DHS Criminal Minds, Build Baby Build!, Xe Xe Very Much

Paul Krugman
Fareed Zakaria
EJ dionne Jr

"Spend now, while the economy remains depressed; save later, once it has recovered. How hard is that to understand?" - Paul Krugman

"The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey - don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride... And we... kill those people." - Bill Hicks

This week's Republican talking points are the Liberal Lefties in the Democratic Party are stuck on a train and the wheels are about to come off. Any minute now they will all crash and die a horrible death, taking Obama's domestic policies along with them. The truth is, over the past 30 years, the extreme left has been getting older and mellowing out, their children are more balanced and moderate in their views, even more tolerant of conservative views. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for those who hold extreme right wing views. Because they are based on fear and paranoia, they have bred and festered, becoming more virulent instead of moderate when exposed to calm logic and emotional balance. The image that is being touted is that we have become a center-right society, and that conservatism is the normal lense to view our world. But conservatism creates a slow mind that reacts violently against change, and is becoming associated to older people who obsess with their failing physical health. Because they fear their own mortality, they are hawkish and willing to send your children (not their own children, mind you) off to their deaths, as if it could superstitiously prevent their own death. See John McCain's current speech on Iran...

Obama is a moderate who likes to know all sides to an argument, and, even more rare, is willing to listen before making up his mind. Some decisions are liberal, some are not, and both sides of the political spectrum gnash their teeth and call him names. He is young and in many ways inexperienced, and has mad rookie mistakes, even given one bad speech that was mediocre. As a result, his foreign policy has been trashed and those pesky anti-health care opponents are still pissing and moaning. The mentally ill right wing cannot stop obsessing over his name, his father's ancestry, his birth certificate, or that he is an intelligent black man, and the dittoheads keep making personally mean and vitriolic remarks. Rush Limbaugh doesn't have the self control to stop saying anything mean on his radio show for even one week, and we can't blame that on behavior change due to excessive oxycontin intake...

new slogan needed for dhs...

So, how well is the new Department of Homeland Security performing since it was formed? Not well, according to Government Security News, who obtained a copy of a report released last May by the Office of Inspector General: "Child abuse, human and drug smuggling, bribery, money laundering… These are just some of the crimes committed by employees at the Department of Homeland Security. The report, which divided up the crimes based on which agency the employee who committed them was working for, held some shocking revelations. United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers were convicted of such crimes as alien and narcotic smuggling, bribery, providing fraudulent documents, sexual exploitation of a minor, credit card fraud and sending child pornography over the Web. Meanwhile, Citizen and Immigration Services (CIS) employees were convicted of identity theft and trafficking in counterfeit labels. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers (ICE) were convicted of money laundering, corruption, an overseas sexual exploitation of a child, smuggling drugs into prison as well as selling them on the street. One ICE officer was even caught on NBC’s “Operation Predator” and another was accused of bringing over 700 illegal aliens into the country. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials were accused of forgery, drug smuggling and theft while a member of the Coast Guard (USCG) plead guilt to extortion. Numerous members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – government employees tasked with getting money to the people who need it most during disasters – were convicted on numerous charges of fraud." This might tell why lower crime statistics have been reported in the border states like Arizona, that most of the crime is now being committed by our government employees who have become corrupted by the drug cartels. Will the added troops sent along the border help, or will they step up to the illegal buffet, too? Makes Ken Salazar's problems seem quaint... Maybe we could now call Janet Napolitano a true crime czar, let's give her jurisdiction over medical marijuana, too...

one step forward, two steps back...

Just like Arizona passing its racial profiling law to bait and embarrass our federal government, so is the East Jerusalem municipality trying to stir things up after the liberalizing of the Israeli government's Gaza policy. Jerusalem is going to bulldoze 22 Palestinian homes: "The Jerusalem municipal planning committee approved Monday a contentious plan to raze 22 Palestinian homes to make room for a tourist center that Palestinians fear would tighten Israel's grip on the city's contested eastern sector. Barkat first floated the plan months ago, but agreed to a last-minute request from Israel's prime minister to consult Palestinian residents before breaking ground. Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes has in the past provoked harsh reaction from the United States.


Palestinians hope to build the capital of a future state in East Jerusalem and see any Israeli construction there as undercutting their claims to the land.


Although Israel claims it is simply enforcing the law by knocking down illegally built structures, many of the unapproved homes have gone up without authorization because Palestinians have a hard time obtaining construction permits in East Jerusalem. The plan calls for the construction of shops, restaurants, art galleries and a large community center on the site where some say the biblical King David wrote his psalms. The 22 displaced families would be allowed to build homes elsewhere in the neighborhood, though it's not clear who would pay for them.


Israel annexed East Jerusalem immediately after capturing it from Jordan during the Six-Day War in 1967. Israeli sovereignty there has not been recognized by the Palestinians or the international community, and the fate of the city is one of the core issues dividing the two sides. Nearly 200,000 Jews have moved to East Jerusalem since Israel captured it, living in an uneasy coexistence with 250,000 Palestinians." Evidently, the slogan for Israeli settlers is " Build, Baby, Build!" 

Finally, TPM reports that the mercenary company Xe, known formerly and more popularly as Blackwater, has just been awarded a $120 million contract from the State Department to guard the consulate in Kabul: "Whether or not Erik Prince is fleeing America for the United Arab Emirates, his military contracting company continues to thrive on lucrative government contracts... The company has been racked with legal problems -- because of episodes in both the U.S. and Afghanistan -- in recent months. Its former president was indicted on weapons charges in April, and two employees of Xe subsidiary Paravant are facing murder charges for an incident in which two residents of Kabul were killed." Xe has some current contracts in Afghanistan, manning some drone sites and performing mercenary work in the wilds for the CIA. Eric Prince was already a wealthy man when he founded Blackwater. He didn't need the money, his company helped fulfill a comic book desire of his to be a top spy, America's James Bond, with eventual books and movies made about his daring, patriotic exploits. Except he could end up in jail, and certainly will have to stand trial, for his lax attitude towards personnel. Maybe he can tweet us from Dubai...