Obama doesn't actually favor net neutrality

Yet another broken promise and giveaway to business lobbies.

Wikileaks Diplomatic Cables

Good resources

• The Guardian's daily summary of headlines
• wlcentral
• Cablegate site (and mirrors)
  
• Wikipedia page on the United States diplomatic cables leak (gives a good breakdown of leaks by region)
• Democracy Now's coverage
  

Interesting points

• All of the documents that have been published on Wikileaks so far have also been published by the NYT, etc. with the same redactions. There are around 250,000 cables total but less than 1% has been released.
  
• The documents were offered to the WSJ and CNN, but both refused them. The NYT got them from the Guardian, not Wikileaks.
• Julian Assange's personal philosophy is very pro-capitalist.
• Allegedly, a fake Lady Gaga recording was involved in the disclosure.
• The NYT, as expected, took the most jingoistic angle possible
• Other Wikileaks-like sites are planned for launch
• Assange's old blog is here
• The smear campaign directed at Assange is farcical
• A previous, similar leak in 1982 from the Tehran embassy has been all but forgotten
• Good discussion here on the legality of Wikileaks (synopsis: there is no clear illegality on the part of Wikileaks)
• Casualties: sacking of German minister's aide, former Croatian PM flees the country
• Companies refusing to do business with Wikileaks: Amazon, Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, Bank of America, PostFinance, Apple
• The government of Tunisia was overthrown partially because of Wikileaks
  

Significant revelations

• Obama and GOP worked together to kill torture probe
• US is using U2 spy planes flying from Cyprus to spy on Hezbollah
• The CIA directed a biometric-information gathering program conducted by US diplomats
• Pharmaceutical firm Pfizer conducted fatal experimental drug tests on children in Nigera without parental consent, and then tried to dig up dirt on the Nigerian attorney general in order to pressure him to drop a lawsuit against Pfizer
• Private security contractor DynCorp "Helped Pimp Little Boys to Stoned Afghan Cops"
• The ICRC told US diplomats of widespread torture by the Indian police in Kashmir
  

They're getting nervous

"WikiLeaks could be transformed from a handful of volunteers to a global movement of politicised geeks clamouring for revenge. Today’s WikiLeaks talks the language of transparency, but it could quickly develop a new code of explicit anti-Americanism, anti-imperialism and anti-globalisation.[...] An aggressive attempt to go after WikiLeaks – by blocking its web access, for instance, or by harassing its members – could install Mr Assange (or whoever succeeds him) at the helm of a powerful new global movement able to paralyse the work of governments and corporations around the world."

BP oil spill -- links and info

BP's oil spill is the largest oil spill in US history. A disaster was bound to happen given the exemptions the government gave BP from an environmental review and the fact that the MMS allowed BP to fill out its own inspection forms. About a year ago, internal documents show that BP was concerned about the safety of the rig. And so on.

BP's response has been (as expected) to put profits ahead of all other considerations. BP has prevented conscripted cleanup crews from wearing respirators since that would open the company to liability suits; some workers have summarily been hospitalized. BP attempted to have Louisiana fishermen sign promises not to sue the company immediately after the disaster. BP has been rather successful in suppressing information about the spill and they have underreported the amount of oil that is likely leaking. Additionally, the Coast Guard appears to have been tapped in service of the company. But nothing can beat the sheer novelty of BP busing in workers for Obama's visit to make the cleanup effort appear more substantial (and then busing the workers out after Obama and the press left).

As far as personal stories go, this is just heartbreaking. Rolling Stone also has a comprehensive article about the government's reaction to the spill. Apparently there is a Twitter feed mocking BP that some find funny.

Greenwald has some more coverage here.

Obama doesn't mind engorging the military industrial complex

The next way that the US defense industry is going to pillage public funds is via a Israeli missile-defense shield. I wonder how far the proposed $205 million would actually go in the region if it were used for actually helpful items like schools, hospitals, food (for the Palestinians, that is, who need them)...

Obama doesn't actually like Miranda rights

Following the failed Times Square Bombing, Obama's administration didn't delay in considering to withdraw yet another civil liberty protection: Miranda rights.

Obama doesn't much mind oil spills

From Jonathan Turley's blog about Obama's involvement in the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico:

Yet, the criticism of Obama in the aftermath of this tragedy has been quite modest. One can only imagine the outcry if President Bush opened up the East Coast to drilling, said that rigs do not cause spills (here), disregarded warnings about such spills from his own agency (here), and waived an environmental impact study based on the industry’s assurance. On top of that, Obama has been the largest recipient of BP campaign money (here). No one expects the President to follow waivers of impact studies — that is Salazar’s job. However, once again, the muted criticism from liberals is striking.

