The Pagan Science Monitor

Quotation du jour

I think it is dangerous to confuse the idea of democracy with elections. Just because you have elections doesn't

mean you're a democratic country.
-- Arundhati Roy
[h/t Coffee House Studio]

Israelis use human shields in Nablus

B'Tselem has accused the IDF of forcing, at gunpoint, an 11-year-old girl, a 15-year-old boy, and a 24-year-old man, into Nablus homes the Israeli soldiers were searching during last month's operation.

[h/t The Left End of the Dial]

In the Pagan Science Reading Room: Joe Conason

Must-read:
Joe Conason. It Can Happen Here: Authoritarian Peril in the Age of Bush. New York: Thomas Dunne / St. Martin's, 2007.
My refusal the other day to treat Jan Crawford Greenburg's Supreme Conflict with a modicum of respect drew one thoughtful response (with a link to a serious review by a brain I respect), and 2 grumpy emails from friends who didn't care for the "purile" humor. That's a lot of traffic for this site these days.
I thought I'd follow up by heaping praise on a naked polemic that doesn't even pretend to be scholarly. 

The Libby Scooter

Click here to see it full-sized.

Tags: politics, law, policy, Libby, Scooter Libby, Libby, I. Lewis Libby, Cheney, Dick Cheney, Bush, Plame, Valerie Plame, Valerie Wilson, Joe Wilson, impeachment.

Most improbable way someone navigated here today

A search on Google Denmark for "paranormal attack lyrics cause i got the pill."
Paranormal Attack turns out to be a D.J. from Portugal with a slightly annoying site that takes too long to load; couldn't get the downloads to work right either, but the song in question seems to be the sixth one down from the top.

Tags: music, electronic music, Paranormal Attack, remixes, mix tapes, Metallica, "Search and Destroy", "The Pill", Chemical Crew, Phenomenon.

Tacoma: 3 arrests, excessive force at anti-war protest

As opposition to the Vietnam war grew, anti-war groups in port cities on both coasts moved from symbolic protests to nonviolent direct-action tactics intended to interfere with the military's ability to wage the war.
Activists in Olympia and Tacoma have revived the tactic of trying to blockade deployments of troops and shipments of war materiel.
Early Monday morning, March 5, three activists were arrested at the Port of Tacoma while protesting the shipment to Iraq of Stryker combat vehicles.
A YouTube video appears to contradict police claims (repeated in the local corporate media) that protestors "rushed" or "threatened" police.

Praise for "Supreme Conflict," by Jan Crawford Greenburg

"Ten thumbs up! Crackles with red sparks! Destined to become a classic!"
-- Dolores Clamdish, blurb-writer recently terminated from Kirkus Reviews for not actually reading any of the books.
"Way not as superficial and vituperative as what I write every day!"
Michelle Malkin

4th Circuit kicks el-Masri

El-Masri v. U.S., Tenet, et al., No. 06-1667, 4th Cir., March 2, 2007.
The appellate court affirms the district court's order of last May dismissing the German citizen's suit, upholds the district court's "state secrets" reasoning, and gives the government what it wants: The ability to continue its extraordinary rendition program, not only without judicial or legislative oversight, but with utter impunity.
There's a good backgrounder on the case here.

Here's mud in yer eye

For the day's best grumpy grousing about classism within the law, kindly go here and read this.

Reading list: Supreme Conflict

Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court. New York: Penguin, 2007.
by Jan Crawford Greenburg.
Review & critique on T.P.S.M. Monday.

Tags: politics, law, policy, Supreme Court, U.S. Supreme Court, Scotus, Jan Crawford Greenburg, "Supreme Conflict", Molly Ivins.