Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

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Posted on January 13, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Digby has much more information about the US and Iran than I found in my newspaper.

Posted in Iran | 2 Comments

The Conservative Crack-Up Begins

Posted on January 13, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Glenn Greenwald points to an NPR essay by a New Republic stalwart — Rod Dreher: “Hadn’t the hippies tried to tell my generation this”?

Better late than later.

Posted in Politics: US | Comments Off on The Conservative Crack-Up Begins

Jim Morin on Bush’s Speech

Posted on January 13, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

The Herald’s Jim Morin is frequently predictable, but now and then he hits one out of the park:

Posted in Iraq | 1 Comment

Paranoia Strikes Deep in the Heartland

Posted on January 13, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

“It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.” — David Hume.

putative.com: FedEx refuses shipment of made-up stuff, empty cans

FedEx guy: Is this really what this is? Rocket fuel?
Me [laughing, used to this reaction from being at the space-travel supply store]: Oh, no, no, no. Of course not. It’s… made-up. Kind of a joke. It’s actually full of sugar, which I just put in to give it some weight, but that’s all it is.
FedEx guy: You can’t ship this.
Me: But… it’s just sugar! What, uh, what if I empty it out? It doesn’t really need to have sugar in it.
FedEx guy: No. They would still x-ray it, and then you’d get a call when it was en route. I don’t think it would make it.

…

FedEx guy: Nope. You can’t ship these either.
Me: But… they’re empty! It’s just air. And… nitrogen? It’s, like, almost 80% of the atmosphere. There’s nothing dangerous about nitrogen, even if it were pure.
FedEx guy: They look too much like bomb-making materials.

Posted in Civil Liberties | 4 Comments

The Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight

Posted on January 12, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Did you see this in your newspaper? I didn't notice it in mine.

FT: Somalia strike ‘missed al-Qaeda targets’

The controversial US air strike in southern Somalia missed all three top al-Qaeda members Washington alleges are hiding out in the country, a senior US official said on Thursday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said eight to 10 “al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists” were killed in Monday’s attack, but gave no details.

Imagine if it had been the Clinton administration: the media would be all over it.

Posted in Politics: International | 3 Comments

Padilla Trial Delayed Until April

Posted on January 12, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Jose Padilla’s trial has been postponed from January 22 until April, to allow a full mental competency evaluation to be performed.

Posted in Padilla | Comments Off on Padilla Trial Delayed Until April