "is no different, as far as the law is concerned, from saying we only do it on Tuesdays."

Michael J. Woods, who was chief of the FBI's national security law unit when Bush signed the NSA directive, described the ongoing program as "very dangerous." In the immediate aftermath of a devastating attack, he said, the decision was a justifiable emergency response. In 2006, "we ought to be past the time of emergency responses. We ought to have more considered views now. . . . We have time to debate a legal regime and what's appropriate."

When the president has a track record of lies and dissembling, pulling this kind of shit is going to be met with a lot of opposition. That opposition should include impeachment for this blatantly illegal and unconstitutional act. That is not a word I toss around casually.

Know Your Rights

Here is a link to The Constitution of the United States, thanks to Emory University's Law School. Like Senator Robert Byrd, I carry a copy around with me, but most people probably don't. You should print this out if you don't have a copy in the house, however.

Here is the text of the Fourth Amendment:

Amendment IV.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Getting a warrant from a FISA court for a wire tap is easy and can be done at almost any hour of the day or night. The president, George W. Bush, is in violation of the Constitution.

Uncharitable

Dispute Over Historic Hospital for the Poor Pits Doctors Against the State

By ADAM NOSSITER
Published: December 17, 2005

NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 16 - Charity Hospital, an institution that for nearly three centuries has been dedicated to treating the poorest and sickest here - the shot, stabbed, overdosed and uninsured - has been abandoned downtown since Hurricane Katrina. It is now at the center of a battle over whether it will continue that tradition, or become a more conventional hospital.

The state officials who manage Charity say Hurricane Katrina dealt this Huey Long-era landmark a deathblow and want it torn down. In its place, they say, they want to build a hospital with a "new mission," one that treats both public and private patients and relies less on government money.

But doctors who work there sharply disagree with that plan. They say Louisiana officials are using the storm as an excuse to achieve the state's long-sought goal of demolishing Charity, getting millions in federal dollars to build a new hospital, and then moving away from a promise that has long been made to the city's poor.

"People want to use these disasters to get insurance money," said Dr. James Moises, an emergency room physician at Charity who helped clean up the hospital after the storm. Louisiana officials, he said, "saw it as a great opportunity to get the federal government to pay for a new facility."

For months now, officials have barred doctors from the building and forced them to practice in a tent field hospital, even though the doctors say the hospital is ready for use. The doctors say the makeshift arrangement is inadequate for the severe trauma cases the hospital specializes in treating.

As one of the two oldest hospitals in North America - it was founded in 1736, the same year as Bellevue Hospital in New York - Charity has from the beginning been a symbol of a social commitment to the poor, and its wards are empty at a moment when thousands of poor New Orleans residents are struggling to return home and fear that government has abandoned them. In many ways, the debate over its future parallels that of New Orleans itself, as it chooses whether to become a more middle-class city or to return to earlier traditions.

Louisiana is the only state with a network of hospitals dedicated to serving the indigent. Before the storm, the hospital network - of which Charity was the linchpin - was the main source of care for some 900,000 uninsured patients, about a fifth of the state's population.

......

On a recent warm day here, the emergency room at Charity was empty and silent, worn-looking from decades of hard use, but hardly derelict. The only sound was from a security guard's television set. She had seen it all: gunshot victims, stabbing victims, rape victims, enraged arrestees, inmates, as well as legions of the uninsured.

"We had all that going on here," said the guard, Donna Jennings. "Now, we have nothing. This is just about where the average person came. Now, I don't know. Where are all the gunshot victims going to go?"

Ok. I understand the US does not have a Constitutional right to health care and that's ok. But, the government, in this case state and federal, should not be practicing a de facto social darwinism on its citizens. Doesn't that clash with the whole unalienable right to life?

Say what you want about the Louisiana government, and there is plenty of negatives to say about them, but Charity hospital and its associates were an example of something that worked. Sure, the building needs a serious upgrade... it did back in 1993 when I visited a friend there, but for hundreds of thousands of citizens that is the best they can do. Even putting aside the historical importance of the hospital, it would be a disaster to make Charity a for profit hospital that couldn't or wouldn't take care of the gunshot victims.

We have a situation that strikes me as similar to what the FBI did after 9/11. They presented a long list of powers which they had lusted over for a long time in a giant bill that no legislator could vote against called the Patriot Act. And so, they got all of those wonderful powers that had been denied to them since Watergate. Here we have the Louisiana government using Katrina as an excuse to get this "burden" off of their shoulders while the rebuilding process is taking place.

It's much easier to pass the buck to someone else and forget about it, than to fix things the right way. And if there are unintended consequences in the future... welll... Katrina changed everything, we can't act in a pre-Katrina way, there is no way we could have know this would take place, .

One Way of Looking At It

GWB, June 23, 2005:

What you have left in the Social Security system today is a file cabinet with IOUs. In West Virginia, I actually went and saw the file cabinet, and I'm proud to report the paper is there. (Laughter.)

Maybe he could give another speech, where he would say something like this:

What you have left in the Constitutional system today is a display filled with old parchments. In Washington, D.C., I actually went to the Archives and saw the display, and I'm proud to report the parchment is there. (Laughter.)

I don't know about you, but that's certainly the message I'm getting.

History And the Constitution

Here is the oath the US military swears when they receive their commissions:

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the president of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

What you can't see right now is that the career military, the ones who do the work, not the flag rank perfumed princes in the Pentagon, are in open revolt against the war and W. This will be done quietly for right now. None of these folks need to have their name on anything. Read the oath again. When the career people decide that "and domestic".... includes the President of the United States it is time to get out The Federalist Papers and start to note some of the worries the founders had.

The career military people, the ones who came up through the academies and the ones who teach at the War College in Pennsylvania, have been telling us that this war was a mistake and that we are sunk for 2.5 years. Anyone who has studied the histories of insurgencies knows this.

When military people study their oath and decide that following the Constitution and following the president have diverged, we are in for an interesting historical moment. It isn't one that I'd choose to live through, but you work with what you have.

What I'm hearing is that the tension in the Pentagon is exquisite right now. State has been purged of all dissidents, so any help for the republic comes from across the river in Arlington.

I do not like this at all, but I'll settle for it. I trust those patriots down the Blue Line to figure this out a lot faster than I think Karl Rove can undo it, and don't be fooled. That is exactly what the Imperial Bush has tasked him to do.

UPDATE: See yankeedoodle's remarks in comments.

Dinner

I got really good news tonight from the Christmas chef. He's making his very special ham with honey mustard glaze for the holiday table. The good news is that I get to take the leftovers home.

