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Politico has a big piece tied to a Showtime documentary on the living CIA Directors. As should be expected of a collection of paid liars, there are a lot of myths and score settling, most notably with expanded George Tenet claims about the strength of the warnings he gave about 9/11.
But I'm most interested in this insight, which seems very apt given recent intelligence failures and successes.
What's the CIA's mission? Is it a spy agency? Or a secret army? "Sometimes I think we get ourselves into a frenzy—into believing that killing is the only answer to a problem," says Tenet. "And the truth is, it's not. That's not what our reason for existence is." When Petraeus became CIA director, his predecessor, Hayden took him aside. Never before, Hayden warned him, had the agency become so focused on covert military operations at the expense of intelligence gathering. "An awful lot of what we now call analysis in the American intelligence community is really targeting," Hayden says. "Frankly, that has been at the expense of the broader, more global view. We're safer because of it, but it has not been cost-free. Some of the things we do to keep us safe for the close fight—for instance, targeted killings—can make it more difficult to resolve the deep fight, the ideological fight. We feed the jihadi recruitment video that these Americans are heartless killers."
This is, of course, the counterpoint to Hayden's claim that "we kill people based on metadata." But it says much more: it describes how we're viewing the world in terms of targets to kill rather than people to influence or views to understand. Hayden argues that prevents us from seeing the broader view, which may include both theaters where we're not actively killing people but also wider trends.
Which is why I'm so interested in the big festival the US and UK — David Cameron, especially (of course, he's in the middle of an effort to get Parliament to rubber stamp the existing British dragnet) — are engaging in with the presumed drone-killing of Mohammed Emwazi, nicknamed Jihadi John by the press.
Given that ISIS has plenty of other fighters capable of executing prisoners, some even that speak British accented English, this drone-killing seems to be more about show, the vanquishing of a public figure rather than a functional leader — contrary to what David Cameron says. As WaPo notes,
"If this strike was successful, and we still await confirmation of that, it will be a strike at the heart of ISIL," Cameron said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.
Cameron alternated between speaking about Emwazi in the past and the present tenses, describing him as a "barbaric murderer" who was the Islamic State's "lead executioner."
"This was an act of self defense. It was the right thing to do," he said.
But it is not clear that Emwazi had a meaningful role in Islamic State's leadership structure. Analysts said the impact of his possible death could be limited.
"Implications? None beyond the symbolism," said a Twitter message from Shiraz Maher, an expert on extremism at King's College London.
It also might be a way to permanently silence questions about the role that British targeting of Emwazi had in further radicalizing him.
And all this comes just a few weeks after ISIS affiliates in Egypt claim to have brought down a Russian plane — depending on how you count, the largest terrorist attack since 9/11. Clearly, the combined British and US dragnet did not manage to prevent the attack, but there are even indications GCHQ, at least, wasn't the agency that first picked up chatter about it.
Information from the intelligence agency of another country, rather than Britain's own, led the Government to conclude that a bomb probably brought down the Russian airliner that crashed in the Sinai.
It was reports from an undisclosed "third party" agency, rather than Britain's own GCHQ, that revealed the so-called "chatter" among extremists after the disaster that killed all 224 passengers and crew – and ended with the suspension of all British flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, according to authoritative sources.
British officials are said to have asked whether the same information had also been passed to Egypt, and were told that it had.
Sources declined to say which friendly country passed the information. The US and Israel – whose own borders have been threatened by Isis in Sinai – as well as Arab nations in the region all have an interest in monitoring activity in the area.
So while it's all good that the Americans and Brits took out an ISIS executioner in Syria — thereby avenging the deaths of their country men — it's not like this great dragnet is doing what it always promises to do: prevent attacks, or even understand them quickly.
Perhaps that's because, while we approach ever closer to "collect[ing] it all," we're targeting rather than analyzing the data?
In a bid to extend a dragnet that has proven useless in the function the Intelligence Community claims it serves, Mitch McConnell is claiming there are secret reasons we need to keep the dragnet.
It's possible this is just a tactic, to gain leverage to make USA F-ReDux even worse.
It's possible that McConnell just wants to retain the dragnet to identify people to coerce into becoming informants, the use the FBI has claimed for the dragnet that never got included in its more public assessments of value.
It's possible McConnell wants to retain a dragnet — and finally expand it to include most Internet metadata — because he can (and all of our Five Eyes allies have done so in the wake of Snowden's leaks).
But I want to submit another possibility, based on the Stellar Wind IG Report.
In its assessment of the Stellar Wind dragnet — the same section that notes that 1.2% of all tips made a "significant" contribution to finding terrorists (and that measure included deporting suspected terrorists and identifying potential informants, not just identifying actual terrorists) and Internet dragnet tips had made no contribution — the report explained Michael Hayden's justification.
Hayden also observed that the enemy may not have been as embedded in the United States as much as feared but said that he believes Stellar Wind helped determine this.
Other witnesses, such as General Hayden, said that the value of the program may lie in its ability to help the Intelligence Community determine that the terrorist threat embedded within the country is not as great as once feared. (PDF 647, 664)
Now, remember, to justify operating this program in defiance of the law (and to justify getting FISC to rubber stamp it in 2004 in defiance of common sense), John Brennan and his colleagues would routinely write a "scary memo" to establish that the threat of a terrorist attack on the US was so big that the government needed the program. Probably, they used Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's claim that he had gotten a Briton to recruit non-existent black Muslims in Montana to start forest fires for the 3 months of 2003 that CIA believed that ruse. We know in 2004, the CIA drummed up fear of an election year plot — seeded by a fabricator and sustained through CIA's use of torture — to sustain the initial Internet dragnet order.
The point is, for the entire life of the dragnet, the government justified it by talking about scary terrorists embedded in the US.
And then, when challenged in 2009 to explain the value of the dragnet, Hayden explained that it was useful because it proved those claims of scary terrorists embedded in the US turned out to be overblown.
The best Hayden can offer — after years of overseeing a dragnet — is that it proved the IC's overblown claims in the first place were overblown.
Behind all this dragnettery, then, lies a great deal of masturbatory fear-mongering.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the IG Reports Charlie Savage just liberated is how they redacted the NSA IG Report, a draft of which Edward Snowden already got released.
Consider the following redactions.
Starting at PDF 146, the entire section describing what Michael Hayden did in the days immediately after 9/11 is redacted. Here's what is included in the Snowden version.
(TS//SV/NF) On 14 September 2001, three days after terrorist attacks in the United States, General Hayden approved the targeting of terrorist-associated foreign telephone numbers on communication links between the United States and foreign countries where terrorists were known to be operating. Only specified, pre-approved numbers were allowed to be tasked for collection against U.S.-originating links. He authorized this collection at Special Collection Service and Foreign Satellite sites with access to links between the United States and countries of interest, including Afghanistan. According to the Deputy General Counsel, General Hayden determined by 26 September that any Afghan telephone number in contact with a U.S. telephone number on or after 26 September was presumed to be of foreign intelligence value and could be disseminated to the FBI.
(TS//SV/NF) NSA OGC said General Hayden's action was a lawful exercise of his power under Executive Order (E.O.) 12333, United States Intelligence Activities, as amended. The targeting of communication links with one end in the United States was a more aggressive use of E.O. 12333 authority than that exercised by former Directors. General Hayden was operating in a unique environment in which it was a widely held belief that additional terrorist attacks on U.S. soil were imminent. General Hayden said this was a "tactical decision."
(U//FOUO) On 2 October 2001, General Hayden briefed the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) on this decision and later informed members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) by telephone. He had also informed DCI George Tenet.
(TS) At the same time NSA was assessing collection gaps and increasing efforts against terrorist targets immediately after the 11 September attacks, it was responding to Department of Defense (DoD), Director of Central Intelligence Community Management Staff questions about its ability to counter the new threat.
We can tell the discussion in the released version is different, even though it is entirely redacted. That's because the discussion is longer, appears to include two footnotes, and has some indentations that don't appear in the Snowden version.
But as it is, the discussion is legally dangerous for the Executive, because it either shows that NSA used the 15-day window permitted under FISA (which would make the Yoo memos all the more problematic), or conducted this spying without any authorization. (There are also "doth protest too much" discussions of how the NSA never spied on Americans before this that we know to be false, so I suspect that's part of the problem.)
The final report redacts a discussion (PDF 148-149) titled, "Vice President Asked What Other Authorities NSA Needed." Some related discussion appears in the Snowden version, but clearly not the entire discussion.
Mr. Tenet relayed that the Vice President wanted to know if NSA could be doing more. General Hayden replied that nothing else could be done within existing NSA authorities. In a follow-up telephone conversation, Mr. Tenet asked General Hayden what could be done if he had additional authorities. General Hayden said that these discussions were not documented.
Though it's possible — perhaps even probable — that what the NSA draft depicts as NSA identifying its own needs is actually Hayden getting people to identify the needs Cheney had already identified for him.
In any case, the final IG report complains that none of this was documented, which suggests there was far more of interest that actually went on in these discussions.
Perhaps most interesting, the NSA redacts almost all of whatever became of this discussion.
Among other things, NSA considered how to tweak transit collection-the collection of communications transiting through but not originating or terminating in the United States. NSA personnel also resurfaced a concept proposed in 1999 to address the Millennium Threat. NSA proposed that it would perform contact chaining on metadata it had collected. Analysts would chain through masked U.S. telephone numbers to discover foreign connections to those numbers, without specifying, even for analysts, the U.S. number involved. In December 1999, the Department of Justice (DoJ), Office of intelligence Policy Review (OIPR) told NSA that the proposal fell within one of the FISA definitions of electronic surveillance and, therefore, was not permissible when applied to metadata associated with presumed U.S. persons (i.e., U.S. telephone numbers not approved for targeting by the FISC).
