The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
September 16, 2014
FACT SHEET: U.S. Response to the Ebola Epidemic in West Africa
Mini-Me: Greater Khorasan – Iran’s Second Front?
Cultural Intelligence, Peace Intelligence
Huh?
Syria’s hard cell: Rise of Khorasan group alarms U.S.
See Also:
Graphic: Muslim Sunni – Shi'ite Distribution (Global)
Tip of the Hat to Jaime Enoch Ortega at LinkedIn.
Steve Aftergood: Court Requires In Camera Review of State Secrets Documents
Ethics, Government, Law Enforcement
COURT REQUIRES IN CAMERA REVIEW OF STATE SECRETS DOCUMENTS
Over the objections of government attorneys, a federal judge said yesterday that he would require in camera review of documents that the government says are protected by the state secrets privilege. The issue arose in the case of Gulet Mohamed v. Eric Holder, challenging the constitutionality of the “no fly” list.
The government had argued that it is “inappropriate” for a court to review such records to verify that they are validly privileged, and that instead the court should grant dismissal of case on the basis of official declarations. (Gov’t Resists Court Review of State Secrets, Secrecy News, August 27). The government moved for reconsideration of an August 6 order to produce the records for in camera review.
Yesterday, Judge Anthony J. Trenga of the Eastern District of Virginia granted the government's motion for reconsideration, but he said that having reconsidered the matter, he determined that he had been right the first time around.
“Upon reconsideration of its Order, however, the Court finds that none of [the] objections justifies vacating the Order, as the defendants request. The Court therefore affirms its Order.”
“This case involves complex and unsettled issues pertaining to the respective roles of the legislative, executive and judicial branches,” Judge Trenga wrote. “One central issue is the extent to which the War on Terrorism may expand the ability of the executive branch to act in ways that cannot otherwise be justified.”
Continue reading “Steve Aftergood: Court Requires In Camera Review of State Secrets Documents”
Yoda: US Constitution Now an App
09 Justice, 11 Society, Ethics, Government, Officers Call
The Washington Times launches U.S. Constitution app for smartphones, tablets
The Washington Times on Wednesday launched a smartphone and tablet app celebrating the U.S. Constitution and other important founding documents as part of a nationwide project to empower schools, parents and community leaders to teach constitutional literacy to the newest generation of Americans.
The Washington Times’ Pocket Constitution App, developed in partnership with the nonprofit Essentials in Education, is debuting on the 10th anniversary of Constitution Day, a national holiday created through the efforts of Sen. Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia Democrat, and signed into law by President George W. Bush.
See Especially:
Review: Liberty Defined–50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom
Review: The Thirteen American Arguments–Enduring Debates That Define and Inspire Our Country
See Also:
Hal Berghel: Big Data is Big Doo Doo
IO Impotency, IO Sense-Making, IO Tools
Spy the Lie‘s techniue and informal logic work together to help us disinfect our infospheres from crap, bilious bombast, media-babble, disinformation campaigns, pseudoevents, and bad information of every stripe. These days common sense itself doesn’t cut it. We need tools!
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In fact, we computing professionals have unwittingly made infopollution much worse by increasing storage network capacity and bandwidth without a corresponding advance in filtering capability. We’ve turned big data into big dada.
Marcus Aurelius: STRATFOR on Scottish Referendum Plus Secession RECAP
Cultural Intelligence
One of their better pieces.
The Origins and Implications of the Scottish Referendum
Stratfor, Tuesday, September 16, 2014
The idea of Scottish independence has moved from the implausible to the very possible. Whether or not it actually happens, the idea that the union of England and Scotland, which has existed for more than 300 years, could be dissolved has enormous implications in its own right, and significant implications for Europe and even for global stability.
. . . . . . .
The point of all this is to understand that the right to national self-determination comes from deep within European principles and that it has been pursued with an intensity and even viciousness that has torn Europe apart and redrawn its borders. One of the reasons that the European Union exists is to formally abolish these wars of national self-determination by attempting to create a framework that both protects and trivializes the nation-state.
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The right to national self-determination is not simply about the nation governing itself but also about the right of the nation to occupy its traditional geography. And since historical memories of geography vary, the possibility of conflict grows. Consider Ireland: After its fight for independence from England and then Britain, the right to Northern Ireland, whose national identity depended on whose memory was viewing it, resulted in bloody warfare for decades.
. . . . . . .
I think that however the vote goes, unless the nationalists are surprised by an overwhelming defeat, the genie is out of the bottle, and not merely in Britain. The referendum will re-legitimize questions that have caused much strife throughout the European continent for centuries, including the 31-year war of the 20th century that left 80 million dead.
Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: STRATFOR on Scottish Referendum Plus Secession RECAP”
Chuck Spinney: Gary Leupp on Washington’s Ignorance About the Sunni-Shia Divide — PLUS Sunni-Shia Graphic and ISIS RECAP
04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Peace Intelligence
ISIS and Washington’s Ignorance About the Sunni-Shia Divide
“Most Americans Don't Have a Clue”
by GARY LEUPP
Counterpunch, SEPTEMBER 15, 2014
EXTRACTS
Patrick Cockburn reports that Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to Washington (1983-2005), once told M16 head Sir Richard Dearlove: “The time is not far off in the Middle East, Richard, when it will literally be ‘God help the Shia.’ More than a billion Sunni have simply had enough of them.”
There are thus deep animosities within Islam, as there have been, historically, within Christianity.
There was a time when Protestants viewed Roman Catholics as idolatrous heretics and bloody wars of religion ravaged Europe. ISIL is now fighting such a war against Shiites, Christians, Yezidis, secularists, and others it sees as unbelievers and as stooges of the west. But its primary target is the Shiites.