My brother the chef invented this; I've certainly never seen a recipe anything like it anywhere and I read cookbooks like some people read romance novels or murder mysteries. This is really quite simple.

Get a bone in butt ham. To prepare: remove the extraneous shell fat and score the outside in the traditional diamond pattern. Turn the ham over, bone side down and with a boning knife, separate the bone from the meat as far down the bone as you can work the knife, the farther the better. Into the pocket you've created between the bone and the ham, work in as many branches of fresh rosemary as you can. For a large ham, really stuff it, a smaller ham will need less. The bro usually makes a giant ham so that there are plenty of leftovers and he can make pea soup and a sandwich board for the staff of their store in the post Christmas return and exchange panic. There are some advantages to working for a chef, and he does try to take care of their staff during the holiday crazy periods.

Once the ham has been properly rosemary'ed, make a glaze of honey and mustard (about a half cup for a big ham and french dijon mustard, with a dash of worcestershire and a shake of allspice. Use about half to glaze the outside before you put it in the oven. Roast 20 minutes per pound and reglaze it a couple of times during roasting. Let it rest for 15 minutes before you carve it, while you make the gravy (this treatment will give you spectacular gravy.)

Then slice against the grain. You'll get nicer pieces. I take mashed potatoes and gravy as a given.

You do know how to make Ham gravy, don't you?

Serve with mashed potatoes and baby sweet potatoe pies. If someone wants to send me a ricer for the holiday it won't be turned down. This bump has never met a potato that she didn't like, South Beach diet be damned, I'm going to be ricing and cooking potatoes into the next millenium.

Freedom of Thought?

Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior

By AARON NICODEMUS
December 17, 2005

NEW BEDFORD -- A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."

Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass Dartmouth library's interlibrary loan program.

The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.

The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a "watch list," and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further.

"I tell my students to go to the direct source, and so he asked for the official Peking version of the book," Professor Pontbriand said. "Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring inter-library loans, because that's what triggered the visit, as I understand it."

Boy, I'm glad to know that we can trust the government not to abuse their powers to randomly investigate anyone without the slightest shred of evidence.

Because, you know that 9/11 changed everything and we have proof that the Maoists were linked to Al-Qaeda and we've found copies of the little red book with them. Really. Or maybe it was a Quran... close enough.

After all we have such a great track record going for us in this adminisrtation, why wouldn't you trust us?

Last Refuge

Bush Raps Senators Over Patriot Act

By JENNIFER LOVEN
The Associated Press
Saturday, December 17, 2005

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Saturday that senators who are blocking renewal of the terrorism-fighting Patriot Act are acting irresponsibly and standing in the way of protecting the country from attack.

"In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment," the president said in a live broadcast from the White House of his weekly radio address.

Senate Democrats, with the aid of a handful of Republicans, succeeded Friday in stalling the bill already approved by the House. The vote to advance the measure, 52-47, fell eight votes shy of the 60 votes required to end debate.

"That decision is irresponsible and it endangers the lives of our citizens. The senators who are filibustering must stop their delaying tactics and the Senate must reauthorize the Patriot Act," Bush said.

Opponents of renewing the law, most of whom are Democrats, argue that it threatens constitutional liberties at home.

I just can't imagine why the majority of Americans don't trust this administration. Do you?

Seriously though, we need to keep an eye out for more and more fearmongering... it's the only card they've got to play and the more they play it, the more transparent it is.

Of course, if this was 2002, we'd have a color change in the terror level anytime now... so I guess the Administration needs to make a choice... save their own hides and cause fear and panic or save the economy and let people feel safe enough to do their Christmas shopping.

"A Sad Day"

Bush acknowleges allowing eavesdropping

Order 'consistent' with 'constitutional responsibilities'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush acknowleged on Saturday that he authorized the National Security Agency "to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations" and said leaks to the media about the program were illegal.

Sources have told CNN that Bush signed a secret order in 2002 allowing the NSA to eavesdrop on Americans and others in the United States who are communicating with people overseas. The story was first reported Friday in The New York Times.

During an unusual live, on-camera version of his weekly radio address, Bush said such authorization is "fully consistent" with his "constitutional responsibilities and authorities."

"This is highly classified program crucial to our national security" and "its purpose is to detect and prevent terrorist attacks," Bush said.

"The existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports after being improperly given to news organizations," Bush said. "Unauthorized disclosure damages our national security and puts our nation at risk.

"Revealing this information is illegal."

The NSA eavesdrops on billions of communications worldwide. Although the NSA is barred from domestic spying, it can get warrants issued with the permission of a special court called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court.

The court is set up specifically to issue warrants allowing wiretapping on domestic soil.

'Sad day'

Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin said Saturday: "There's not a single senator or member of Congress who thought we were authorizing wiretaps."

"If he needs a wiretap, the authority is already there -- the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act," Feingold said. "They can ask for a warrant to do that and even if there's an emergency situation they can go for 72 hours as long as they give notice at the end of 72 hours."

Feingold said "it's a sad day" in light of what he heard Bush say.

"He authorized these wiretaps even though there was no specific law allowing it," Feingold said. "He's trying to claim somehow that the authorization for the Afghanistan attack after 9/11 permitted this and that's just absurd."

Bush said two of the September 11 hijackers -- Khalid Almihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi -- who flew the plane into the Pentagon "communicated while they were in the United States to other members of al Qaeda who were overseas. But we didn't know they were here until it was too late."

He said the authorizations have made it "more likely that killers like these 9/11 hijackers will be identified and located in time and the activities conducted under this authorization have helped detect and prevent possible terrorist attacks in the United States and abroad."

"I have reauthorized this program more than 30 times" since the September 11, 2001, attacks and "I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda and related groups," he said.

Sources with knowledge of the program told CNN on Friday that Bush signed the secret order in 2002. The sources refused to be identified because the program is classified.

During an interview Friday for PBS' "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," Bush said he understood that people want him to confirm or deny the Times report, but he couldn't discuss specifics because "it would compromise our ability to protect the people," according to a transcript of the program.

Violating our civil rights to "protect us". Breaking the law to "save us". The Great Protector speaks.

Hurricane Relief

I love trains, my preferred way to travel, and I love a feel-good story like this for the holidays. Bravo, Arlo.

Storied Train Used As Vehicle For Giving
Guthrie Tour Aids Musicians With Losses in Katrina

By Kari Lydersen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 17, 2005; Page A03

"This train is bound for glory," sang Arlo Guthrie, joined by his daughter Sarah Lee, son Abe and various friends, as the City of New Orleans train rumbled past factories and fields between Chicago and Kankakee, Ill.

