http://stridentcentrist.com/sc Alive And Well On The Yellow Stripe Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:39:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Don Vandergriff's blog hosts a joint post by Chuck Spinney and Immanuel Wallerstein on the geopolitical background and significance of the recent events in Georgia, and it is by far the most succinct and cogent piece on the subject I've seen yet. Spinney, a retired civil service employee of ... http://stridentcentrist.com/sc/archives/474 From "Timothy", writing at Slashdot: A laptop containing the unencrypted security data for 33,000 travelers using the Clear system was stolen at San Francisco International Airport on July 26, according to CBS5 Television. The Clear system allows travelers who register and pay a $100.00 annual fee to speed through airport ... http://stridentcentrist.com/sc/archives/473 When I was in about 9th or 10th grade and was reading everything I could get my hands on about the submarine warfare in the Pacific during WW II, I wanted to build my own submarine and it occurred to me that an easy approach would be to use old ... http://stridentcentrist.com/sc/archives/472 Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich quite succinctly outlines the differences between the two major party candidates' economic views. McCain's top-down approach: 1. If you give generous tax breaks to the rich, they will have greater incentive to work hard and invest. . . 2. If you give generous tax breaks ... http://stridentcentrist.com/sc/archives/471 James Fallows, frequent contributor to The Atlantic and all-around public intellectual, is currently living in Beijing from where he is keeping the rest of us abreast of the preparation for the forthcoming Summer Olympics. Two issues are getting his attention in particular. One is the atmospheric environment in ... http://stridentcentrist.com/sc/archives/469 McClatchy reports today that Islamic militants are surrounding the city of Peshwar, which is strategically located athwart the eastern approaches to the Khyber Pass. This is the primary ground route supplying the coalition's forces in Afghanistan. Taliban groups and other extremist warlords now threaten Peshawar from three sides. ... http://stridentcentrist.com/sc/archives/468 Updated below, 6/25/08, 11:00 am, CDT What follows is a brief explanation of what the controversy regarding the FISA Modification Bill is all about. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was enacted in 1978 to rein in the various elements of the intelligence community following the revelations of the Senate committee ... http://stridentcentrist.com/sc/archives/467 Ken Silverstein at the Harpers blog points us to a truly fair and balanced obituary in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: Shock doesn’t begin to describe the effect on those who stay behind. Try anger, try a sense of loss that, contrary to greeting-card drivel, never fades until, I expect, one’s own ... http://stridentcentrist.com/sc/archives/466 Earlier today Marcy Wheeler, of emptywheel.firedoglake.com and one of the most forceful opponents of the assault on the Constitution (the FISA modification Act "compromise" that includes telecom immunity and weak exclusivity and minimization provisions) that passed in the House today, wrote an open letter Senator Barack Obama asking him to ... http://stridentcentrist.com/sc/archives/465 From The Globalist, under the title "A Leaderless Global Order": Usually in such circumstances [the internal political conflicts in Lebanon], the United States would have intervened by sending a prominent ambassador or the Secretary of State to conduct shuttle diplomacy — and resolve the conflict. But not this time. Even ... http://stridentcentrist.com/sc/archives/464