Saturday, July 17, 2004

Black shiny FBI shoes, wrote Tom Wolfe in 1967, are a dead giveaway that an undercover cop is, well, a cop. The Feds don't learn too fast, do they? The NYT says a square dress code imposed on federal air marshalls by the Department of Homeland Security makes the skycops too easy to spot. "Beards are out. So are jeans and athletic shoes. Suit coats are in, even on the steamiest summer days," says the Times. "Documents and memorandums issued by the Department of Homeland Security and field offices of the Federal Air Marshal Service say air marshals must 'present a professional image' and 'blend unnoticed into their environment.' Some air marshals have argued that the two requirements are contradictory." Ya think? This is the land of sweat pants, shorts, and belly shirts, Casual Friday and Old Navy. Get a clue, please. I haven't heard anything so dumb about air security since...last week. This is alarming, too. Feeling safer yet? 12:36:54 PM    comment []

"Seymour Hersh needs to put up or shut up," says Oliver Willis at his newly redesigned blog. Agreed. But it's not all on Hersh. The mainstream media needs to be banging on the Pentagon to find out the truth about the videotape Hersh describes. 12:20:38 PM    comment []

John Kenneth Galbraith says the military-industrial complex is running the show in America (link via rc3): "Defence and weapons development are motivating forces in foreign policy. For some years, there has also been recognised corporate control of the Treasury. And of environmental policy." Part of John Edwards' appeal is his record of standing up to corporate power -- and no administration has ever been more in the thrall of corporate power than this one. Bush says he's channeling God, but he has other masters, too. 12:16:01 PM    comment []