The Dec. 6 trip was actually the first time Guthrie rode the train celebrated in the Steve Goodman song of the same name that Guthrie made so famous. In a hastily-pulled-together benefit, Guthrie and a crew of musicians are riding the City of New Orleans from Chicago to the Big Easy, stopping along the way to play fundraising shows. The goal is to raise money for New Orleans musicians who lost instruments, homes and work as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

But in many ways the trip, which ends tonight with a sold-out show at Tipitina's club in New Orleans, is just as much a celebration of the train itself. The route Goodman wrote about in 1970 was run by the Illinois Central. Now Amtrak operates the 19-hour trip, which runs daily between Chicago and New Orleans, passing through Memphis. The train stopped running because of Katrina's flooding, and the New Orleans train depot was used as a temporary criminal detention facility. But service resumed Oct. 9.

"It really helps people going home to see what they have left," said Darnell Bennett, 38, a kitchen-car staff member who as a child often rode the train from New Orleans to Chicago to visit his mother. "This has always been a lifeline to the South for all the people who migrated to Chicago and Detroit."

When Guthrie heard the train was back on track, he sent an e-mail to his children and a few friends floating the idea of the fundraising trip. Within hours he was swamped with responses from musicians wanting to donate their time and energy.

"We had been glued to the TV" watching the damage in New Orleans, Guthrie said. "Then a little scroll came across the bottom saying the train had resumed service. I thought, why not ride the train I'd sung about 30 years ago, and do fundraisers along the way?"

Trains run in the Guthrie family's blood; famous troubadour Woody Guthrie crisscrossed the country on freight trains visiting starving farmers and labor strikers, and many of his son Arlo's songs also pay homage to trains. In 1987, Arlo Guthrie traveled and sang on the Montrealer train in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade Amtrak not to discontinue that line.

Do you understand how much of their networth musicians have invested in their instruments? Brass and most woodwind instruments are relatively cheap, less than $10,000 each, but they wear out and need to be replaced at regular intervals. Good pianos are real expensive. String instruments can cost as much as a house.

The Patsy

At the Times, a Scoop Deferred

By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 17, 2005; A07

The New York Times' revelation yesterday that President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct domestic eavesdropping raised eyebrows in political and media circles, for both its stunning disclosures and the circumstances of its publication.

In an unusual note, the Times said in its story that it held off publishing the 3,600-word article for a year after the newspaper's representatives met with White House officials. It said the White House had asked the paper not to publish the story at all, "arguing that it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny."

The Times said it agreed to remove information that administration officials said could be "useful" to terrorists and delayed publication for a year "to conduct additional reporting."

The paper offered no explanation to its readers about what had changed in the past year to warrant publication. It also did not disclose that the information is included in a forthcoming book, "State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration," written by James Risen, the lead reporter on yesterday's story. The book will be published in mid-January, according to its publisher, Simon & Schuster.

The decision to withhold the article caused some friction within the Times' Washington bureau, according to people close to the paper. Some reporters and editors in New York and in the bureau, including Risen and co-writer Eric Lichtblau, had pushed for earlier publication, according to these people. One described the story's path to publication as difficult, with much discussion about whether it could have been published earlier.

In a statement yesterday, Times Executive Editor Bill Keller did not mention the book. He wrote that when the Times became aware that the NSA was conducting domestic wiretaps without warrants, "the Administration argued strongly that writing about this eavesdropping program would give terrorists clues about the vulnerability of their communications and would deprive the government of an effective tool for the protection of the country's security."

"Officials also assured senior editors of the Times that a variety of legal checks had been imposed that satisfied everyone involved that the program raised no legal questions," Keller continued. "As we have done before in rare instances when faced with a convincing national security argument, we agreed not to publish at that time."

In the ensuing months, Keller wrote, two things changed the paper's thinking. The paper developed a fuller picture of misgivings about the program by some in the government. And the paper satisfied itself through more reporting that it could write the story without exposing "any intelligence-gathering methods or capabilities that are not already on the public record."

Just another citation in the decline of the Gray Lady, who is now the President's bitch. The Times uncovers evidence of the most serious breach of the Constitution in modern times and sits on it for a year like a good puppy when it is told to? "Officials assured" the Times, they say. The same officials who justified torture. Who in their right mind is going to believe anything coming out of the Bush administration? Bill Keller is an idiot.

I also note than none of the Big Three papers have an editorial this morning decrying this travesty. Perhaps they will do better in their Sunday editions.

Deiu et Mon Droit

Behind Power, One Principle as Bush Pushes Prerogatives

By SCOTT SHANE
Published: December 17, 2005

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 - A single, fiercely debated legal principle lies behind nearly every major initiative in the Bush administration's war on terror, scholars say: the sweeping assertion of the powers of the presidency.

From the government's detention of Americans as "enemy combatants" to the just-disclosed eavesdropping in the United States without court warrants, the administration has relied on an unusually expansive interpretation of the president's authority. That stance has given the administration leeway for decisive action, but it has come under severe criticism from some scholars and the courts.

With the strong support of Vice President Dick Cheney, legal theorists in the White House and Justice Department have argued that previous presidents unjustifiably gave up some of the legitimate power of their office. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, made it especially critical that the full power of the executive be restored and exercised, they said.

The administration's legal experts, including David S. Addington, the vice president's former counsel and now his chief of staff, and John C. Yoo, deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel of the Justice Department from 2001 to 2003, have pointed to several sources of presidential authority.

The bedrock source is Article 2 of the Constitution, which describes the "executive power" of the president, including his authority as commander in chief of the armed forces. Several landmark court decisions have elaborated the extent of the powers.

Another key recent document cited by the administration is the joint resolution passed by Congress on Sept. 14, 2001, authorizing the president to "use all necessary and appropriate force" against those responsible for Sept. 11 in order to prevent further attacks.

Mr. Yoo, who is believed to have helped write a legal justification for the National Security Agency's secret domestic eavesdropping, first laid out the basis for the war on terror in a Sept. 25, 2001, memorandum that said no statute passed by Congress "can place any limits on the president's determinations as to any terrorist threat, the amount of military force to be used in response, or the method, timing and nature of the response."