Which way, Obama?

Obama has me confused about which way it is important to look:

Obama was asked in this interview: "Is your administration satisfied with the resolution of the past human rights abuses in Indonesia?" He replied:

We have to acknowledge that those past human rights abuses existed. We can't go forward without looking backwards . . . .

When asked last year about whether the United States should use similar tribunals to investigate its own human rights abuses, as well his view of other countries' efforts (such as Spain) to investigate those abuses, Obama said:

I'm a strong believer that it's important to look forward and not backwards, and to remind ourselves that we do have very real security threats out there.

Obama actually doesn't support women's rights

From Jonathan Turley:

After holding a large public ceremony for the signing of the health care bill, President Barack Obama is barring cameras when he signs the executive order needed to secure the votes for the narrow passage: a ban on federal funding of abortion.

Rep. Bart Stupak and his colleagues will attend the signing but no cameras are going to be allowed by the White House. The thirteen members are all pro-life Democrats and the White House has decided that the public should not witness the event.

By the way, Stupak was suddenly given an over $720,000 grant for airports in this district shortly before his vote, here. This has led some to question whether the pro-life order was the only condition of his support.

For the full story, click here.

Obama actually doesn't like FoIA Requests

From Slashdot:

"Agencies under the Obama administration cite security provisions to withhold information more often than they did under the Bush administration. For example, the 'deliberative process' exemption of the Freedom of Information Act was used 70,779 times in 2009, up from the 47,395 of 2008. Amusingly, the Associated Press has been waiting three months for the government to deliver records on its own Open Government Directive."

Warren Buffett on Class Warfare

Quoted in the New York Times:

Even though I agreed with him, I warned that whenever someone tried to raise the issue, he or she was accused of fomenting class warfare.

“There’s class warfare, all right,” Mr. Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

Obama likes tort reform now, too

"Tort reform," a policy commonly offered by some as a panacea to the US health care crisis, is now being embraced by the Obama administration. But tort reform will do nothing to boost health care -- in fact, it will kill thousands of people every year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. What tort reform truly is, according to Jonathan Turley, is a way for doctors to have the government subsidize them by capping malpractice lawsuit damages.

These doctors are demanding huge subsidies and legal protections in exchange for resumption of health care. It is a game of chicken being played by doctors across the nation, with their patients’ health in the balance — and it is working.

Obama renews Patriot Act for Another Year

Thanks, Barry!

Obama doesn't want you to have privacy using a cellphone

The Obama administration is arguing in court that there is no expectation of privacy while using a cell phone. That is, the administration wants to track you without probable cause or a warrant. As usual, the EFF and the ACLU seem to be the only people that care...

Robot surveillance/law enforcement coming soon to the UK

According to Wired, the UK is planning to deploy a fleet of unmanned aircraft for surveillance. But the article also ominously notes that "Military drones quickly moved from reconnaissance to strike." Great.

Student detained at airport because of Arabic flash cards

A college student was detained by the TSA for hours at an airport because he was carrying Arabic flash cards. Thankfully, the ACLU has taken up his case and is suing the TSA and the FBI, amongst others.

The truth about torture is out in the UK... and Obama is angry

It seems that the disclosure will "complicate" intelligence sharing between the US and the UK. At least one of these countries sometimes places human rights over expediency.

New York Times Magazine terrorist fearmongering

Here is the cover of the 1/31/2010 issue of the New York Times Magazine... I don't think any comment is required.

Obama actually doesn't like nuclear nonproliferation

So much for Obama's dreams of a nuclear-free world. In his proposed budget, Obama proposed $5 billion over the next five years for nuclear-related activities. Furthermore, shipping weaponse to Taiwan has also caused China to pull out of non-proliferation talks. Way to go, Barry.

Obama administration claims right to kill Americans suspected of terrorism

Due process? What's that? Read the post of the same title by Jonathan Turley here. What is surprising is how little controversy this is generating.

FBI violates your privacy... again

From Slashdot which links to the Washington Post:

An anonymous reader writes to tell us of a report from the Washington Post which alleges that the FBI "illegally collected more than 2,000 US telephone call records between 2002 and 2006 by invoking terrorism emergencies that did not exist or simply persuading phone companies to provide records."

US attempting to strongarm Costa Rica into compliance with IP laws

Under the auspices of "free trade." The Bahamas are also discussed in the article.