Though PDF 150 appears to have a footnote that would modify that discussion (but that doesn't appear in the Snowden version).
According to NSA OGC, DoJ has since agreed with NSA that simply processing communications metadata in this manner does not constitute electronic surveillance under the FISA.
This footnote may refer to the SPCMA decision in 2007 to 2008. Except that's not what Binney et al proposed back in 1999. On the contrary: SPCMA permits NSA to chain through unmasked US person metadata, whereas Binney had proposed permitting only chaining through masked US person identifiers.
Which suggests the George Ellard may have been misrepresenting what was possible in this sensitive IG Report designed for Congress.
But that would make it easier to come to this conclusion, one not included in the Snowden version:
Under its authorities, NSA had no other options for the timely collection of communications of suspected terrorists when one end of those communications was in the United States and the communications could only be collected from a wire or cable in the United States.
No wonder they redacted the Binney discussion.
On September 14, 2001 — 3 days before signing an expansive Memorandum of Notification that would authorize a suite of covert operations against al Qaeda, and 4 days before signing an AUMF that would give those operations the appearance of Congressional sanction — President Bush declared a National Emergency in response to the 9/11 attack.
The following day, according to a 2002 motion to the FISC to be able to share raw FISA-derived information with CIA and NSA (this was liberated by Charlie Savage), FISC suspended its rules on sharing intelligence derived under FBI-obtained FISA warrants with criminal investigations (see page 26 of this paper for background).
On September 15, 2001, upon motion of the Government, the [FISA] Court suspended the "Court wall," certification, and caveat requirements that previously had applied to Court-authorized electronic surveillance and physical search of [redacted] related targets, while directing that the FBI continue to apply the standard minimization procedures applicable in each case. As stated in the order resulting from that motion, the Court took this action in light of inter alia:
"the President's September 14, 2001, declaration of a national emergency and the near war conditions that currently exist;"
"the personal meeting the Court had with the Director of the FBI on September 12, 2001, in which he assured the Court of the collection authority requested from this Court in the face of the nature and scope of the multi-faced response of the United States to the above-referenced attacks;
"the need for the Government to rapidly disseminate pertinent foreign intelligence information to appropriate authorities."
Ten days after FISC dismantled its role in "the wall" between intelligence and criminal investigations in response to the Executive's invocation of a National Emergency, on September 25, 2001, John Yoo finished an OLC memo considering the constitutionality of dismantling the wall by replacing "the purpose" in FISA orders with "a purpose."
A full month later, on October 25, 2001, Congress passed the PATRIOT Act. For over 13 years, analysis of the PATRIOT Act has explained that it eliminated "the wall" between intelligence and criminal investigations by replacing language requiring foreign intelligence be "the purpose" of FISA wiretaps with language requiring only that that be "a significant purpose" of the wiretap. But the FISC suspension had already removed the biggest legal barrier to eliminating that wall.
In other words, the story we've been telling about "the wall" for over 13 years is partly wrong. The PATRIOT Act didn't eliminate "the wall." "The wall" had already been suspended, by dint of Executive Proclamation and a secret application with the FISC, over a month before the PATRIOT Act was initially introduced as a bill.
FISC suspended it, without congressional sanction, based on the President's invocation of a National Emergency.
That's not the only case where the Executive invoked that National Emergency in self-authorizing or getting FISC to authorize expansive new surveillance authorities (or has hidden the authorities under which it makes such claims).
Perhaps most illustratively, on May 6, 2004, Jack Goldsmith pointed to the National Emergency when he reauthorized most aspects of Stellar Wind.
On September 14, 2001. the President declared a national emergency "by reason of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, New York, New York, and the Pentagon, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States." Proclamation No. 7463, 66 Fed. Reg. 43, !99 (Sept. 14, 2001). The United States also launched a massive military response, both at home and abroad. In the United States, combat air patrols were immediately established over major metropolitan areas and were maintained 24 hours a day until April 2002, The United States also immediately began plans for a military response directed at al Qaeda's base of operations in Afghanistan.
Only after invoking both the Proclamation and the immediate military response that resulted did Goldsmith note that Congress supported such a move (note, he cited Congress' September 14 passage of the AUMF, not Bush signing it into law on September 18, thought that may be in part because Michael Hayden authorized the first expansions of surveillance September 14; also remember there are several John Yoo memos that remain hidden) and then point to an article on the friendly-fire death of Pat Tillman as proof that combat operations continued.
On September 14, 2001, both houses of Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the President "to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks" of September I I. Congressional Authorization § 2(a). Congress also expressly acknowledged that the attacks rendered it "necessary and appropriate" for the United States to exercise its right "to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad," and acknowledged in particular that the "the President has authority under the Constitution to take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States." id. pmbl. Acting under his constitutional authority as Commander in Chief, and with the support of Congress, the President dispatched forces to Afghanistan and, with the cooperation of the Northern Alliance, toppled the Taliban regime from power Military operations to seek out resurgent elements of the Taliban regime and al Qaeda fighters continue in Afghanistan to this day. See, e.g., Mike Wise and Josh White, Ex-NFL Player Tillman Killed in Combat, Wash. Post, Apr. 24, 2004, at AI (noting that "there are still more than 10,000 U.S. troops in the country and fighting continues against remains of the Taliban and al Qaeda").
That is, even in an OLC memo relying on the AUMF to provide legal sanction for President Bush's systematic flouting of FISA for 2.5 years, Goldsmith relied primarily on the National Emergency Proclamation, and only secondarily on Congress' sanction of such invocation with the AUMF.
The White Paper released in 2006 largely regurgitating Goldsmith's opinion for more palatable consumption mentions the AUMF first in its summary, but then repeats Goldsmith's emphasis on the Proclamation in the background section (see pages 2 and 4).
Paragraphs that may discuss such authorizations get redacted in the 2006 application to move content collection under FISC (see page 6). The entire background section (starting at page 5) of the initial Internet dragnet application is also redacted. While we can't be sure, given parallel claims made in the same 2004 to 2006 period, it seems likely those memoranda also repeated this formula.
Such a formula was definitely dropped. The 2006 memorandum in support of using Section 215 to create a phone dragnet included no mention of authorities. The 2007 memorandum to compel Yahoo to fulfill Protect American Act orders cites PAA, not Emergency Declarations.
But the formula was retained in all discussions of the Administration's illegal wiretap program in secret declarations submitted in court in 2006, 2007, and 2009, being repeated again in an unclassified 2013 declaration. While these declarations likely all derive, at least in part, from Goldsmith's memo, it's worth noting that the government has consistently suggested it could conduct significant surveillance programs without Congressional sanction by pointing to the that National Emergency Proclamation.
This is the precedent I meant to invoke when I expressed concern about President Obama's expansive Executive Order of the other day, declaring a National Emergency because of cybersecurity.
Ranking House Intelligence Member Adam Schiff's comment that Obama's EO is "a necessary part of responding to the proliferation of dangerous and economically devastating cyber attacks facing the United States," but that it will be "coupled with cyber legislation moving forward in both houses of Congress" only adds to my alarm (particularly given Schiff's parallel interest in giving Obama soft cover for his ISIL AUMF while having Congress still involved). It sets up the same structure we saw with Stellar Wind, where the President declares an Emergency and only a month or so later gets sanction for and legislative authorization for actions taken in the name of that emergency.
And we know FISC has been amenable to that formula in the past.
We don't know that the President has just rolled out a massive new surveillance program in the name of a cybersecurity Emergency (rooted in a hack of a serially negligent subsidiary of a foreign company, Sony Pictures, and a server JP Morgan Chase forgot to update).
We just know the Executive has broadly expanded surveillance, in secret, in the past and has never repudiated its authority to do so in the future based on the invocation of an Emergency (I think it likely that pre FISA Amendments Act authorization for the electronic surveillance of weapons proliferators, even including a likely proliferator certification under Protect America Act, similarly relied on Emergency Proclamations tied to all such sanctions).
I'm worried about the Cyber Intelligence Sharing Act, the Senate version of the bill that Schiff is championing. But I'm just as worried about surveillance done by the executive prior to and not bound by such laws.
Because it has happened in the past.
Update: In his October 23, 2001 OLC memo authorizing the President to suspend the Fourth Amendment (and with it the First), John Yoo said this but did not invoke the September 14, 2001 proclamation per se.
As applied to the present circumstances, the [War Powers Resolution] signifies Congress' recognition that the President's constitutional authority alone enables him to take military measures to combat the organizations or groups responsible for the September 11 incidents, together with any governments that may have harbored or supported them, if such actions are, in his judgment, a necessary and appropriate response to the national emergency created by those incidents.
Update: Thanks to Allen and Joanne Leon for the suspend/suspect correction.
We are now in the "final" week of negotiations to set the framework for the P5+1 long-term agreement on Iran's nuclear technology. With so much in the balance, voices are popping up from every direction to offer their opinions on what constitutes a good or bad deal. While Netanyahu's address to Congress dominated the headlines in that regard, other sources also have not held back on offering opinions. In the case of Netanyahu, informed observers considering his remarks knew in advance that Netanyahu considers Iran an "existential threat" to Israel and that violent regime change in Iran is his preferred mode of addressing Iran's nuclear technology. When it comes to other opinions being offered, it is important to also have a clear view of the backgrounds of those offering opinions so that any biases they have can be brought into consideration.
With that in mind, the Washington Post has committed a gross violation of the concept of full disclosure in an Iran op/ed they published yesterday. I won't go into the "substance" of this hit piece on Iran, suffice it note that the sensationalist headline (The Iran time bomb) warns us that the piece will come from an assumption that Iran seeks and will continue to seek a nuclear weapon regardless of what they agree to with P5+1.
The list of authors for this op/ed is an anti-Iran neocon's wet dream. First up is Michael Hayden. The Post notes that Hayden led the CIA from 2006-2009 and the NSA from 1999 to 2005. I guess they don't think it's important to note that he now is a principal with the Chertoff Group and so stands to profit from situations in world politics that appear headed toward violence.
