July 2, 2009 archive

Nikai Thursday

So let’s get this straight.  Somali pirates capture an American civilian ship captain, and Obama sends in the Navy Seals to kill the kidnappers.   Obama’s the Big Man for this.

Iran has a near-revolution, and Obama vehemently supports the rioters, talking a big game about human rights, and Democracy, and all that stuff …  

But Israel captures one of our American citizens, kidnaps her right off a boat which is carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, something Obama recommended we do, and he says not a damn word.

Not only is this woman an American citizen, she’s a former House member and was a Presidential Candidate.  Furthermore, another person kidnapped off this boat, by Israel, was Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire.

When it comes to Israel, Obama is nothing but a big pussy.

Why is that?  

Adapted from original post at Firedoglake

Sometimes people can be too smart for their own good.

According to recent news stories (see Spencer Ackerman’s article in the Washington Independent), the Obama administration task force on interrogations is likely to recommend “small, mixed-agency teams for interviewing the most important terrorist targets.” Moreover, according to former Deputy Attorney General  and Intelligence Science Board member Philip Heymann:

… interrogators from across the military, CIA, and FBI, would be charged with creating a “syllabus” of best interrogation practices that fall within the boundaries of the U.S. Army Field Manual on Interrogations, which complies with the Geneva Conventions.

moar funny pictures

As always, “Pony Party is an Open Thread.  Please do not rec the party.*

& please feel free to post your own pics, or recaption any of my lols, or post vids or whatever in the comments.

Original article, by Steve Kelly,UNITE London Construction Branch member, via Socialist Appeal (UK):

On Monday 29th June the workers at Lindsey agreed to return to work with heads held high.It was a magnificent result and all those involved deserve a great round of applause. The dispute began when 51 scaffolders were sacked at Lindsey and refused employment with another contractor on the site. They were regarded as troublemakers by management.The rest of the workers immediately downed tools in support of them.

From The Washington Post:

Thousands of U.S. Marines descended upon the volatile Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored convoys early Thursday morning, mounting an operation that represents the first large-scale test of the U.S. military’s new counter-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

The strategy is different this time around:

Once Marine units arrive in their designated towns and villages, they have been instructed to build and live in small outposts among the local population. The brigade’s commander, Brig. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, said his Marines will focus their efforts on protecting civilians from the Taliban, and on restoring Afghan government services, instead of a series of hunt-and-kill missions against the insurgents.

“We’re doing this very differently,” Nicholson said to his senior officers a few hours before the mission began. “We’re going to be with the people. We’re not going to drive to work. We’re going to walk to work.”

I hope they do a better job “protecting civilians” than we’ve done with our drone planes.