Sen Arlen Specter (R- Neverland) continues to fend off common sense and good government. In an attempt to compromise our national security he propsosed a bill today that would require the NSA to get clearance from a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveilance Act) Court before engaging in the wiretapping of suspected terrorists. You can read the full news story here . Now I’ve got problems with secret courts that were authorized during the Carter Administration and this makes it even worse. Up until now the NSA has been able to wiretap without clearance from FISA but this bill would threaten the practice. Here’s a tip Senator, when the call originates from 1-800 Al Qaeda, you might just want to tap that one.

The attorney general would have to provide “a detailed description of the nature of the information sought” and “an estimate of the number of communications to be intercepted … during the requested authorization period.”

Well gee Arlen, the procedure to this point has been “one guy is in the conversation is a terrorist” and I believe that to be a sufficient policy.

Specter’s proposal also would require the administration to give a handful of lawmakers more information about the program than they now receive, such as the number of communications intercepted and a summary of the results.

With the leaks coming out of the Capitol these days I’d be real careful a those meetings. To date the 4 year old NSA system has been quite effective in identifying terrorists and anyone who thinks the government is listening in on their 1-900 calls just because they can needs to go get fitted for the tinfoil beanie immediately.

Specter is grandstanding again and seems to forget that he is with the majority party here. This is because he acts like a member of the minority party all to often.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 12:29 AM EST

No Comments »

My feelings on the portgate issue have been addressed on two previous posts but I found this article from the associated press to be quite interesting.

Coast Guard Warned of Port Deal Intel Gaps shouts the headline but the article says something different.

There are many intelligence gaps, concerning the potential for DPW or P&O assets to support terrorist operations, that precludes an overall threat assessment” of the potential merger, an unclassified Coast Guard intelligence assessment said.

Now that suggests to me that there is a similar gap with the same considerations concerning the company (P&0) that currently runs the ports in question. Alas we get more of the story as it continues:

In a statement, the Coast Guard said the concerns reflected in the excerpt ultimately were addressed and that other U.S. intelligence agencies answered the questions raised.

and this

The Coast Guard indicated to The Associated Press that it did not have serious reservations about the ports deal on Feb. 10, when the news organization first inquired about potential security concerns.

Stewart Baker, an assistant secretary for the Homeland Security Department, told lawmakers that the excerpt was from an internal Coast Guard document that he did not see. However, Baker said the Coast Guard had indicated to the inter-agency panel that reviews such transactions that the security concerns it had ultimately had been resolved.

“It communicated to us that it had no further concerns about the transaction,” Baker said.

“I think it’s a little unfair to judge this report by one paragraph that happens not to be classified,” Baker said. “This paragraph is not really representative of the entire report.”

Yet Sen. Susan Collins (R - RINO) would rather base her assessment on the one paragraph instead of the entire report or the testimony of officials involved by stating that “I think the paragraph speaks for itself”. Whereas Sen. Charles Shumer (D - Fantasyland) witholds that the Coast Guard assessment was enough to call for a thorough review of security issues. “If this isn’t a smoking gun, it shows that there may be one undetected” by the interagency panel that did the initial review, Schumer said.

I see, let’s lead with the message that the Coast Guard warned that the deal had issues with intelligence gaps, as a nice hook for the I told you so crowd, but not mention the fact that the Coast Guard signed off on the deal after those fears were allayed.

How about a headline like this:

“Coast Guard Security Concerns Resolved Before Signing Off on Ports Deal” That might actually give you a real read on what the article is actually about but I know, it would ruin the message the MSM is trying to portray. The statements by Collins and Shumer illustrate that damn the facts, they are going to live in the MSM’s headline world and ignore the real meat of the story.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 10:25 PM EST

31 Comments »

The U.S. House is on pace to set a record for the fewest days in session for any year going back to 1947. You can read a detailed description about it here. The house calendar is established by the Republican leadership and it is currently set at 96 days 2006.

Now we live in a country with a representative government and it seems to me that we are getting stiffed in the representation department. A WEEK off for President’s day? Heck, most of us in the private sector don’t even get President’s day itself. Another week for St. Patty’s, two for Easter and the sloth continues. Can our representatives offer full debate and then pass any meaningful legislation in 96 freaking days?

$162,500 yearly and some killer benefits to work slightly more than 1/4 of the year; not the same under funded social security for them. Now we realize there is travel to and from the district and occasionally some marathon workdays, but they have the other 3/4 of the year to catch up on their rest and fundraisers.