The third of the three authors is perhaps the least known, but he's a very active fellow. Here is how Nima Shirazi describes Ray Takeyh:
Takeyh is a mainstay of the Washington establishment – a Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow before and after a stint in the Obama State Department and a founding member of the neoconservative-created Iran Strategy Task Force who has become a tireless advocate for the collective punishment of the Iranian population in a futile attempt to inspire homegrown regime change (if not, at times, all-out war against a third Middle Eastern nation in just over a decade). Unsurprisingly, he dismisses out of hand the notion that "the principal cause of disorder in the Middle East today is a hegemonic America seeking to impose its imperial template on the region."
The Post, of course, doesn't mention Takeyh's association with the group Shirazi describes, nor his membership in another Iran Task Force organized by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.
Sandwiched between Hayden and Takeyh, though, is the Post's biggest failure on disclosure. Olli Heinonen is described by the Post simply as "a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and a former deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency". As such, uninformed readers are likely to conclude that Heinonen is present among the authors to serve as a hefty dose of neutrality,given his background in the IAEA. Nothing could be further from the truth. What the Post fails to disclose is that Heinonen is also a prominent member of the Advisory Board of United Against Nuclear Iran.
Not only is UANI an advocacy group working against Iran, but they are currently embroiled in litigation in which it has been learned that UANI has come into possession of state secrets from the United States. The Department of Justice has weighed in on the UANI case, urging the judge to throw the case out on the grounds that continuing to litigate it will disclose the US state secrets that UANI has obtained. Since the litigation involves UANI actions to "name and shame" companies it accuses of violating US sanctions against Iran, one can only assume that the state secrets leaked to UANI involve Iran.
How in the world could the Washington Post conclude that Heinonen's role on the Advisory Board for United Against Nuclear Iran would not be something they should disclose in publishing his opinion piece entitled "The Iran time bomb"?
Oh, and lest we come to the conclusion that failing to note Heinonen's UANI connection is a one-off thing in which Heinonen himself is innocent, noted AP transcriptionist of neocon anti-Iran rhetoric George Jahn used Heinonen in exactly the same way a month ago.
We can only conclude that Heinonen is happily doing the neocons' bidding in their push for war with Iran.
Update from emptywheel: The judge in Victor Restis' lawsuit just dismissed the suit on state secrets grounds. Here's the opinion, h/t Mike Scarcella.
Both WaPo and Newsweek have stories out on CIA's role in assassinating Imad Mugniyah in 2008. As described, Michael Hayden loved the idea, but then got a bit squeamish about ordering a hit. Luckily, President Bush was all too happy to approve it. Here's Newsweek:
"General Hayden, at first, was all for this," the former official said, "But slowly, or maybe not so slowly, the realization set in for him that he was ordering an assassination, that basically he was putting out a hit. And once he became pretty much cognizant of the fact that he was basically ordering the murder of someone, he got cold feet. He didn't fancy himself as a Corleone."
And he wasn't, really. That role would ultimately fall to the president.
"Obviously [Hayden] had to get authority for this, and authority could come from only one person, and that would be POTUS," said the participant. "So he went down to see President Bush. It took Bush apparently only about 30 seconds to say, 'Yes, and why haven't you done this already? You have my blessing. Go with God.'"
But in late December, with the bomb ready and Mugniyah firmly in their sights, Hayden "started to get really cold feet again," the participant said. He decided to go see President Bush personally—on Christmas Eve 2007, at Camp David.
"On Christmas Eve morning, he and [Deputy CIA Director Steven] Kappes fly up to Camp David to see POTUS, to say, 'Okay, look, here's what we got, everything is in place, do we still have the go-ahead?' And POTUS basically threw both of them out, saying, 'Why are you up here wasting my time on Christmas Eve? Get the fuck out and go do this. Not quite in those terms. But it was, 'Yes, I've already given you my approval. Go do this; go with God.'"
"Go with our Christian God," I guess Bush meant.
Both pieces emphasize how careful the CIA and Mossad were with their terrorist tactics, to make sure only their target was killed. Again, Newsweek:
Finally, the car was in place. But then there were always other people around. Weeks more went by. Hayden's demands that only Mugniyah be killed, and no one else, with no collateral damage, had to be met.
"It was always either he wasn't alone, or he had his kids with him, or somebody else with him, or there were casuals in the area, or he was gone, he was in the Bekka [Valley] or someplace else, he wasn't in his apartment," the participant said. "The rules of engagement were so tight that he probably walked past the thing dozens of times but they just couldn't do anything because somebody was there or it just didn't fit into the rules of engagement."
"They were keeping watch on this just about all the time," he added. "They were taking shifts, a station officer and a Mossad officer. The Mossad officer was there just to make the confirmation that, 'yeah, that's him.'"
The kill was made all the harder by the way the bomb would be detonated. There was a two-second delay from the time the CIA and Mossad agents in the lookout post pushed the button to when the bomb exploded. Under the plan, the Mossad agent would ID Mugniyah, and the CIA man would press the remote control.
"So you would have to count—one, one thousand; two, one thousand… " the participant said. "They had about six seconds from the time he came out of the apartment door to the time he moved out of the danger zone. So they had to do it really fast."
And WaPo notes how tedious it was to get approval to kill a guy whose attacks on the US were years earlier, under Reagan.
Former U.S. officials, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the operation, asserted that Mughniyah, although based in Syria, was directly connected to the arming and training of Shiite militias in Iraq that were targeting U.S. forces. There was little debate inside the Bush administration over the use of a car bomb instead of other means.
"Remember, they were carrying out suicide bombings and IED attacks," said one official, referring to Hezbollah operations in Iraq.
The authority to kill Mughniyah required a presidential finding by President George W. Bush. The attorney general, the director of national intelligence, the national security adviser and the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department all signed off on the operation, one former intelligence official said.
The former official said getting the authority to kill Mughniyah was a "rigorous and tedious" process. "What we had to show was he was a continuing threat to Americans," the official said, noting that Mughniyah had a long history of targeting Americans dating back to his role in planning the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
"The decision was we had to have absolute confirmation that it was self-defense," the official said.
(Note, Newsweek says the Finding was signed under Reagan, which actually makes more sense since the Gloves Come Off Memorandum of Notification Bush and Obama have relied on was also a modification of a Finding signed by him.)
This is, presumably, meant to be a big success story for CIA. My hope, however, is that it adds some nuance to debates about our use of drones. If the US kills more collateral casualties using drones than using a classic terrorist technique — in both cases making really attenuated claims about current threats — which is the greatest terror technique?
Update: Kevin Jon Heller argues the US violated the Terrorist Bombing Convention.
I'm still working through the NSA reports to the Intelligence Oversight Board posted right before Christmas. Here's a detail (in the Q4 2008 report) I find interesting:
The Shadow Factory was published on October 14, 2008.
8 days before that, the NSA notified the Senate Intelligence Committee (just the SSCI at first?!?!) about an impending (it aired on October 9) Brian Ross interview with whistleblowers from James Bamford's book on ABC.
The interview included a clip from Michael Hayden's 2006 CIA Director confirmation hearing before SSCI in which he claimed Americans' private conversations would never be intercepted.
In testimony before Congress, then-NSA director Gen. Michael Hayden, now director of the CIA, said private conversations of Americans are not intercepted.
"It's not for the heck of it. We are narrowly focused and drilled on protecting the nation against al Qaeda and those organizations who are affiliated with it," Gen. Hayden testified.
He was asked by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), "Are you just doing this because you just want to pry into people's lives?"
"No, sir," General Hayden replied.
It also included flaccid responses from both then CIA Director Hayden and his spokesperson Mark Mansfield (who was actively involved in pre-emptive leaks to the press on torture) and Keith Alexander (who was Deputy Chief of Staff for Army Intelligence at the time of the violations).
In addition, the ABC report included a quote from then SSCI Chair Jello Jay Rockefeller (who, of course, would have found out about it from the agency days before the report).
The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), called the allegations "extremely disturbing" and said the committee has begun its own examination.
"We have requested all relevant information from the Bush Administration," Rockefeller said Thursday. "The Committee will take whatever action is necessary."
It also made clear that Orrin Hatch had been the one to pitch the softball to Hayden in 2006, about which — it is abundantly clear — he lied about.
Finally, it includes an anonymous quote from a "US intelligence official" making it clear that all US government employees might be spied on, contrary to Hayden's public claims during the confirmation process.
Asked for comment about the ABC News report and accounts of intimate and private phone calls of military officers being passed around, a US intelligence official said "all employees of the US government" should expect that their telephone conversations could be monitored as part of an effort to safeguard security and "information assurance."
There appear to be several things going on with this.
First, this is ABC News, one of the outlets notorious for laundering intelligence claims; indeed, it is possible this is a limited hangout, an attempt to preempt one of the most alarming revelations in Bamford's book. While the report doesn't say it explicitly, it implies the claims of whistleblowers Kinne and Faulk prove Hayden to have lied in his CIA Director confirmation hearing, in response to the softball thrown by Hatch. In any case, the briefing about this disclosure appears to have gone exclusively to SSCI (with follow-up briefings to both intelligence oversight committees afterwards), the committee that got the apparently false testimony (and not for the last time, from Michael Hayden!). But by briefing the Committee, it also gave Jello Jay an opportunity — and probably, explicit permission — to sound all stern about a practice the Committee likely knew about.
In the IOB Report, this is portrayed as a model of oversight. But from what we know about the parties involved, it is just as likely to have been an effort at press management.
Update: The 3Q 2009 report describes the outcome of the report. It found "no targeting of US persons."
As I noted, the NSA released its quarterly reports to the Intelligence Oversight Board as a FOIA-coal-for-Christmas present. In them, we see how the NSA executed a bit of legal chicanery with respect to Stellar Wind which had previously been revealed in the 2009 Draft IG Report on Stellar Wind.
The report claims that NSA's Inspector General did not get read into the program until August 2002. The IG Report claims to be mystified as to why NSA operated an illegal program for 9 months before reading in the IG; it offers the suggestion that President Bush didn't want to read in the IG until NSA had a named IG, rather than an Acting one — but that doesn't explain why they waited 4 months after Joel Brenner came in in April 2002.
