Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Ommm. Oy.

Posted on September 15, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Eszter Hargittai is one of the smart people I feel fortunate to have met; she certainly does some interesting work. Turns out she's also funny, witness Shana Tova, in which she forwards some 'Thoughts Of A Jewish Buddhist' just in time for Rosh Hashanah.

Posted in Completely Different | 1 Comment

Pattern and Practice

Posted on September 15, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Blogging of the President 2004 (aka BOP News) has choice quotes from the new Hersh book.

Don't let anyone tell you that the torture was the work of a few rogue elements off duty in the prision where they weren't supposed to be. That may be the source of some of the more shocking pictures to become public so far, but if Hersh is accurate, there was a pattern and practice of abusive conduct that (1) had to be endorsed by the prison administration and (2) was the subject of at least one blistering warning to higher-ups…who turned a blind eye.

This is war crimes stuff at least for the direct perpetrators and their prison commanders; how high up it could go is a painful question that is being swept under the rug as fast as possible.

Posted in Iraq Atrocities | 2 Comments

Nader Ballot Case — Justice at High Speed

Posted on September 15, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Abstract Appeal remains the best place to go to get your Nader Florida ballot case information. The latest updates as of this second report on the abortive attempt by the so-called Reform Party to remove the case to federal court. That attempt died faster than you can say “nofederalquestionandwaiver.”

Today is the hearing in the Flordia state court of appeal. The Florida Supreme Court seems to have put up a web page with a full set of .pdf's of Briefs & Other Documents in Case No. 04-1755. I wish I had time to read them.

Posted in Florida | Comments Off on Nader Ballot Case — Justice at High Speed

Fake Memos, True Facts?

Posted on September 15, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

That's what the secretary who (would have) typed the memos says.

Posted in Politics: US: GW Bush Scandals | 7 Comments

Compare and Contrast

Posted on September 14, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Let's assume that CBS got snookered and publicized fake documents which basically say true things about LT. Bush missing medical exams he should have taken and the mysterious holes in his records. Is this not-as-bad-as/the same as/worse than all the media which accurately repeated the falsehoods peddled by the Swift Boat people?

Posted in Politics: US: 2004 Election | 15 Comments

Spoofed

Posted on September 14, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Seems that the study claiming parents lose IQ is in fact an urban legend . Not true. No such thing.

Similarly, the Washington Post thinks that the CBS documents probably aren't real either. Looks bad for CBS — if this isn't real it will go down with the Hitler Diaries scandal. Which means it's all been one great big disctraction from reality—as US News & World Report has been showing independently of the CBS docs, GW Bush's own account of how he met his service obligations just don't add up no matter how you try.

Posted in Etc | 7 Comments