Yonatan Zunger (zunger) wrote,
Yonatan Zunger
zunger

Two Important Pieces

There are two things on the internet which are very worth your time at the moment.

The first one has to do with US politics. I'll simply refer you to this post by Brad Hicks, since he wrote an excellent summary of what's really important. It has to do with James Comey's testimony to Congress a few days ago. The short version is that, when John Ashcroft was AG and critically ill, Alberto Gonzales (then the top White House lawyer) and Andrew Card (Bush's Chief of Staff) went in to the hospital to try to force Ashcroft, while under sedation, to re-authorize mass wiretapping, even though he had concluded (while conscious) that it was illegal. Comey was acting AG while Ashcroft was sick, and rushed to the scene to try to stop them. He succeeded, the program was declared illegal, and the next day Bush ordered it to continue anyway, despite the formal advice of the Department of Justice. Comey's testimony is stunning, and you should at least read the transcript -- but if you have 20 minutes, it's worth watching the video and seeing for yourself. If this is not cause to open an impeachment hearing -- the deliberate and knowing violation of laws, the doing of such an action to attempt to expand police powers in direct and specific contravention to a law (FISA) designed to prevent that, and even the simple human action of browbeating a man under sedation to abet them in so doing -- then nothing is.

(Edit: The most moving section of the testimony may be the earlier part, where Comey talks about the night meeting in the hostpital. But the key statement happens at [end of tape minus 4:31])

The second one is a bit lighter, but really great: The 26 Most Common Climate Myths. From the New Scientist, a detailed discussion of the 26 most common misconceptions about climate change, together with explanations, figures, graphs, and references to the original papers. This is a great bit of science journalism.

If you have any free time today, and are at all interested in either the political future of the US or in climate change, these are good things to look at.
Tags: science, us politics
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  • 5 comments

anthologie

May 17 2007, 18:50:54 UTC 8 years ago

Ah, thanks. I already heard the Comey testimony so that makes it easier to pick which one to read. :)

thanks for that...

Anonymous

May 17 2007, 20:18:00 UTC 8 years ago

I had not seen the James Comey testimony yet... that was fantastically frightening. The depths of depravity required to pull-off such an act AFTER you've already been told by the deputy AG that the bill will not get signed prove beyond a reasonable doubt that what we're dealing with is far more than just what appears to be bumbling idiocy and is truly a man with evil intent (for lack of a better word).

It's like a bad John Grisham novel - only it makes me want to puke instead of just throw it in the garbage.

-Otter

faerieloch

May 17 2007, 21:26:19 UTC 8 years ago

I'll get around to reading the climate one when I'm done science-checking grade-school science readers. I might even post something over on that climate community thingy. :P

zunger

May 18 2007, 00:44:16 UTC 8 years ago

Please do!

troglodyteking

May 19 2007, 09:11:34 UTC 8 years ago

Just so you know, I linked you for the edification of my friendslist.