(TS//SI//NF) We could not determine exact reasons for why the NSA IG was not cleared for the PSP until August 2002. According to the NSA General Counsel, the President would not allow the IG to be briefed sooner. General Hayden did not specifically recall why the IG was not brought in earlier, but thought that it had not been appropriate to do so when it was uncertain how long the Program would last and before operations had stabilized. The NSA IG pointed out that he did not take the IG position until April 2002, so NSA leadership or the White House may have been resistant to clearing either a new or an acting IG.
One of the things Brenner instituted — the report claims it started almost a year after he came in and more than 6 months after he got read into the program — was to make the IOB reports technically correct by stating that there might be incidents not noticed to IOB but instead noticed to the President.
(C) Second, in March 2003, the IG advised General Hayden that he should report violations of the Authorization to the President. In February of 2003, the OIG learned of PSP incidents or violations that had not been reported to overseers as required, because none had the clearance to see the report.
(TS//SI//OC/NF) Before March 2003, NSA quarterly reports on intelligence activities sent to the President's Intelligence Oversight Board (through the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Oversight) stated that the Director was not aware of any unlawful surveillance activities by NSA other than that described in the report. Beginning in March 2003, at the IG's direction, NSA quarterly reports stated that except as disclosed to the President, the Director was not aware of any unlawful surveillance activities by NSA. Also beginning in March 2003, PSP violations, including those not previously reported to the Intelligence Oversight Board, were reported in "Presidential Notifications."
But that's actually not correct. The change appears in the December 4, 2002 report.
If the remaining chronology is correct — that Brenner had not yet convinced Hayden to tell the President about violations and that there were some February 2003 violations that did not get reported — then the December 2002 report was inaccurate, because the President would not have been noticed.
What I find interesting about it is how signatures were handled before that. In the June 2002 report — at a time when Brenner was not read into the program — he signed the report himself. In the August 27, 2002 report (which was presumably submitted just after Brenner got read into Stellar Wind), Brian McAndrew, who had been Acting IG before Brenner took over, signed for him.
And, in perhaps related metadata, there's this, from the December 2001 report (that is, the first one after the initiation of Stellar Wind).
I think, though am not certain, this note comes from Michael Hayden (with an "H" in the circle), to whom the memo is addressed. He appears to have asked Robert Deitz to discuss the implications of this notice further before he signed it. And someone amended the notice, to include violations known to affiliated (agency?) directors but not to Hayden.
That is, it seems possible that even Michael Hayden hesitated to say this report included all violations of law without Robert Deitz (who has written some robust defenses of NSA since the Snowden leaks) holding his hand somewhat.
Update: Note that the coversheet with Hayden's note was initially dated December 7, 2001. But the date on the letter he signed was January 4, 2002. That suggests they could have actually changed the content of the letter in response to Hayden's concerns, though such a delay appears normal given the other reports.
Of course, this entire structure is premised on the caveat that the President can instruct agency heads not to include violations he doesn't want them to. And the gaming of some signatures to avoid making false declarations is child's play compared to what Obama did at the beginning of his Administration, which was basically to let the entire board lapse by not appointing anyone.
Still, the games they were playing with their declarations suggests these men — who've made broad comments about how well NSA follows the law — know they were fibbing.
In awesome news, the Federal Trade Commission has hired Ashkan Soltani — the tech expert who helped Bart Gellman on many of his most important Snowden scoops — as its new Chief Technology Officer.
The news has elicited wails from NSA's mail mouthpieces, Stewart Baker and Michael Hayden.
"I'm not trying to demonize this fella, but he's been working through criminally exposed documents and making decisions about making those documents public," said Michael Hayden, a former NSA director who also served as CIA director from 2006 to 2009. In a telephone interview with FedScoop, Hayden said he wasn't surprised by the lack of concern about Soltani's participation in the Post's Snowden stories. "I have no good answer for that."
Stewart Baker, a former NSA general counsel, said, while he's not familiar with the role Soltani would play at the FTC, there are still problems with his appointment. "I don't think anyone who justified or exploited Snowden's breach of confidentiality obligations should be trusted to serve in government," Baker said.
I find Hayden's wails especially disgusting, given the way — it is now clear — the government spent so much effort covering up how he extended the illegal wiretap program in March 2004. I mean, I'm not trying to demonize the fella, but he's a criminal, and yet he's complaining about the press reporting on abuses?
That said, I'm curious whether this isn't the real reason there seems to be organized pushback against Soltani's hire.
Soltani is scheduled to give a presentation Nov. 19 at the Strata+Hadoop World conference in Barcelona, Spain, on "how commercial tracking enables government surveillance." According to the conference website, Soltani's presentation will explore how "the dropping costs of bulk surveillance is aiding government eavesdropping, with a primary driver being how the NSA leverages data collected by commercial providers to collect information about innocent users worldwide."
At FTC, Soltani will be in a role where he can directly influence the kind of regulatory pressure placed on data collectors to protect user privacy. He understands — probably far more than we know from the WaPo stories — how NSA is capitalizing on already collected data. Which means he may be able to influence how much remains available to the spooks.
So maybe all this wailing is an effort to sustain the big commercial data's unwitting support for big spooky data?
If the documents relating to Yahoo's challenge of Protect America Act released last month are accurate reflections of the documents actually submitted to the FISC and FISCR, then the government submitted a misleading document on June 5, 2008 that was central to FISCR's ultimate ruling.
As I laid out here in 2009, FISCR relied on the the requirement in EO 12333 that the Attorney General determine there is probable cause a wiretapping technique used in the US is directed against a foreign power to judge the Protect America Act met probable cause requirements.
The procedures incorporated through section 2.5 of Executive Order 12333, made applicable to the surveillances through the certifications and directives, serve to allay the probable cause concern.
The Attorney General hereby is delegated the power to approve the use for intelligence purposes, within the United States or against a United States person abroad, of any technique for which a warrant would be required if undertaken for law enforcement purposes, provided that such techniques shall not be undertaken unless the Attorney General has determined in each case that there is probable cause to believe that the technique is directed against a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power.
44 Fed. Reg. at 59,951 (emphasis supplied). Thus, in order for the government to act upon the certifications, the AG first had to make a determination that probable cause existed to believe that the targeted person is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power. Moreover, this determination was not made in a vacuum. The AG's decision was informed by the contents of an application made pursuant to Department of Defense (DOD) regulations. See DOD, Procedures Governing the Activities of DOD Intelligence Components that Affect United States Persons, DOD 5240.1-R, Proc. 5, Pt. 2.C. (Dec. 1982).
Yahoo didn't buy this argument. It had a number of problems with it, notably that nothing prevented the government from changing Executive Orders.
While Executive Order 12333 (if not repealed), provides some additional protections, it is still not enough.
Thus, to the extent that it is even appropriate to examine the protections in the Executive Order that are not statutorily required, the scales of the reasonableness determination sway but do not tip towards reasonableness.
Yahoo made that argument on May 29, 2008.
Sadly, Yahoo appears not to have noticed the best argument that Courts shouldn't rely on EO 12333 because the President could always change it: Sheldon Whitehouse's revelation on December 7, 2007 (right in the middle of this litigation) that OLC had ruled the President could change it in secret and not note the change publicly. Whitehouse strongly suggested that the Executive in fact had changed EO 12333 without notice to accommodate its illegal wiretap program.
But the government appears to have intentionally withheld further evidence about how easily it could change EO 12333 — and in fact had, right in the middle of the litigation.
This is the copy of the Classified Annex to EO 12333 that (at least according to the ODNI release) the government submitted to FISCR in a classified appendix on June 5, 2008 (that is, after Yahoo had already argued that an EO, and the protections it affords, might change). It is a copy of the original Classified Appendix signed by Ed Meese in 1988.
As I have shown, Michael Hayden modified NSA/CSS Policy 1-23 on March 11, 2004, which includes and incorporates EO 12333, the day after the hospital confrontation. The content of the Classified Annex released in 2013 appears to be identical, in its unredacted bits, to the original as released in 1988 (see below for a list of the different things redacted in each version). So the actual content of what the government presented may (or may not be) a faithful representation of the Classified Appendix as it currently existed.
But the version of NSA/CSS Policy 1-23 released last year (starting at page 110) provides this modification history:
This Policy 1-23 supersedes Directive 10-30, dated 20 September 1990, and Change One thereto, dated June 1998. The Associate Director for Policy endorsed an administrative update, effective 27 December 2007 to make minor adjustments to this policy. This 29 May 2009 administrative update includes changes due to the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 and in core training requirements.
That is, Michael Hayden's March 11, 2004 modification of the Policy changed to the Directive as existed before 2 changes made under Clinton.
Just as importantly, the modification history reflects "an administrative update" making "minor adjustments to this policy" effective December 27, 2007 — a month and a half after this challenge started.
By presenting the original Classified Appendix — to which Hayden had apparently reverted in 2004 — rather than the up-to-date Policy, the government was presenting what they were currently using. But they hid the fact that they had made changes to it right in the middle of this litigation. A fact that would have made it clear that Courts can't rely on Executive Orders to protect the rights of Americans, especially when they include Classified Annexes hidden within Procedures.
In its language relying on EO 12333, FISCR specifically pointed to DOD 5240.1-R. The Classified Annex to EO 12333 is required under compliance with part of that that complies with the August 27, 2007 PAA compliance.
That is, this Classified Annex is a part of the Russian dolls of interlocking directives and orders that implement EO 12333.
And they were changing, even as this litigation was moving forward.
Only, the government appears to have hidden that information from the FISCR.
Update: Clarified that NSA/CSS Policy 1-23 is what got changed.
Update: Hahaha. The copy of DOD 5240.1 R which the government submitted on December 11, 2007, still bears the cover sheet labeling it as an Annex to NSA/CSS Directive 10-30. Which of course had been superseded in 2004.