That became the underlying justification for numerous actions apart from the eavesdropping program, disclosed by The New York Times on Thursday night. Those include the order to try accused terrorists before military tribunals; the detention of so-called enemy combatants at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and in secret overseas jails operated by the Central Intelligence Agency; the holding of two Americans, Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi, as enemy combatants; and the use of severe interrogation techniques, including some banned by international agreements, on Al Qaeda figures.

Mr. Yoo, now a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, declined to comment for this article. But Bradford A. Berenson, who served as associate counsel to President Bush from 2001 to 2003, explained the logic behind the assertion of executive power.

"After 9/11 the president felt it was incumbent on him to use every ounce of authority available to him to protect the American people," Mr. Berenson said.

This Postie has never studied history. It's called "the divine right of kings." If you had ever learned any thing about the French Revolution, Scott, you might be a tad more sceptical when reporting this story. G. W. Bush is shooting for tyrannical powers but none of the pressies have ever seen it happen before because they've never cracked a history book.

God, these are reporters with college degrees who are willfully stupid. What's that "one principal" Bush holds? I'm fucking king and the rest of you are serfs.

Lunch in Eastern Canada

Sometimes I'm so slow that it is embarrassing. I was doing some research on Turkish food when I realized that what is called a doner kabob in the US is what the Canadians serve as a Donair in eastern Canada.

Here's the recipe for doner kabob in the Turkish fashion. The Canadian Donair is here. When Kelseigh sighs over Halifax Donair sauce, this is what we're talking about.

Having dined on the Donairs of most of Atlantic Canada, all I can tell is that I prefer lobster rolls.

Happy Holidays

Postie Dana Milbank took part in a Post Chat earlier today. Here's one interchange I liked.

Boston, Mass.: This country is a wreck.

If we look at our leaders... torture, spying on Americans, bribes, fraud, outing of CIA agents, lying about stock deals, lying about wars...

If we look at ourselves.... our kids are fat, on prescriptions, and 1 in 20 can't read. We've got global warming, high prices, low wages, no health insurance, a housing bubble, and the gap between rich and poor is extreme.

Dana, make it all better, please. I can't take much more of this.

Dana Milbank: On the positive side, Speaker Hastert has saved Christmas by renaming the "Holiday Tree."

Damage Assessment

McCain Defeats Cheney

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Friday, December 16, 2005; 3:36 PM

President Bush's cave-in yesterday on Sen. John McCain's torture ban was embarrassing for him -- but it was a total debacle for Vice President Cheney.

Cheney had publicly taken the lead in trying to scuttle McCain's proposal. When that proved both unseemly and ineffective, Cheney was equally publicly pulled off the case.

When Stephen Hadley -- the like-minded but not nearly as tightly wound national security adviser -- also failed to either rally the GOP ranks or roll McCain, Bush chose to surrender and call it victory.

Cheney was conspicuously absent when Bush invited McCain to the Oval Office yesterday and announced his decision to embrace legislation that was in almost every way identical to what he had promised to veto five months ago.

In fact, the image of Bush and McCain sitting side by side in that room raised the following hypothetical question: Who would be a better vice president for Bush right now, Cheney or McCain?

On the torture issue, the answer is obvious: McCain. Cheney's up-front advocating of the "dark side" was increasingly making even members of his own party distinctly uncomfortable.

What are some of the other themes plaguing the White House these days?

There's the whole lack of candor thing. Bush has recently gotten good press for admitting mistakes -- but its worth noting that they're other people's mistakes. Even now, he's still not admitting he did anything wrong himself. Cheney is certainly not partial to airing dirty laundry. By contrast, McCain is the poster-boy for candor.

There's the corruption issue afflicting the Republican Party in general. Cheney is Mr. Halliburton. McCain is Mr. Clean. He's the champion of campaign finance reform.

And there's the fact that, in part because Cheney is not planning to run for president, the White House is careening headlong into full lame duck status. As attention turns to the 2008 presidential election, a lot of people may be asking if Bush is even relevant.

By contrast, with the Republican heir apparent at his side, Bush's own position could be enhanced -- as could his ability to make Karl Rove's dream of long-term Republican political dominance come true.

I'm not predicting anything's actually going to happen. I'm just saying you might want to prepare for another round of the dump-Cheney tom-toms.

Death of a City

Where's Bush? Not in New Orleans.

By Eugene Robinson

Friday, December 16, 2005; Page A35

The old New Orleans is effectively gone. If the new New Orleans is to be more than a few port facilities and a sad little "sin and decadence" theme park for liquored-up conventioneers, you need the people to come back. The Congressional Black Caucus has introduced a comprehensive bill designed to attend to the needs of evacuees from the entire Gulf Coast and give them the resources they need to go home, but the Bush administration and the congressional leadership have preferred a scattershot, largely ineffective approach.

"I really get the feeling sometimes that our government would like for these people to remain scattered around the nation and not come back and rebuild," said Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.), chairman of the caucus. "Trying to do it in a piecemeal way is just going to prolong the agony for the people."

It may or may not be wise to rebuild New Orleans on a grand scale -- we may be talking about a much smaller city. But if it's going to be rebuilt on any scale, there has to be some assurance that the next big hurricane won't flood the city again. That means you need upgraded levees, flood walls, pumps -- a whole system of hydraulic protection. The additional $1.5 billion that the White House pledged to spend on the levees yesterday is a start, but just a start. To go any further, you have to know what areas to protect.

Does it make sense to rebuild the devastated Lower Ninth Ward? Even if it is rebuilt, are the people who lived there before the flood really going to come back?

All the issues involved in reconstruction are so interlocked that nothing much is moving, and the longer the city sits empty and ruined, the less likely its renaissance becomes. Who but the president can break the logjam?

It's the responsibility of local officials to design the new New Orleans, but only the federal government is big enough to guarantee the money and provide the determination to make any plan a reality. What institution but the federal government can restore the wetlands south and east of the city into a buffer that will absorb much of the impact of the next hurricane? What institution but the federal government can break through all the jurisdictional barriers and push this halting process forward?

Bush ended his Sept. 15 speech in Jackson Square by pledging that "the streetcars will once again rumble down St. Charles and the passionate soul of a great city will return." Half of that prediction may soon come true -- they're talking about resuming token service on one of the streetcar lines. But the soul of New Orleans is its people, and that soul is being lost forever. Where is the president now?

Preznit Short Attention Span doesn't care.

Ditz

That's News to Her

White House communications director Nicolle Wallace , interviewed by Fox News's Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday: "Thank God 65 to 70 percent of the American people don't get their news from any of those places," referring to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Boston Globe. "They get their news from the local paper that they look at."

Maybe she forgot most of those local papers pick up our wire services?

