Recently in politics Category

A study conducted by the College Sports Council based on NCAA participation and scholarship data, shows that in NCAA Division I "gender symmetric sports" (teams where both male and female athletes participate), female students are accorded far more opportunities than male students to compete and earn scholarships.

According to GQ correspondent Robert Draper, it had become routine for former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to deliver his Worldwide Intelligence Updates (daily briefings) with a cover sheet that depicted color images from the previous days' war efforts along with an inspirational quote from the Bible.

On the morning of Thursday, April 10, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon prepared a top-secret briefing for George W. Bush. This document, known as the Worldwide Intelligence Update, was a daily digest of critical military intelligence so classified that it circulated among only a handful of Pentagon leaders and the president; Rumsfeld himself often delivered it, by hand, to the White House. The briefing's cover sheet generally featured triumphant, color images from the previous days' war efforts: On this particular morning, it showed the statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down in Firdos Square, a grateful Iraqi child kissing an American soldier, and jubilant crowds thronging the streets of newly liberated Baghdad. And above these images, and just below the headline secretary of defense, was a quote that may have raised some eyebrows. It came from the Bible, from the book of Psalms: "Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him...To deliver their soul from death."

I am not opposed to using inspirational quotes to inspire those around us, but a daily Biblical quote mixed with images of war makes the former leaders of the United States look fanatical, which is exactly what we are up against in the War on Terror.

Johanna Sigurdardottir, chosen as a caretaker prime minister after the Icelandic government collapsed has been officially elected Prime Minister by Iceland's citizens. She is making her presence felt immediately with a push to join the European Union.

An interesting opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal from former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's OfficeWilliam McSwainconcerning the released interrogation memos. An ex-marine, McSwain himself has been waterboarded. [via smerconish]

Military and CIA interrogators are trained to use creative means of deception, and to play on detainee emotions and fears. This can be a nasty business. People unfamiliar with it, therefore, might even view a perfectly legitimate interrogation of a prisoner of war that is in full compliance with the Geneva Conventions as abhorrent by its very nature.

But military interrogation is not akin to a friendly chat across a conference table -- nor is it designed to gather evidence in a criminal trial, as an FBI interview might be. There is a fundamental distinction between law enforcement and military interrogations that we ignore at our peril.

The Obama administration is trying to usher in a new era of transparency in government. It has already set up a Web site, recovery.org, where people can track how the hundreds of billions of dollars in the economic stimulus plan are being spent, and Obama promises that in the years to come, citizens will have much more access to information about what the government is doing.

Just like the rest of us, when Congress gets back to work today, there will be a large stack of paperwork waiting for them.

Interesting article regarding the purpose of interrogating a suspect, which ultimately is for intelligence, not a confession. [via smerconish]

A special congratulations to resident memetician Timothy J. Carroll for receiving the Garden State Journalism Association' s Memorial Journalism Award in the category of Print Investigative Journalism for his piece entitled, What Happened To Those Election Investigations?

Congrats!

The memeticians love maps. BBC News has a sweet interactive map breaking down India's battleground states in their upcoming elections.

Okay, so it's not exactly everyone's favorite comeback, but it's close enough.

The Senate Budget Committee met last week, and a bit of banter ensued between Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).

The back-and-forth came after Grassley, the ranking Republican on the finance committee, pressed Conrad to include an amendment of his. "I'd like to suggest to the chairman that he might want to support this because, you remember, you asked me two years ago not to take a vote on it and you said if we did take a vote on it you might not get your budget resolution adopted. So I did not ask for a vote on it and you said it was a very statesmanlike thing for me to do at that particular time and so I would hope that you would return the favor," said Grassley.

"You know, I used to like you. Let me just say: Oh, you are good," said Conrad.

"Well, your wife said the same thing."

Conrad didn't miss a beat. "She did, she said you were the biggest hit of all the speakers at the event," he replied.