Harry Reid  announced today that he will vote against the FISA bill.

"The Senate will soon vote on a FISA bill that represents the final result of negotiations among the White House and Democrats and Republicans in Congress.  I opposed the version originally passed by the Senate.  And although improvements have been made in the version now before us, this legislation continues to contain provisions that will lead to immunity for the telecommunications companies who cooperated with the Bush Administration’s illegal warrantless wiretapping program.
"For that reason, I will vote no.

More on the flip side.

John McCain has, once again, demonstrated his capacity for pure, unvarnished stupidity.  Commenting on the recent SCOTUS decision he declared,

"The United States Supreme Court yesterday rendered a decision which I think is one of the worst decisions in the history of this country."

The decision by the Court re- affirmed not only a fundamental constitutional right, but a right that that has been in existence for 793 years today, June 15th – the right of Habeas Corpus. A birthday which I proudly share. I am, however, a mite younger.
Happy Birthday Habeas.
More over the flip.  

      Happy Earth Day !
the current edition of Vanity Fair an article by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the form of a letter to the next President makes the case for a comprehensive energy policy that is straight forward and convincing in its logic.  His argument debunks the "move slowly and cautiously" meme.  He makes an excellent case for an aggressive, realistic policy that can be accomplished with the technology we have.  
Kennedy is among the most articulate, high profile advocates for the environment in the US today and his arguments are difficult to contradict (Yeah, I know he supports Clinton, but you can't have everything). He illustrates the fallacy of the "move slow" argument with the points made by Lord David Puttnam before  the British Parliament.
More below the fold

An article I read in  Looking Glass News left me shaking my head and muttering WTF.  But, I couldn’t decide if it was funny or troubling or just bizarre. Apparently, securing the Commander Guy’s shit is an integral part of his security protocols

According to our Austrian sources, Austrian newspapers are currently abuzz with special security details of George W. Bush's recent trip to Vienna. Although the heavy-handed Gestapo-like security measures meted out to Viennese home owners, business proprietors, and pedestrians by US Secret Service agents and local police before and during Bush's visit received widespread Austrian media attention, it was White House "toilet security" ("TOILSEC"), which has Austrians talking the most. The White House flew in a special portable toilet to Vienna for Bush's personal use during his visit. The Bush White House is so concerned about Bush's security, the veil of secrecy extends over the president's bodily excretions.

This item posted on theWired blog site on how technology will make war time slaughter more efficient and much less traumatic for the perpetrator of said slaughter.

Robots have been roaming the streets of Iraq, since shortly after the war began.  Now, for the first time -- the first time in any war zone -- the machines are carrying guns.  
After years of development, three "special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system" (SWORDS) robots have deployed to Iraq, armed with M249 machine guns.  The 'bots "haven't fired their weapons yet," Michael Zecca, the SWORDS program manager, tells DANGER ROOM.  "But that'll be happening soon."

I had planned to publish this dairy after I had done a little more work on it; however, the recent capitulation of some Democrats to the WH desires to further erode the Constitution and continue thier illegal surveillance of whomever they please, I thought it timely to publish it now.
An article byTODD LEWAN, AP National Writer brings attention to a rapidly developing and troubling technology in the area of electronic surveillance - RFID's (radio frequency identification) tagging.

CityWatcher.com, a provider of surveillance equipment, attracted little notice itself _ until a year ago, when two of its employees had glass-encapsulated microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their forearms.

The "chipping" of two workers with RFIDs radio frequency identification tags as long as two grains of rice, as thick as a toothpick was merely a way of restricting access to vaults that held sensitive data and images for police departments, a layer of security beyond key cards and clearance codes, the company said.

...continued below the fold

Although reasonable optimism prevails that the '08 election will give us a Democratic POTUS and an increased majority in the House and Senate, that optimism is clouded by the specter of an increasing rush to the right by the SCOTUS. A number of diaries have been posted in the last few days detailing the extremist nature of recent SCOTUS rulings.
Common wisdom tells us we are stuck with the right wingers for a considerable time because of their lifetime appointment. And, although, the next POTUS will likely appoint two Justices, they will be liberal Justices retiring and the ideological makeup of the Court will not change. The upside to this black cloud is that the "common wisdom" is wrong.