The Oligarchs

This was in Slate ten days ago, but I missed it. Dahlia Lithwick is one of the mag's legal commentaters and a voice I respect.

Why Alito needs to talk to us about the war on terror.
By Dahlia Lithwick
Posted Monday, Dec. 5, 2005, at 5:17 PM ET

Pretend, for a minute, that I am not completely paranoid and that there is truth behind my sense that we are all missing the real story of the new Supreme Court nominations. My fear is that we are all snoozing through an elaborate plan to pack the court for the Bush administration's war on terror. What if all the obsessive talk about whether candidates are for or against overturning Roe v. Wade is a strategic head feint? What if I am right, and Samuel Alito is confirmed to the Supreme Court without ever substantively answering a question about torture, enemy detentions, the rights of foreigners, or civil liberties during wartime?

I think we will, all of us, be very sorry. Not just the edgy civil libertarians or the ACLU types, and not just Jose Padilla, or his attorneys, but everyone who believes there is a place for the rule of law even in the midst of a war, especially when that war threatens to go on forever.

This president—for reasons that hardly warrant repeating here—doesn't really want to be remembered as the guy responsible for the court that overturned Roe. (Although he certainly wants us to think he wants to be remembered as that guy.) No, Roe is not what keeps George W. Bush awake nights. What he wants to be remembered for is winning the war on terror. He wants to be seen as the president who carried the great torch of democracy into the world's darkest corners. And he believes—of this I am certain—that the courts are standing in his way.

I have written before that the arc of his Supreme Court nominations can best be explained by his desire to pack the courts for all of the Hamdan, Hamdi, and Padilla cases to be heard by the courts for years to come. Think about it: Roberts, Miers, and Alito each have a long track record of endorsing executive power. Each seems highly likely to strongly support the president's claims to virtually limitless executive authority in wartime. The Bush administration saw that claim repudiated by a margin of 8-1 in Hamdi. And the president won't let that happen again.

It won't. How do I know? In his 15 years on the federal bench, Judge Samuel Alito has yet to rule on a case substantively involving the war on terror. But Alito's votes in pending and future war on terror cases can be fairly accurately predicted. They lurk in dark alleys, near his decisions about criminal rights, immigration cases, and government power. Alito's record in none of those areas bodes well for people who worry about the Bush administration's push for unchecked war powers.

Robert Gordon has written in Slate, for instance, that in his survey of the criminal and Fourth Amendment cases Alito heard as an appeals court judge, he adopted the position most supportive of the government every time. Justice Antonin Scalia is a conservative who has crafted a healthy jurisprudence of doubt about limitless government powers. Alito, on the other hand, is a former prosecutor who has seemingly never met a search, seizure, warrant, or arrest he couldn't love.

Similarly, Emily Bazelon just wrote about a memo Alito penned on whether there should be any constitutional protection for an unarmed teenage boy shot and killed by a police officer as the youth fled a crime scene. Alito's personal position—that there was no constitutional protection from such conduct—was more extreme than some other Reagan administration lawyers, the Supreme Court's eventual ruling in the case, the dissenters on that Supreme Court, and more than 85 percent of police departments at the time. It's hard to conceive of someone who loves police powers more than the police. But that someone may be our next Supreme Court justice.

This cavalier disregard for defendants of every stripe was also explored recently by Goodwin Liu, in a survey of Alito's death penalty decisions in the Los Angeles Times. Liu found that of the 10 capital cases in which Alito has participated, five were decided unanimously by three-judge panels and the other five engendered split decisions. In every one of the five contested cases, Alito voted against the defendant. Moreover, concludes Liu, "these opinions show a troubling tendency to tolerate serious errors in capital proceedings," including some shockingly erroneous jury instructions.

Which brings us to Alito's record on the rights of immigrants and foreigners. His views on this score were illuminated last week by documents released from his 16-month tenure as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. In one memo, Alito signed off on an FBI plan to collect fingerprint cards of Iranian and Afghan refugees living in Canada. He suggested that the program was constitutional because these refugees were nonresident immigrants of another country, thus freeing the FBI from abiding by court decisions that barred the agency from spreading "stigmatizing'' information about U.S. citizens. Alito simply feels that nonresident immigrants of other countries have no due process rights under the Constitution. The Washington Post last week quoted Martin Redish, a constitutional law professor at Northwestern University Law School, arguing that Alito's logic would likely support the Bush administration's current policy of CIA interrogations in secret European prisons as well.

Despite the Bush administration's urgings to deny review, the Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the next big war on terror case, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, author of perhaps the most famous words in the post 9/11 struggle between the courts and the executive—"[a] state of war is not a blank check for the president"—will not be on the court to decide it. Samuel Alito, who has made a judicial career out of writing, signing, and endorsing blank checks—will.

Buh-bye, checks and balances, hello executive dictatorship!

God and Caesar

buzzflash, one of my favorite websites, has a terrific interview this morning with former Senator and presidential candidate Gary Hart about his new book, God and Caesar in America. Here is an excerpt:

BuzzFlash: You are an attorney who went from Yale Divinity to Yale Law. Our legal system is based on equal protection for people of divergent backgrounds, divergent beliefs, from divergent income statuses – it protects them, and it’s supposed to level the playing field – all people are equal in a courtroom and before the court of law under our Constitution. If the Supreme Court starts to view cases through a theological lens, what happens then?

Gary Hart: Well, all the bad things one can imagine.

BuzzFlash: For instance, suppose the Supreme Court looks at the abortion issue. Judges Alito and Scalia have at least intimated that it is against their religious viewpoint. If judges begin to assess Constitutional issues through a religious filter, what happens to our legal underpinnings?

Gary Hart: It’s very murky, and very, very tough. We’re living in a time where holding office requires you to have, as I say in the essay, "faith" and "values," often undefined. Then you come up with judicial nominees who do have "faith" and "values," but they say, faced with confirmation for the highest court, I will set those aside when I make decisions. It almost stands the whole process on its head. The religious right believes that, by getting George elected, and a majority of Congress, and having a veto power over judges, it is achieving exactly their objective of putting judges on the courts, including the highest court, who will impose their faith and values on the system.

It makes an objective observer very suspicious when the leaders of the world say, I will set my "faith" and "values" aside. They’re being nominated because of their "faith" and "values." Republicans get upset when Democrats are suspicious, but there’s good reason for suspicion, since the whole point is to get people on the court who will insert their faith and values into the judicial process.

