Turns out that we’re all just as safe as we need to be, Port of Long Beach included…
We found that it wouldn’t require much in the way of planning, money or resources for a single person to wreak havoc at the Port of Long Beach.
But there is nothing to worry about, because according to the [...]

It’s been a week since the Bush Administration declared the surge of troops in Iraq a huge success–civilian and troop deaths down–but the guys at Fox News are, on this Sunday morn, a week later, still boasting (here’s Chris Wallace last Sunday). But when did the Bushies decide that the deaths of Iraq civilians are [...]

Iraq and the U.S., BFFs
Likely to be lost in the PR blitz surrounding the Middle East photo-op peace conference in Annapolis, the U.S. and Iraq issued a joint declaration of “principles” for “friendship and cooperation” earlier today. Spencer Ackerman has the details, if you’re interested, but basically it means the U.S. is committed to propping [...]

Another phony number from the Pentagon
Even for the bizarre world of Pentagon accounting, this is appalling:  “At least 20,000 U.S. troops who were not classified as wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have been found with signs of brain injuries,” according to USA Today.

Iraq’s manmade drought
In Long Beach, a water shortage means restrictions on watering your lawn. In Iraq, it means something different. McClatchy Newspapers reports, “the percentage of Iraqis without access to decent water supplies has risen from 50 percent to 70 percent since the start of the U.S.-led war… The portion of Iraqis lacking decent sanitation [...]

My God, can you imagine what the numbers would be if we didn’t have all those yellow ribbon magnets?

I haven’t fully digested this piece, but it seemed important enough to warrant immediate transfer to the Daily Briefing. The upshot: many, many more war U.S. veterans commit suicide daily than die in hostile action [...]

Report: gunmen behaved liked gunmen
No one could have predicted this: the trigger-happy gunmen of a mercenary force that has enjoyed U.S. government-backed impunity, and who have a widely reported history of shooting at innocent bystanders as part of their standard operating procedure, are believed to have shot innocent bystanders.
The FBI’s report on the infamous September [...]

Summary: a conservative underpants-gnome attacks Long Beach veterans who’ve criticized the Iraq war: The Nation has, with remarkable simultaneity, published this great story on how the right-wing smear machine actually works. Turns out it involves something called “e-mail,” a kind of electric letter, it seems.

Why do Bush backers hate Iraq War vets

Following Raoul Deming’s admonition that we Google Iraq Vets Against the War to discover the roots of their conspiracy to overthrow America, I’ve dug slightly deeper into the Adam Kokesh story. Turns out the Marines are, as Deming suggests, upset with Kokesh–but only because he wore his military [...]

“Greater flexibility” to bury mistakes
Anytime an American diplomat or diplomatic facility is attacked, the State Department is required by law to investigate the incident. Unless, it turns out, the attack happens in the places such attacks are most likely to happen– Iraq and Afghanistan.