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subset: commoncrawl


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"I never really thought about how we were so different," said Jen. "Just looking at this helps me understand you much more effectively. For the past two years, I thought you didn't like me, and now I recognize it has nothing to do with that."
This is a typical quote I get when people attend my DiSC (Understanding Behavioral Styles) workshops.
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Any glitches in the nationwide switch to digital television will be felt first in Wilmington.
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday formally announced that the North Carolina TV market on would be the first to switch from analog signals to an all-digital format. It said five local stations will begin broadcasting only digital signals beginning at 12 p.m. on Sept. 8 -- five months ahead of the much-advertised Feb. 17 nationwide flip.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the plan will help spot issues that need to be addressed before all-digit formats replace analog signals nationwide in February.
Wilmington volunteered for the switch. An FCC spokesman said the city is one of eight communities with technology in place to go all digital.


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What: Wealth Visor, Seattle Who: Chip Treverton, 37, founder and CEO Mission: To become the most respected destination to gain information...
What: Wealth Visor, Seattle
Who: Chip Treverton, 37, founder and CEO
Mission: To become the most respected destination to gain information about and connect with financial professionals.
Employees: 5
- Seattle's vanishing black community
- Bellevue School District seeks to fire football coach Goncharoff over scandal
- Designed in Seattle, this $1 cup could save millions of babies
- Infections are the culprit in Alzheimer's disease, Harvard study suggests
- 1,000 fraternity, sorority members trash Lake Shasta campsite
Most Read Stories
Financials: The company gains revenue from advertising and subscription fees, and expects to become profitable in early 2012.
Cash network: The company has assembled data on 350,000 financial advisers nationwide, mostly using public sources and company records. Once in the database, advisers are invited to contribute information, and comments from former clients about the adviser are welcomed. "This model, where people comment about services, has worked well in other areas, but there was nothing like this in the financial-service industry where a lot of people are looking for advice," Treverton said.
Throw a rope: The need for advice is especially true since the financial meltdown. "There was a time where people thought they could just invest in the stock market and make money," Treverton said. "But in the last couple of years even the smart people aren't so smart anymore. They don't know how to manage their money and need help."
Money talk: The company allows anonymous comments but vets them to make sure they are not obscene or personal, and removes those deemed inappropriate. Comments from those who are not former clients are also removed. It is left up to the adviser in question to deal with the negative comments left standing by persuading current clients to leave positive feedback. "We encourage advisers to put widgets on their websites that lead to us, so their clients can comment."
Close to home: The online universe encourages business across geographical boundaries, but Treverton said most people seek financial advice from someone close to their backyard. "The majority of people want to have someone they can meet with in person," he said.
— Charles Bermant


text: i just built up a salsa vaya and i'm loving it. it's built up as an adventure bike, not a tourer. lightish parts and velocity blunt sl rims, dt competition spokes, pro lock nips, 240s hubs. i'm basically looking to get what i normally may carry for a days adventure off of my back. nothing too heavy. i like the simple look of the airy and the salsa minimalist. any suggestions on bags that work well with these racks? i'm also looking at a frame bag to place a bladder, food, maps and other such items in.