BuzzFlash: Your concluding section, entitled "God and Caesar," alludes to the well-known advice, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and render unto God that which is God's.” This sums up the dilemma in a nutshell. What is God’s, and what belongs to the realm of politics?

Gary Hart: There’s no simple conclusion. There is not a night-and-day distinction. Almost all of us have faith in something, and we certainly have values. I talk about that old phrase that used to be used – "the moral majority" – well, I think, with rare exception, almost everybody in America and the world is moral, or has a moral compass. Obviously some don’t always follow that compass, but that’s what the judicial process is all about.

My essay is not an argument about taking "values" – I prefer to call them "principles" – out of public life, or even causing people of faith or religion to not participate in public life. I think they should. This is not the argument. It’s a question of when one wing of one religion dominates one party, and then seeks to impose its values on the rest of America, that we’ve gone too far. And I would simply say that we’ve got to get back to the kind of moderate consensus which prevailed up until, let’s say, the age of Reagan, and the period in which the religious right began to assert itself through the Republican Party, where people were tolerant. I keep coming back to those values of Jesus – tolerance, forgiveness, mercy, a sense of social justice and equality. Otherwise, a mass democracy of 300 million people simply will not work.

The divisiveness was introduced by the religious right, and a new set of Republicans in the eighties and nineties, and it has polarized this country. I will make that assertion. I don’t think it was liberals that polarized this country. Liberal Democrats got along well with moderate Republicans. I was there in the seventies in the Senate. You could compromise. You could reach agreement. It is when a different kind of Republican began to be elected that the divisiveness set in.

As I point out in the essay, the reason you can’t mix religion and politics is, religion is about absolutes, right and wrong, good and evil. Politics is about compromise. If you cannot compromise on issues that are not central to a person’s faith – and that’s about 99% of the issues our country faces – then the country doesn’t work. The government doesn’t work. That’s why we’ve had government grinding to a halt in recent years. People are frustrated by it.

We live in a political world which has become black and white, "you are for us or against us," which despises the shades of gray which is where most of us live most of the time. Denying complexity doesn't make it go away.

Read the whole interview. I'm going to go pick up the book this afternoon.

Friday mystery

Somebody left a diamond ring in a stranger's car, along with a typewritten note.

Merry Christmas. Thank you for leaving your car door unlocked. Instead of stealing your car I gave you a present. Hopefully this will land in the hands of someone you love, for my love is gone now. Merry Christmas to you

CNN.com - Heart-broken stranger gives away $15,000 ring - Dec 15, 2005

My theory:
The giver is a mystery (or possibly romance, but I think mystery is more likely) writer who has been writing long enough that he or she used to use a typewriter. The writer's spouse has recently died, and their courtship coincided with the writer's starving artist period. During that time, they were involved in a car theft (either victims or perps) which became a story that they shared for many years.

What's yours?

Star Chamber

Bush Authorized Domestic Spying
Post-9/11 Order Bypassed Special Court

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 16, 2005; Page A01

President Bush signed a secret order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens and foreign nationals in the United States, despite previous legal prohibitions against such domestic spying, sources with knowledge of the program said last night.

The super-secretive NSA, which has generally been barred from domestic spying except in narrow circumstances involving foreign nationals, has monitored the e-mail, telephone calls and other communications of hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of people under the program, the New York Times disclosed last night.

The aim of the program was to rapidly monitor the phone calls and other communications of people in the United States believed to have contact with suspected associates of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups overseas, according to two former senior administration officials. Authorities, including a former NSA director, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, were worried that vital information could be lost in the time it took to secure a warrant from a special surveillance court, sources said.

But the program's ramifications also prompted concerns from some quarters, including Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.), the ranking Democrat on the intelligence committee, and the presiding judge of the surveillance court, which oversees lawful domestic spying, according to the Times.

The Times said it held off on publishing its story about the NSA program for a year after administration officials said its disclosure would harm national security.

The White House made no comment last night. A senior official reached by telephone said the issue was too sensitive to talk about. None of several press officers responded to telephone or e-mail messages.

Congressional sources familiar with limited aspects of the program would not discuss any classified details but made it clear there were serious questions about the legality of the NSA actions. The sources, who demanded anonymity, said there were conditions under which it would be possible to gather and retain information on Americans if the surveillance were part of an investigation into foreign intelligence.

But those cases are supposed to be minimized. The sources said the actual work of the NSA is so closely held that it is difficult to determine whether it is acting within the law.

Since we know nothing about it and there is no oversight, we have know way of knowing if the Constitution is being respected. Given the proclivities of Bushco, what do you think?

Missing the Point

N.Y. Transit Union Rejects Offer and Will Begin Limited Strike

By SEWELL CHAN and STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: December 16, 2005

After five hours of intense negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the transit workers' union decided this morning to delay for four days a decision on whether to strike the New York City subway and bus system, but to start an immediate strike against two private bus companies in Queens that are being transferred to the authority's control. The authority, which had offered two 3 percent raises over 27 months, raised its offer today to 3 percent in each of the next 3 years. It also agreed to lower its demand, to 1 percent from 2 percent, the proportion of earnings that it wants new employees to pay toward health-care premiums. But it refused to budge on its insistence that new workers reach age 62 before being able to collect full pensions, compared with age 55 for most current workers.

At 6:30 a.m. today, the union's executive board rejected that offer and agreed to set a new strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. The decision prolonged, for millions of riders, uncertainty about whether the nation's largest transit system will be shut down by a labor strike for the first time since 1980.

The union, Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, immediately began a strike at Jamaica Buses, which operates 6 local routes and 1 express route, and at the Triboro Coach Corporation, which operates 13 local routes and 6 express routes. The union represents 217 workers at Jamaica Buses, based in Jamaica, Queens, and 490 workers at Triboro, based in Flushing, Queens.

Roger Toussaint, the union's president, and Peter S. Kalikow, the authority's chairman, met at 11 p.m. last night for the first time in the labor talks, just one hour before the union's three-year contract expired at 12:01 this morning.

The key sticking point, according to several union officials, is the authority's proposal that new employees reach age 62 before being able to collect a full pension. Since 1994, the vast majority of transit employees have been able to collect a regular pension at age 55 if they have 25 years of experience.

Mr. Toussaint presented the authority's new proposal at 6 a.m. to the 46-member executive board, which is the union's governing body. The board approved, by a vote of 25 to 14, a resolution authorizing the strike at Jamaica and Triboro and postponing a broader strike until Tuesday. Two members abstained.

Then at a news conference, Mr. Toussaint said that the union had been repeatedly "provoked" and that "we have been left with no choice" but to strike.

