Dear Mr. Attorney General

AMDOM STUFF
* "It's hard to fathom the continuing legal squeeze on Time magazine's Matthew Cooper and the New York Times's Judith Miller to reveal their sources in a White House leak investigation. Unless, that is, the real concern of special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald isn't just the leak but possible perjury by a senior Bush administration official." LINK

* "In fact, only 36% of all adults say Mr. Bush's comments on saving and strengthening Social Security are his real motives for changing the program, while 49% believe his real agenda is to dismantle it." LINK
* in NY, only 13% have 'no religion' - the good news is, thats one of the lowest in the country. LINK

* ""While we're on the topic of Bush's leisure time, anyone intent on criticizing the president for taking an hour and a half out of his day to mountain-bike should take the following as proof that he is indeed a busy man: In a photo taken just after the ride, Bush is holding what appears to be a copy of 'I Am Charlotte Simmons,' the Tom Wolfe novel about debauchery on a college campus. In early February, Bush told reporters he was reading that same book -- which, if he is almost done, averages to about seven pages a day... And for the record, Elisabeth Bumiller of the New York Times actually wrote on Feb. 7 that Bush had already finished the book: "The president, a fan of Mr. Wolfe, has not only read the book but also is enthusiastically recommending it to friends."" LINK

* Galloway: "I’ll be there to give them both barrels — verbal guns, of course, not oil — assuming we get the visas. I welcome the opportunity to clear my name. My first words will be, ‘Senator, it’s a pity that we are having this interview after you have found me guilty. Even in Kafka there was the semblance of a trial.'" LINK

* okrent: "Now, I think the likelihood of (the press) failing on something like WMD again is very slight because everybody is aware of how we in the press blew it." LINK
maybe we wont go to war with iran. who knew?

* "Dear Mr. Attorney General:
We are writing to request that you appoint a special counsel to investigate whether high-ranking officials within the Bush Administration violated the War Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. 2441, or the Anti-Torture Act, 18 U.S.C. 2340 by allowing the use of torture techniques banned by domestic and international law at recognized and secret detention sites in Iraq, Afghanistan Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere." LINK
when does conyers get his FreedomMedal?

* "Federal agents have begun asking reporters about any conversations they had with a former Pentagon analyst who has been charged with illegally disclosing military secrets... The interviews represent the latest twist in a convoluted inquiry that appears to be evolving from a spy case into a broader investigation into the possible disclosure of classified information by the analyst, Lawrence A. Franklin... Mr. Franklin is free on $100,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for May 27, but officials said prosecutors were likely to indict him soon on multiple charges instead of the single count in the initial complaint." LINK

* i mentioned the other day that there was something weird going on with the whitehouse/cessna story - although i couldnt make any sense of it. some are suggesting that the president was *deliberately* cut out of the loop (via ron). ari2's response to it was kinda weird. i sw a count somewhere - he used the word 'protocol' something like 34 times in 25 mins. many others are trying to understand what the hell is going on.

* " Europe's top human rights court ruled Thursday that the 1999 trial of the Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan was unfair, a decision that may force Turkey to order a retrial so that it can continue on the path toward membership in the European Union." LINK

* wow. The Power of Nightmares is being shown at cannes. LINK
(which reminds me, i had been working on a followup to my ricin stuff - but i didnt finish it (yet?). Adam Curtis made a speech (at the baftas?) about the ricin thing that the bbc edited out of their coverage...

* Sidney Blumenthal: "(Gordon Brown and Bush are a car crash waiting to happen. Bush has an instinctive revulsion for serious intellectuals who have little capacity for the locker-room banter that is his mode of condescension.)" LINK

* btw - when i slam george allen, its not just cos he's an imbecile and a dullard. heres the betting for 2008 repug nom. MCCAIN 18, ALLEN 15.5, FRIST 14.5, GIULIANI 11.5 - the differences are negligible - ie allen is effectively equal favourite to be the next repug nom. (hillary is actually fave by far to be the next president)