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2003 rubicon tire size
I'm wondering how wide a tire I can put on my Rubicon. Stock tire are
LT 245 75R 16. I know I can go to a 265 but does anyone know if 285 will be OK. Meaning will it fit the wheels, not rub underneath anywhere,and not mess up the speedometer.
Also, has anyone tried the Fierce Attitude tires? Are they quiet or noisy?
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1 1/2 weeks ago I learned that my beautiful baby boy (due July 15) showed three soft markers for DS placing me at a 1:4 risk. Increased nuchal skin fold (6.3 mm), two dilated kidneys, and an echogenic bowel. (My 19 month-old son had a dilated kidney, an echogenic bowel, and a single umbilical artery--he does not have DS)
I am driving myself crazy not knowing and my husband and I have decided on the amnio so we can have a definitive answer and move on.
I'm very nervous, not about the amnio but about the results. Any words of comfort or advice is welcomed.


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"Humphrey is a good addition to our squad. I am delighted to have him on board. He hasn't played competitive football for a few weeks and will be competing with Chris Hogg and Gary Smith for a first-team place."
Related quotes
"She's really good through the middle. She's really good blocking-her and Kara (Humphrey) both-have got some great blocking skills."
"We were fortunate that Humphrey was capable of finishing off some plays, or we wouldn't have had anybody in double figures."
"They did a good job of sagging in on (Humphrey) in the first half, and that made it difficult to pass it in to her. Then we hit some shots and that really opened it up for her."
"I'm not sure who is going to win, but I served with Hubert Humphrey, I served with Walter Mondale -- both very liberal senators, both fine people ... But I also think the world of Mayor Coleman, and I suspect that it's going to still be a race right down to the wire,"
"The stock market is going to be like the bond market. It's going to be focused on that Humphrey-Hawkins testimony. I think it's a very nervous market."


text:
Soup Kitchen (ebook)
by Edited by Leanne Stokes & Susan Dowd, leannestokes
A collection of soups cooked in 2012 to raise money for a local charity, the Penrith Community kitchen. We hope you enjoy cooking and eating the soups and maybe it will inspire a fundraising campaign at your workplace!
About the Creator
Leanne Stokes , leannestokes
Penrith, NSW, Australia
A research scientist with a passion for soup and bread!


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I've criticized them many times, so now it's time to salute them.
And let's hope the news release writers for BMJ journals continue this practice.
This week, in a news release about a paper in one of the journals published by the BMJ, the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, was this caveat:
"This is an observational study so no definitive conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and the researchers admit that some potentially important risk factors, such as family history of heart disease/stroke and genetic influences were not known."
Such a statement of limitations has been missing many times in past news releases from/about BMJ journals.
I can't see everything, so I may have missed other good examples in the past.
Here is the full text of the news release in question:
Good neighbours and friendly local community may curb heart attack risk
Might extend social support network which is also linked to lower cardiovascular disease risk, say researchers
[Perceived neighbourhood social cohesion and myocardial infarction Online First doi 10.1136/jech-2014-204009]
Having good neighbours and feeling connected to others in the local community may help to curb an individuals heart attack risk, concludes research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
Current evidence suggests that the characteristics of an area in which a person lives can negatively affect their cardiovascular health. This includes, for example, the density of fast food outlets; levels of violence, noise, and pollution; drug use; and building disrepair.
But few studies have looked at the potential health enhancing effects of positive local neighbourhood characteristics, such as perceived neighbourhood social cohesion, say the authors.
They therefore tracked the cardiovascular health of over 5000 US adults with no known heart problems over a period of four years, starting in 2006. Their average age was 70, and almost two thirds were women and married (62%).
All the study participants were taking part in the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study of American adults over the age of 50, who are surveyed every two years.
In 2006 participants were asked to score on a validated seven point scale how much they felt part of their local neighbourhood; if they felt they had neighbours who would help them if they got into difficulty; whether they trusted most people in the area; and felt they were friendly.
Potentially influential factors, such as age, race, gender, income, marital status, educational attainment, outlook and attitude, social integration, mental health, lifestyle, weight, and underlying health issues, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, were all taken into account.
During the four year monitoring period, 148 of the 5276 participants (66 women and 82 men) had a heart attack.
Analysis of the data showed that each standard deviation increase in perceived neighbourhood social cohesion was associated with a 22% reduced risk of a heart attack. Put another way, on the seven-point scale, each unit increase in neighbourhood social cohesion was associated with a 17% reduced risk of heart attack.*
This association held true even after adjusting for relevant sociodemographic, behavioural, biological, and psychosocial factors, as well as individual-level social support.
The researchers say their findings echo those of other studies which have found a link between well integrated local neighbourhoods and lower stroke and heart disease risk.
This is an observational study so no definitive conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and the researchers admit that some potentially important risk factors, such as family history of heart disease/stroke and genetic influences were not known. But a strong social support network of friends and family has been linked to better health, so friendly neighbourhoods might be an extension of that, they say.
Perceived neighbourhood social cohesion could be a type of social support that is available in the neighbourhood social environment outside the realm of family and friends, they write.
And tight-knit local communities may help to reinforce and incentivise certain types of cohesive behaviours and so exclude antisocial behaviours, they suggest.
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it started just when I was trying to get warm inside my car , using the heating . Then the needle starts moving out of the normal ,showing how hot the engine is getting , started pulling up. So I have decided not to use the heating .
by Visitor in Los Angeles, CA on April 08, 2010


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OK my search-foo is not working tonight. Can anyone tell me what the secondary mirror size and obstruction is on orion's skyview 6lt f/8 scope? I just can't seem to find it. Thanks Derek
Orion's 6lt f/8 secondary mirror size?
Started by dwmedic , Sep 29 2013 10:19 PM
2 replies to this topic
Posted 29 September 2013 - 10:19 PM
Posted 30 September 2013 - 11:14 AM
hi, the 6lt is identical to the skywatcher 150pl. both made by synta. secondary size 35mm, obstr. 23%
Posted 30 September 2013 - 03:42 PM
Thanks. I didn't even think to check the other brands of this scope. Derek


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Jell-O and whipped topping can be substituted for sugar free.
I actually used a serving fork to make the holes. I used yellow cake, strawberry Jello, vanilla pudding as an icing, and strawberry Cool Whip. Just as a little extra, I put fresh, cut strawberries on top. It was good and I'll definitely make it again.
can be used with yellow cake as well. and strawberry or raspberry are the best to use for jello and try strawberry flavored whip topping. kids love it!