Mr. Toussaint criticized Mr. Kalikow for coming to the negotiating table so late in the talks, which formally began on Oct. 14. "One hour for 34,000 workers that was the M.T.A.'s idea of good-faith bargaining," Mr. Toussaint said.

As talks have faltered over the past few days, the union has repeatedly portrayed the authority as forcing its back to the wall.

"We tried to bargain with the M.T.A.," Mr. Toussaint said this morning. "We negotiated well past our contractual deadline, because we wanted to get a deal done, and we still do. However, the M.T.A. is insisting on a contract that would leave the next generation of transit workers way behind - a contract that would put a lock and key on transit workers' access to the middle class."

The decision to begin a strike at the two Queens bus companies may well be part of a legal strategy.

Jamaica and Triboro are among seven private bus companies that have received city subsidies since 1974. In 2002, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced his intention to end the subsidies and transfer the companies to the authority's direct control.

So far, four of the seven companies have been transferred. Jamaica Buses is to be transferred on Jan. 30, and Triboro on Feb. 20. A third company, Green Bus Lines, is to be transferred on Jan. 9, but its members are represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union.

Because the transfers of Jamaica and Triboro have yet to take effect, union lawyers believe the state's Taylor Law, a 1967 statute prohibiting strikes by public employees, does not apply. The state has received an injunction barring the union from striking the city's subways and buses, but whether that injunction applies to private bus lines that are soon to be public is not clear.

Local 100 represents 1,800 workers at five of the seven private bus companies, and the workers' last contract expired on March 31, 2003.

The union has insisted that those workers have a new contract at the same time as the 33,700 subway and bus workers have theirs.

Excuse me? You have 1,800 workers who have been without a contract for nearly three years, and the NYT can't figure out what this potential strike is about? Jeebus, don't these frickin' reporters don't ever study any history?

As per usual, the MSM doesn't have a clue when it comes to labor issues.

A Busy Week for Paranoids

Just to sum up, this week we've learned that:

1) since 2002, the NSA has been conducting domestic spying with Bush's authorization;

2) the military's also collecting information about 'suspicious activity' by Americans here at home; and

3) there are secret laws and regulations that we apparently can be charged with disobeying, even though we don't know they exist.

Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?

Abramoff Ex-Partner Adam Kidan Pleads Guilty

By CURT ANDERSON
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 15, 2005; 9:37 PM

MIAMI -- A former business partner of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty Thursday to fraud and conspiracy in the ill-fated 2000 purchase of a fleet of gambling boats.

Adam Kidan's plea bargain is likely to require that he cooperate in the case against Abramoff involving the SunCruz Casinos deal and perhaps even testify against his old partner.

Kidan pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud; four other felony counts were dropped. He could get up to 10 years in federal prison at sentencing March 1.

Kidan declined to speak with reporters after the hearing, though his attorney, Joseph Conway, described him as "happy" with the outcome.

Abramoff and Kidan were indicted in August on charges of conspiracy and fraud for allegedly concocting a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they were putting a significant portion of their own money into the $147.5 million SunCruz deal. Two lenders agreed to provide $60 million in financing for the SunCruz purchase based on that false wire transfer, according to prosecutors.

Abramoff has claimed in court papers that Kidan was to blame for any irregularities in the deal and that he found out about it only later. Abramoff is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 9.

"We'll have to see what impact it has, if any," said Abramoff's attorney, Neal Sonnett, regarding Kidan's plea. He declined to comment further.

Abramoff, a top Republican fundraiser and lobbyist, is also being investigated in Washington on suspicion of defrauding his Indian tribe clients of millions of dollars and using improper influence on members of Congress.

Kidan and Abramoff bought SunCruz from founder Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, who was slain in 2001 in a gangland-style hit while driving his luxury car in Fort Lauderdale. Investigators say Boulis and Kidan were embroiled in a battle for control of SunCruz; Kidan has denied any involvement in Boulis' death.

Three men were arrested in September on murder charges in Boulis' killing and are awaiting trial.

Kidan's guilty plea comes after another of Abramoff's former associates, Michael Scanlon, agreed to cooperate in the SunCruz case as part of a plea agreement in a separate federal case in Washington.

Scanlon said he helped Abramoff and Kidan buy SunCruz by persuading Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, to insert comments into the Congressional Record that were "calculated to pressure the then-owner to sell on terms favorable" to Abramoff and Kidan.

According to court papers, Ney received trips, tickets and campaign donations, allegedly in exchange for official acts. Ney has not been charged and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

SunCruz, which operates gambling "cruises to nowhere" off Florida, fell into bankruptcy after Boulis was killed and has since emerged under new management.

This was expected, but it's still sweet. One by one, these guys are going down. And Abramoff's the guy in the middle of one humongous spiderweb of GOP corruption.

Poached Garlic Soup

This soup is certainly for garlic lovers, but others who are not so sure about the root fruit will find a side of it they haven't experienced before. Poaching makes it mild. This is a subtle and delicious soup. This isn't something you'd serve at a catered meal (unless it was to the Garlic Convention in Gilroy, CA) but partnered with the right entree, this will be an experience new to most. I've served this to people who thought they hated garlic and made converts with it. Tell 'em it is a cream of potato soup and they'll ask you, "what is that wonderful flavor in the background?" Garlic and onion haters won't even need their beloved "Beano" for this one. Don't tell them and they won't have a problem.

For vegetarians, substitute vegetable broth or, better still, potato broth from cooking potatoes on another day and frozen in the freezer.

30 cloves garlic, peeled (yes, 30)
7 cups chicken broth, divided
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
8 small new potatoes, peeled, diced and reserved in cold water
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine garlic cloves and 3 cups of chicken broth; bring to a boil and poach 15 minutes or until soft. Remove garlic cloves to a small bowl and mash with a fork; set aside for use in make Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread. Cook and reduce chicken broth to a glaze; remove from heat and set aside.

In a large soup pot over low heat, melt butter. Add onion and sauté until soft. Drain potatoes; stir into butter and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Add 4 cups chicken broth. Increase heat to medium-high; simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes or until the potatoes are softened. Remove from heat and let cool 10 to 15 minutes.

In a food processor or blender, puree soup; return to soup pot. Add garlic-chicken glaze; stir until well blended.

NOTE: The soup can be made 1 to 2 days in advance up until this stage. Refrigerate until ready to finish.

Stir in heavy cream, milk, salt, and pepper; cook, over low heat, another 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve in soup bowls and garnish with parmesan cheese. Serve with Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread.