It is about time we start demanding quality representation from our elected officials. A realistic work schedule and reasonable legislation that makes sense and benefits most of us. You know, make them do their JOBS. Contact your Congressman, the Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House. Demand more of them and keep demanding until things change. If the current guys won’t do it move them out and elect new ones. Until we demand accountability and present a consequence for the lack of it, we can expect more of the same and probably deserve it.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 11:07 PM EST

2 Comments »

Don Knotts passed away today at age 81. He was most famous for his role as Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show. He lived a long productive life and left quite a body of work. Though he was not known for Oscar caliber works he entertained us none-the-less and the Fife character was classic. Mr. Knotts could make you laugh without words by using the myriad of facial contortions and expressions his charcaters were known for. I can’t say he died too soon because 81 is a long life but his legacy will be one of laughter. Mayberry was never the same after he left. Thank providence for TV LAND and syndication where he can entertain us in perpetuity. A tip of the hat to Don Knotts for making us laugh and keeping it going.

Posted by Biloxi in Biloxi Says at 8:24 PM EST

6 Comments »

And without a clue. In an interview Thursday, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D - Mell) revealed that he was unaware that the “Daily Show” was a spoof. You can read the entire story in this article .

‘It was going to be an interview on contraceptives . . . that’s all I knew about it,” Blagojevich laughingly told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. ”I had no idea I was going to be asked if I was ‘the gay governor.’ ”

For a guy who is trying to pass himself off as Clinton light (you know, young and hip) this is a serious misstep. At the very least one would think someone on his staff might at least fill him in. If I’m a politician and I’m going into an interview, I make darn sure I know who is doing the interviewing and what the show is about. Unfortunately the opposition is so fragmented and without identity that Governor Blow-Dry will probably slide into a second term without much effort. The scary part is your average 18 year old knows what the Daily Show is and I wouldn’t let them run a lemonade stand. Vote Blagojevich, he’s young, he’s hip and largely without substance. When will we ever learn?

Look at me I can do the remote clicker mimic thing Like President Clinton too!

Posted by Biloxi in Illinois Politics at 6:14 PM EST

No Comments »

In my previous post I stated that the United Arab Emirates were an Islamic nation that didn’t tolerate other religions. I have been corrected by one of our fact checkers, Mr. MountainSpring, Ambassador from the People’s Republic of San Francisco. It turns out that the UAE is 96% Sunni but their constitution does allow religious freedom and there are in fact some Christian Churches there.

Biloxi,

Keep up the good work, and
P.S. Dagon is still a lame demagogue over here on your board. Different scenery, same fraud (what’s the point of signing ‘peace’ at the end of every unpeaceful comment??)

The Republic of Biloxi has never claimed to be without flaw (just 99 -44/100%) and welcome credible corrections to any posts offered. Retractions will be offered at such times they may be necessary. Thank you Mountain Spring and you have our friend dagon nailed as well.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 5:22 PM EST

11 Comments »

I have created a minor stir with my previous post about the political posturing going on over the “portgate” matter. Commentor and “progessive” dagon has taken me to task for support of the issue when I have never officially come out in support of it at all. The Machete’ of Truth, a fellow webloggin network member and friend also disagrees.

With port security as lax as it is (and it has been for some time) this issue can well be cause for concern. You can find a fairly comprehensive view of the issue in this Washington Post article. I called the early detractors knee-jerk and grandstanders for a reason. As the week wears on we get more and more information. Information that can support compelling arguments for both positions. One must sift through the information to make an informed decision on this matter.

Compelling argument against: Yes it is true the United Arab Emirates was the homeland of 2 of the 9/11 attackers, their banking system was used to launder much of the money from Al Qaeda and lastly some of the Emirs were quite chummy with old Osama himself. Security is lax in many of our ports and it only takes a couple of plants to cause the deaths of many Americans. The UAE is an Islamic country that does not allow the practice of any religion other than Islam. Together these can make a potent mix to bolster an argument against. Throw in the fact that Jimmy Carter supports it and it makes an even stronger case.

Compelling arguments for: The ports in question have been managed for some time by a British company, an ally of ours but a country known to have terrorists living within its borders. The UAE is also an ally of ours and has been host to hundreds if not thousands of our Naval ships during the War on Terror. If they were to try anything with the ports we are in a strategic postion to bomb them back to the stone age. Further they have caught and extradited Al Qaeda members for us. The deal has been vetted by Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. Security is run by the Coast Guard, Customs and local Port Security authorities, it is not run by the UAE owned comapany. It makes economic sense and the British Company is not selling the rights, it is being bought by the UAE owned concern. Largely we will see many of the same workers, managers and union members running the ports. If we are going to be attacked through our underprotected ports, it can be done without being an inside job.

At present, after weighing the information provided I have fallen on the pro side. I have not seen enough compelling evidence against the move to kill the deal. That said I agree that we should use all the time necessary to thoroughly investigate the matter and to go over all aspects with a fine-toothed comb. The President and his staff were seriously inept when it came to the glacial pace that the information was released. If they had begun informing people early on in the process much of the rhetoric and opposition could have been neutralized before it became a distraction.