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2182 Tasting Notes
Another day, another Dammann. It's the last couple of days of my collections visit, which means an all out sprint to finish up all the research I need to before I go home Saturday. I barely had time to gulp down a couple of mugs of this tea today, but I also really needed the pick-me-up! This is such a great anytime tea, and the base is so well done… I can see restocking this one once I use up my sachets.
When I went to the giant asian supermarket in Calgary to get my Ten Ren bubble tea, I figured I might as well check and see what kind of bottled milk teas they had around. Alas, no Wahaha, but I did find this Japanese one that was intriguing. Earl grey, definitely want, lavender… maybe. I don't always have the best success with lavender in teas.
However, this one is very light and pleasant. The flavoring is altogether pretty light, and this actually isn't very sweet like the Chinese milk teas usually are, so maybe there's something to this "healthy" business. At first I wasn't sure what to make of this tea (maybe it's because I was drinking it with a cranberry orange muffin), but it's definitely growing on me. I don't think I taste the bergamot as a distinct entity, but I think it's contributing to the overall flavor, which itself is difficult to describe. Overall a pretty tasty tea; I might buy a bottle if I saw it again, but I won't be distraught if I never do.
Thanks hotel internet, for kicking me off just at the time I went to post this tasting note. Fortunately it wasn't very long. I discovered a couple more sachets of this hidden in a tin of French rose-flavored hard candies. Score! I forgot how awesome this tea was, which always happens when I don't have a tea I love for a long time. I really have to restock on this at some point.
I stashed them in the tin because I usually carry it around with me in my purse so I would always have tea if needed (tea emergency LOL!), but I forgot they were in there.
Backlog from yesterday. I had a very nice cup of this tea in the morning, and then I resteeped the sachet in the afternoon. Having access to a hot water pot (and the ability to take my tea into the collections) is awesome, but it means I want to drink tea nonstop like I usually do at work. But I do kind of need to conserve my sachets, and I knew that this one would be up to a resteep. I did something I never do: I left the sachet in the cup for the entire time I was drinking it during the resteep. But it was still totally awesome! Definitely getting more sachets from Dammann for traveling; I love the individually wrapped ones because they are so easy to throw in a purse and such.
Later this afternoon I really wanted another cup of tea, but I didn't want to use up my sachets I brought with me. So I poked around inside the cupboard in the staff lounge and filched a bag of this out of a large pouch. Normally I wouldn't steep a pouchong at boiling, but that's what the instructions on the back of the wrapper said, so I did. I was afraid it would be bitter or otherwise oversteeped, but it was almost the opposite. Maybe these teabags are really old, but there wasn't much flavor to this cup. The aroma was somewhat unexpected, as I haven't ever had a pouchong that was this roasty toasty. Actually it kind of reminded me of some kind of genmaicha, because it had that toasted rice aroma along with kind of a grassy green-ness. Not really my thing, but not bad. Too bad it didn't taste like much!
Hallelujah, the staff lounge at the museum I'm visiting has a hot water kettle, and I actually have easy access to it (i.e., it's not behind a locked door). The only problem was I didn't have a mug and there aren't any communal dishes in the staff lounge, but once again I was saved because the collections manager loaned me a mug. A cup of this, brewed properly, made me so happy this afternoon.
Well, I've been reduced to boiling water in the microwave. With a Dammann sachet, which is crazy. Man can you tell the difference. Years ago, before I was actually "into" tea, I used to boil water in the microwave at work and steep my teabags in them. These days I've always wondered how I was able to stand such bitter, yucky tea, but now I realize that microwaved water totally neutralizes any tea you put in it. I brought a bunch of Dammann sachets with me but it's totally not worth using them in this, because while there are still hints of how good they are, it's basically a waste. Oh well, if only North American hotels all had electric kettles like Asian hotels!
If you have one of the little personal coffee pots, you can just run it with no coffee, and it's a passable kettle. Not great, but probably better then the microwave
Here is a trick I learned with the microwave – after heating your water pour it into another vessel. The mixing of the hot water and air puts life back in the tea. Still not as good as a kettle but as you know, one is not always handy.
Dylan—I took one sniff of the plastic water container for the coffee maker and quickly put it back down again. It smelled so powerfully like coffee, and I'd rather have "flat" tea than tea that tastes like coffee blech
KS—I remembered you saying that and I poured it from one mug to another, although perhaps I need different sized vessels and better control over the pouring.
Oh hai, Canadians, I'm in ur country, drinkin' ur tea. Ok, so this isn't really Canadian tea, but it was possibly the tea shop closest to the Calgary Airport, and since I was just flying in to drive out into the boonies, I needed a quick fix. I saw on the website that they had rose milk tea at the shop and decided I had to go. It took me a bit to find it because the tea shop was actually inside a huge asian grocery. But eventually, success!
This was a really tasty rose milk tea. Most of the time with these you can't really taste the "tea" base but the important part to me was the rose, and that was of course in evidence. The boba were a little too soft, which was my main complaint. Otherwise, I loved it. Gotta find a way to make rose milk teas on my own. The ones I've had all seem to use a thick rose syrup/jelly type thing with rose petals in it for the flavoring.
ROFL! love how you started that! What about adding Rose Water to make this Rose tea at home? That would not be sweet or syrupy!
Indigobloom — Not this time, just Alberta. But at some point I will probably go to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and I'll be sure to let you know if I do!
Azzrian — I'm curious how non-sweet milk bubble tea would taste, now, because they are always so sweet. I would imagine kind of like rose black tea with milk, but I've never had that.
On the road again. This morning I woke up far, far too early to go to an airport far too far away. I bougt a cup of hot water at a cafe but decided to forgo their lackluster teabag selection. I packed a variety of sachets for this trip, and fortunately its a short one. When I was getting them together I found that I had three more sachets of this one left… I thought I was either out or down to the last one. It's been a long time since I've had this tea, and I miss it! So delicious.
Gong fu oolong of the day. I am following Naivetea's instructions exactly for this one, including amount of leaf for my 6oz pot since they are explicit on that point.
No rinse, first steep 50 seconds. It certainly smells nice, floral and buttery and a bit vegetal. Geez, apparently I can't take a sip today without inhaling tea along with it! I just did it twice in a row. Bah. Ok, finally got a good sip. It's fresh and green, like fresh sweet sugar snap peas. There are a little florals, but they're not really very present. No sweetness, really just a pleasant green flavor.
Second steep, 40 seconds. Honestly, this steep is kind of meh. Very underwhelming. At once low on flavor but what is there is strongly vegetal. It's tempting to give up on it right now, but I remember what happened with the last Naivetea oolong I gong fu'd (I got great steeps toward the end). I'm afraid the third steep, back to 50 seconds, is the same way. Fourth steep, 60 seconds, weaker but otherwise same. I'm afraid there doesn't really seem to be anything more coming out of these leaves. Fifth steep, 70 seconds, same.
I'm not really dropping my score on this one because I did like the western style steep of it back when I first tried it. But following the instructions they sent exactly? A big ol' meh. Even the first steep wasn't really that impressive. Oh well.


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My daughter and I designed this quilt. The time we spent together working on this quilt was precious to me. I had most of it quilted before we learned our little Wyatt was still-born. A piece of this quilt will always hang in my studio to remind me of my grandson so tiny and precious.
nice job the pinwheels look good around the frog
Thanks! The pinwheels were my daughter's idea. She was trying to get the project done without being too complex.
I started a non-profit for Wyatt. If you would like to check out what I do please go to my post "Wyatts work" under quilts for charities.
This is a great quilt. I like the way the colors of the pinwheels pick up the colors in the panels. Great job. So sorry to hear about Wyatt
Sorry to hear about Wyatt, Joy but this quilt is darling. I have seen that panel and have always thought it was a cute one.


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Belk Silverworks Mom Heart Drop Originality Bead
$13.99 Original Price $58.00
Savings: $44.01 (75%)
Tell mom you love her with this inspirational sterling silver charm bead featuring a heart-shaped dangling disc inscribed with 'Mom.' A single crystal accent adds a lovely touch of sparkle.
- 0.75-in. L x 0.38-in. W
- Sterling silver, crystal
- Imported
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Returns are easy on belk.com. Easy returns