Makes 6 servings.

Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread

6 slices sourdough bread, thinly sliced and lightly toasted
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Poached garlic cloves

Preheat broiler. In a small bowl, combine butter and mashed garlic cloves; mash until well blended. Spread garlic mixture evenly over the top of the bread slices. When ready to serve, broil bread for a few seconds or until top is lightly browned and bubbly.

This makes a spectacular first coarse before a hearty entree like a roast. Serve it before a beef tenderloin or rib roast and just soak up the accolades. Dress the top of the soup plates and the sides of the bowls with finely chopped parsely and a quick grind of fresh white pepper. Drizzle some garlic oil along the side of the soup plate. Just for effect.

You'll have enough garlic-butter spread to pass with fresh bread at the table with the entree.

This is hug-yourself-good-food and it will astonish your guests. Astonish. I'm not kidding. And the cost of the ingredients are so cheap that you can afford a beef roast as a main coarse. If you can't put that kind of money into a roast, this will still be achingly good with London Broil, the poor man's steak. Broil the toasts while the steak is resting after you've cooked it and before you slice it. It needs ten minutes, anyway. I keep a raft of those cheap foil broiler pans around from the dollar store so that I can tuck another course into the oven while the big broiler pan is in the sink for washing.

Slice your offering to your friends on a nicely presented plate and enjoy the compliments. Garnish the meat plate with lemon slices and parsley. Have a ball, you are going to enjoy this dinner party.

Serve this with a petite Syrah, my favorite all-purpose wine. Boiled new potatoe with fresh cream butter and steamed french beans with

For vegetarians, substitute vegetable broth or, better still, potato broth from cooking potatoes on another day and frozen in the freezer.

30 cloves garlic, peeled
7 cups chicken broth, divided
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
8 small new potatoes, peeled, diced and reserved in cold water
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine garlic cloves and 3 cups of chicken broth; bring to a boil and poach 15 minutes or until soft. Remove garlic cloves to a small bowl and mash with a fork; set aside for use in make Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread. Cook and reduce chicken broth to a glaze; remove from heat and set aside.

In a large soup pot over low heat, melt butter. Add onion and sauté until soft. Drain potatoes; stir into butter and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Add 4 cups chicken broth. Increase heat to medium-high; simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes or until the potatoes are softened. Remove from heat and let cool 10 to 15 minutes.

In a food processor or blender, puree soup; return to soup pot. Add garlic-chicken glaze; stir until well blended.

NOTE: The soup can be made 1 to 2 days in advance up until this stage. Refrigerate until ready to finish.

Stir in heavy cream, milk, salt, and pepper; cook, over low heat, another 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve in soup bowls and garnish with parmesan cheese. Serve with Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread.

Makes 6 servings.

Toasted Garlic-Butter Bread

6 slices sourdough bread, thinly sliced and lightly toasted
6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Poached garlic cloves

Preheat broiler. In a small bowl, combine butter and mashed garlic cloves; mash until well blended. Spread garlic mixture evenly over the top of the bread slices. When ready to serve, broil bread for a few seconds or until top is lightly browned and bubbly.

This makes a spectacular first coarse before a hearty entree like a roast. Serve it before a beef tenderloin or rib roast and just soak up the accolades. Dress the top of the soup plates and the sides of the bowls with finely chopped parsely and a quick grind of fresh white pepper. Drizzle some garlic oil along the side of the soup plate. Just for effect.

You'll have enough garlic-butter spread to pass with fresh bread at the table with the entree.

This is hug-yourself-good-food and it will astonish your guests. Astonish. I'm not kidding. And the cost of the ingredients are so cheap that you can afford a beef roast as a main coarse. If you can't put that kind of money into a roast, this will still be achingly good with London Broil, the poor man's steak. Broil the toasts while the steak is resting after you've cooked it, it needs about 20 minutes to rest. This apple cider vinaigrette is all you need on the side over the steamed green beens.

Yum.

From Land and Sea

Read about paella and then go make some.
I've been studying the Spanish regional recipes and this one seems the closest to what I ate in Valencia.

PAELLA MARINERA

(Seafood paella)

Recipe from Paco Nomdedeu

by Montse Nomdedeu

INGREDIENTS: (8 people. Leftovers are delicious)

*
2 pounds short round rice
*
1 cup olive oil (or enough to cover the bottom of the pan)
*
2.5 liters of water
*
1 chicken (cut in small pieces)
*
1/2 pound or so of short pork ribs (cut in small pieces or cubes)
*
Mussels
*
Squid (clean, in pieces or rings)
*
Shrimp (1 or 2 per person)
*
Green beans
*
Snow peas and/or sweet peas
*
Lima beans (flat yellow beans)
*
Pepper (sweet red/green)
*
Tomato (crushed; 1 small can)
*
Garlic (1 head; peel cloves or not, cut them in pieces ; try it different ways)
*
Salt
*
Saffron , Puro Ground (Diana’s suggestion)

You can choose not to use some of the vegetables/beans if you don’t like them. Some people like to use a little of crushed onion. If you make traditional meat-only paella (the real traditional “Paella de la huerta Valenciana”), add artichoke (hearts of soft small ones, cut in 4 pieces or so) and rosemary springs when you add the saffron to the water.

Warm paellón with coating of olive oil. Add pieces of chicken (previously salted) & fry lightly, then add pork ribs (previously salted also). Add the squid, and then when meat is almost done frying, add veggies in order of tenderness: artichokes, peppers, garlic (be careful not to burn it) - wait & stir. Then add green beans & peas. Stir. When veggies are almost fried add crushed tomato. Heat tomato (don’t burn it!) & add water. Boil for 20 minutes. While boiling, check taste & add salt. When satisfied with taste (salt), add saffron (& springs of rosemary if it’s meat-only paella). Stir and wait a little. Then add rice (evenly throughout - water must cover rice by at least 1/2 “. If not, add water and re-taste for salt). Lower heat slowly at this point so water doesn’t evaporate too quickly. Once the rice is evenly distributed don’t stir it. When there is only a little water left add shrimp and mussels. When all water has evaporated, remove & let cool for a few minutes (“reposar”).

¡QUE APROVECHE! (Enjoy it!)

(If the rice hasn’t cooked evenly, before serving, mix the rice from the bottom with the one at the top, which will be harder)

Some people like meat-only paella with snails. The rosemary kind of substitutes the snails and leaves a wonderful flavor (in the Spanish mountains, snails eat rosemary and different herbs, so when cooked, even if you don’t eat th