As the news cycle on this issue hits a fever pitch, I’m sure we’ll see more enlightenment on this issue; how the plan was formulated and why. We may even see a positive change come out of the process, such as shedding more light on the transaction in its early stages. The best bet for a politician is to listen to their constituency, take a principled stance and see it through. In the end, the frenzied posturing as the politicos attempt to get themselves in a favorable light on the subject will only make them look like the charlatans they are.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 1:26 AM EST

20 Comments »

I found an interesting editorial in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune.

It states that today there is some 20 million blogs in existence with thousands more being created every day. The Republic of Biloxi is one of the newer ones. The editorial continues on to say that growth in readership was “somewhere between nil and negative” last year. Eric Zorn has an interesting rebuttal in today’s Tribune.

I think part of the fallacy in the article here is looking at blogging as a business. While many can evolve into an entity that pays for itself or even produces income the idea is more of an information exchange as I see it. When dealing with a mainstream media that doesn’t necessarily reflect the thoughts and values of at least half if not more of the population, the desire for an outlet is inevitable. Blogs can cover a variety of topical matter as can any form of media but there is a big thrust towards all things political. While blogs may turn into a reliable income generating venture in the future I think the editors missed the boat on this one. The readership may remain static in relation to the number of blogs but those of true quality will survive. Americans have always had an insatiable thirst for information and opinion and the internet has provided a new, nearly inexhaustable avenue for finding it. According to Zorn’s blog column, a pew poll released early last year states that 62% internet users didn’t yet know what a blog is and in a country of 281, 421, 906 (2000 census figures) that would leave a lot of room for growth. That doesn’t include the rest of the world either. As technology expands and people grow more comfortable with it, I would expect we can anticipate growth in the blogosphere and as with all things the cream will rise to the top. Blogs can be informative, entertaining and thought provoking. They can also be misleading when people cannot separate opinion from fact. The best ones are sourced well like Hugh Hewitt’s or Captain’s Quarters while others can be irreverent satire on the state of politics like Peace Moonbeam.

Either way I think there is a bright future ahead, and my intention is to be a valuable contributor as it progresses.

Posted by Biloxi in Biloxi Says at 9:58 AM EST

No Comments »

While reading the Obama News today I came across this column by the irascible Neil Steinberg. Now I have a long history with not liking Steinberg’s work but, I had to agree with his “opening shot”.

Dare we entrust the monitoring of our nation’s ports to a country that has produced terrorists responsible for a horrendous attack upon the United States? The country I’m referring to, of course, is ourselves, the native land of Timothy McVeigh and a number of home-grown terrorists.

While concern over the United Arab Emirates’ purchase of the company that oversees security at half a dozen American ports is natural, we might want to avoid automatic, knee-jerk opposition. I mean, we have troops in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. We expect them to trust us; is it not wise to at least consider trusting them?

I don’t even want to think about coming down on the same side as Steinberg and former President Jimmy Carter but I do think some rationale need be applied to the situation involving the United Arab Emirates state owned company taking control of the operation of some aspects of our ports. This does not include security. The McVeigh analogy has legs and let’s not forget those same ports were being operated by a British owned company. The Brits have terrorists within their midst as well as we were reminded on July 7 of last year.

Security is of utmost importance and this should be thoroughly investigated and monitored but the widespread knee-jerk response doesn’t sit well with me. Let’s face it, Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton and many of the critics of this move have hardly been proponents of protecting our country as evidenced by their opposition to the Patriot Act, the NSA wiretapping and other issues. Consider their motives to suddenly change and one can only come to the conclusion that they are political.

I say give the operational rights to Haliburton (otherwise known as Dick Cheney’s former company) and give the left something else to chew on. This would cause apoplectic fits and whiplash as the left tripped over themselves in a reversal of outrage.

Hell, I’d pay to watch that.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 5:07 PM EST

15 Comments »

On the heels of the raging debate involving a Danish Newspaper printing political cartoons that were offensive to Muslims and the reaction following, comes a man gettting jailed for denying the holocaust.

In Vienna, David Irving was sentenced to 3 years in prison for denying the existence of the holocaust. You can see the full story in this article.

The court convicted Irving after his guilty plea under the 1992 law, which applies to “whoever denies, grossly plays down, approves or tries to excuse the National Socialist genocide or other National Socialist crimes against humanity in a print publication, in broadcast or other media.”

Now this guy is a scumbag of the first class and most certainly seriously deluded, but prison? Please spare me the stories about the more enlightened and involved societies of Western Europe. While I am in full agreement that words should be chosen and spoken responsibly we cannot get into the act of deciding that poor taste and manners is an offense worthy of imprisonment. That is sure to stifle free speech and may well lead to a sliding standard. What is acceptable today may be objectional tomorrow and the only thing keeping one from incarceration is the judgement of a majority share of the current lawmakers. Lawmakers change and so may the standard. That is why OUR constitution is not “living and breathing” and cannot be amended easily. Thank God for the USA, a country where even the scumbag can speak his mind without the fear of going to jail.

Posted by Biloxi in Biloxi Says at 8:20 PM EST

2 Comments »