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Village of Eagle spends now to save in long run
Village of Eagle - Sometimes it pays to spend a little bit more now to save in the long run, which is exactly what the village wants to do in its 2013 budget.
With the switch to the state health insurance plan last June, the village will need to pay a surcharge of $920 per month per family plan and $310 per month per single plan for 2013, in addition to premiums, explained Village President Rick Spurrell. However, that amount will be less in some instances, as some employees are joint employees with the town. After the surcharges are paid during 2013, the village will save about $40,000 per year in premiums, said Spurrell.
He explained that the state regulates how much the village can contribute to premiums, setting that rate somewhere between 50 and 88 percent of the total premium. Because of this, employees will contribute significantly more toward their benefits this year.
The village went with the state plan with a long-term vision, but didn't anticipate this high of a surcharge, Spurrell added. However, looking long-term, "it's certainly a benefit to the village." The village has already paid for six months worth of the surcharge, he noted.
The good news is that the surcharge is not expected to affect the levy or tax rate under the proposed budget. The proposed levy for 2013 is the same as 2012 at $759,071. The tax rate is also expected to stay the same at $4.97 per $1,000 of assessed value. This means that a person owning a $250,000 home could expect to pay $1,243 in village taxes for 2013. The proposed budget for 2013 is about $1.24 million, a 4-percent increase over 2012's budget of about $1.2 million.
Village residents will vote on the proposed budget during a public hearing set for 6 p.m. Nov. 8 at Village Hall, 820 E. Main St.
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IN considering the value of any great land for the uses of civilized man it is of first importance to take into account the character of its soil coating and the relation of that layer of earth material to agriculture. Whatever be the other advantages of a country-however rich its mineral resources, good its climate, and advantageous its situation with reference to the trade of the world -- its fitness for the occupation of cultivated people is in the main determined by the harvests which it may yield. Therefore, at the outset of our inquiry into the several great divisions of the earth resources which are provided by North America, we shall note the tillage value of its fields. In order to acquire a clear conception of the problems presented by the soil, it is well to begin the inquiry with some general considerations as to the way in which this coating is formed, how its fertility is maintained, increased, or impaired, and how it stands related to the life which may grow upon it.
The phenomena exhibited by the soil coating of the earth are so familiar that they are often contemptuously overlooked. The mass of decaying mineral and organic matter of which the layer is composed appears to most persons mere dirt. They fail to conceive the marvelous chemical and vital processes which are there in action, or how intimately the work which they do is related to the life of land and sea. It is extremely desirable to have these crude notions cleared away, and to have them replaced with correct ideas which will serve to ennoble our understanding of this, the most marvelous of all the parts of our earth. This end can only be obtained through knowledge. Every person should gain at least a general notion as to the history and function of the soil coating, in order that he may become a guardian of the fields on which the life of his kind intimately depends.
Taking a bit of ordinary soil from the layer in which the plant roots feed, the observer may even with the naked eye, but better with a hand lens, perceive that the mass is made up of


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Scoop: BLUE BLOODS on CBS - Friday, August 1, 2014
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BLUE BLOODS is a drama about a multi-generational family of Cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement. Frank Reagan is the New York Police Commissioner, and heads both the police force and the Reagan brood. He runs his department as diplomatically as he runs his family, even when dealing with the politics that plagued his unapologetically bold father, Henry, during his stint as Chief. A source of pride and concern for Frank is his eldest son, Danny, a seasoned detective, family man and Iraq War vet who on occasion uses dubious tactics to solve cases with his partner, Detective Maria Baez. The Reagan women in the family include Erin, a N.Y. Assistant D.A. who also serves as the legal compass for her siblings and father, as well as a single parent to her teenage daughter Nicky; and Linda, Danny's supportive wife. Jamie is the youngest Reagan, a Harvard Law graduate and the family's "golden boy." Unable to deny the family tradition, Jamie decided to give up a lucrative future in law and follow in the family footsteps as a cop. He's found a friend and ally in Eddie, his young and eager female partner, who keeps him on his toes, but has very different reasons than the Reagans for joining the police force.


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The Friday the 13th movies are one of the classic horror series. Take on the look of their frightening villain and murderer in the Friday the 13th Jason Voorhees Adult Costume. This piece comes with a brown jacket with a tattered hem, most likely from walking the forests of Camp Crystal Lake. The jacket also features a false, attached green shirt as well. No one will know who you're resembling however if you don't wear the included mask. Jason Voorhees always wears his signature off-white hockey mask. Terrorize the horror theme costume party when you show up in this classic costume. The bloody machete is not included, but we are sure that you'll be able to buy it separately. Fridays will never be the same again after you get this amazing costume that is true to life of the evil antagonist.
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Gay Dallas: The Latest
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Yale Commencement to Include First ROTC Graduates Since 70s
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Rio Olympics to Top London In Supply of Condoms
About 450,000 condoms will be distributed during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, three times more than for the London Games four years ago, the International Olympic Committee says.
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Looks like Kingston Port is no longer available on Rent.com which means this information is likely out of date.
Make sure to check out these similar properties in the area.
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A GREAT PLACE TO COME HOME TO! Meet friendly neighbors and enjoy life! You'll find our professional management team is devoted to meeting the needs of every resident. Enjoy our beautiful landscaping with picnic tables, barbecue grills and playground. Adjacent city park has basketball courts and covered picnic areas. We are convenient to shopping and an excellent school district. Hurry home to Kingston Port!
Amazing Special: 1/2 off First Full Months Rent...say you saw us on Apartment Guide!
Lease terms offered: 6 and 12 months. Pet policy: 1 pet maximum, 20 lb. weight limit. No large pets accepted.
Weight Restriction. Cats Allowed. Dogs Allowed. Call for service animal policy.
176 units
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As Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose continues to rehab his torn ACL, there has been wide speculation as to when the former MVP will be back in action. While reports have ranged from an optimistic January return to as long as the entire season, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf weighed in on the matter during a radio appearance on ESPN 1000's "Talking Baseball" show Saturday.
"I'm not going to let him come back until the doctors tell me that it's absolutely safe for him to come back," Reinsdorf said. "I made that mistake with Michael Jordan years ago where I think we let him come back too soon. It worked out OK, but it might not have. This time I'm not going to make that mistake. Until the doctors say he's 100 percent and they put their reputations on the line, he's not coming back."Advertisement
Hearing Reinsdorf compare Rose to Jordan is a positive sign for Bulls fans, considering the owner's unwillingness to invest in a team that isn't a title contender. The Bulls will pay the luxury tax this year for the first time in the team's history, despite a lackluster offseason. Despite trade rumors surrounding the 2012 NBA Draft, Chicago ultimately opted to keep the core in tact, while replacing the "Bench Mob" that had helped lead the Bulls to the best record in the NBA last season. The replacements: Kirk Hinrich, Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli, Nazr Mohammed and draft pick Marquis Teague. Not terrible, but not players that put the team in a better position to compete for a title.
Despite the loss of Rose, the Bulls will likely be playoff bound in the weaker Eastern Conference. But with several teams upgrading in free agency and through the draft as well as the Miami Heat looking more dominant than ever, the Bulls could be stuck in "basketball hell" until greater changes are made.
Zach Mink covers the Chicago Bulls for Rant Sports, and is a proud member of the Nate Robinson bandwagon. Follow him on twitter @zachmink12 for more news and analysis.


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Broken wrist
Why would you do that? I could have told you that was a bad idea....
Next time I'll ask you explicitly before breaking bones.
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I hope you had a nice St. Patrick's Day despite the rain showers, hail, thunder and, yes, even some snow in the foothills. Phil Delany above Dole Valley reported almost an inch of snow Saturday.
Sunday and Monday should bring scattered showers, ice pellets, and more low-level snow showers. But expect some clearing too.
March is such a fickle month, still hanging on to winter and reaching out towards spring. Regardless, spring officially arrives at 10:14 p.m. Monday. The first full day of spring will be Tuesday.
I have a happy birthday greeting for a longtime reader of The Columbian and a very faithful reader of this column since the beginning over 21 years. Patricia DeVorss of Vancouver celebrated her 91st birthday Saturday.
We certainly have no worry in the rainfall department with 3.85 inches so far this month as of 5 p.m. Saturday — 1.75 inches above average. I bet we top 5 inches or more this week. It's also been a very cool month; the average mean temperature is about 1.5 degrees below normal.
The North Cascades are now over 160 percent of average with about six feet of new snow in the past week or so.
Last year was a wet March as well with over 6.5 inches falling in the bucket.
I am enjoying the lingering hours of daylight in the evening thanks to daylight saving time. May as well just keep it year round as it ends so late in November and begins in March now. (OK, I see the negative comments coming, ha ha.)
Enjoy your week, and let's see, where is that moss killer?
Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears three times a week. Reach him at http://weathersystems.com.


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This is an interesting take on the Inquisition and the role of the Malleus Maleficarum at a blog titled "Diary of an Alien Life Form". Whether or not you agree with it, the ideas presented make for some interesting conversation. It's easy to forget that during the time of the Malleus Maleficarum and the Inquisition, […]
Archive | August, 2010
Malleus Maleficarum
@TheMalleusAn emaciated boy, now named Hope, was left wandering the streets because his family thought he was a witch. https://t.co/Ql73uEd9q3
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- Orelia Manjani: I am looking for the rare book of witchcraft...
- EddCast 06: Blood Moon 2015: Total Eclipse of the Supermoon | Stephanie Edd: […] On Lunatics, Part I Question V, Malleus ...
- Creature Feature: Succubi, Incubi and Their Lusty Cousins | Elle McKay: […] with most demons, however, exorcism was ...
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