Just Observing

To DOD...Put up or else....

2009-07-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

PENTAGON INTEL OPS "OFTEN" EVADE OVERSIGHT

Last month, the House Intelligence Committee complained that the Department of Defense has blurred the distinction between traditional intelligence collection, which is subject to intelligence committee oversight, and clandestine military operations, which are not. Because they are labeled in a misleading manner, some DoD clandestine operations that are substantively the same as intelligence activities are evading the congressional oversight they are supposed to receive.

"In categorizing its clandestine activities," the Committee said in its report on the 2010 intelligence bill, "DoD frequently labels them as 'Operational Preparation of the Environment' (OPE) to distinguish particular operations as traditional military activities and not as intelligence functions. The Committee observes, though, that overuse of the term has made the distinction all but meaningless."

Operational Preparation of the Environment (OPE) is an elusive, somewhat mysterious concept, variously described as a form of foreign intelligence collection, covert action, unconventional warfare, or a prelude to any of these. The phrase does not appear in the otherwise comprehensive DoD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (pdf). It was mentioned in passing in the 2006 Posture Statement (pdf) of the U.S. Special Operations Command, but not in subsequent posture statements.

Some say OPE closely resembles human intelligence collection. OPE refers to "the ability of Defense to get into an area and know it prior to the conduct of military operations," said Gen. Michael Hayden at his 2006 confirmation hearing to be Director of CIA. "An awful lot of those [OPE] activities... are not, in terms of tradecraft or other aspects, recognizably different than collecting human intelligence for a foreign intelligence purpose," he said. "They look very much the same. Different authorities; somewhat different purposes; mostly indistinguishable activities."

From another point of view, OPE is more akin to covert action. "There is often not a bright line between [covert action and] military activities to prepare the battlefield or the environment," said DNI Dennis C. Blair in a written response to questions (pdf) about OPE in advance of his confirmation earlier this year (pp. 15-16).

Though it was neither intelligence collection nor covert action, "U.S. support to and in some cases leadership of irregular resistance to Japanese forces in the Philippine archipelago [in 1942-1945]... stands as a premier example of what military planners today call operational preparation of the environment," according to a historical survey of unconventional warfare in the September 2007 Irregular Warfare Joint Operating Concept (pdf).

Perhaps the most extensive unclassified treatment of OPE (then still known as "operational preparation of the battlespace" or OPB) appears in a 2003 U.S. Army War College research paper, which noted that the term is "seldom used outside of Special Operations Forces channels." OPE "consists of both pre-crisis activities (PCA) and, when authorized, advance force operations (AFO)," both of which are described by the author at some length. See "Combating Terrorism with Preparation of the Battlespace" (pdf) by Michael S. Repass, U.S. Army War College, April 2003. Further discussion appeared in "Leveraging Operational Preparation of the Environment in the GWOT" (pdf) by Maj. Michael T. Kenny, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2006. OPE should be reconceived as a stand-alone mission with its own doctrine, argued another research paper. See "Ending the Debate: Unconventional Warfare, Foreign Internal Defense, and Why Words Matter" (pdf) by D. Jones, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2006.

In any event, "DoD has shown a propensity to apply the OPE label where the slightest nexus of a theoretical, distant military operation might one day exist," according to the House Intelligence Committee report last month. "Consequently, these activities often escape the scrutiny of the intelligence committees.... In the future, if DoD does not meet its obligations to inform the Committee of intelligence activities," the House report concluded weakly, "the Committee will consider legislative action clarifying the Department's obligation to do so."

Wrap...

Knights in Shining Armour....

2009-07-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

That, in today's world, is meant to be a compliment. How times have changed...

I've recently finished reading Ken Follet's 1,100 or so page novel, "World Without End" that is set in medieval times..the 1300's in England.

One of the most horrifying, sickening periods I have ever encountered in all my reading. I'm still having nightmares connected with the events and the people encountered in that book. Cannot get those characters and the evil so commonplace then out of my mind.

Power, money, lust, religion. Driving forces. As always. Think the Taliban are bad? You ain't seen nuthin' yet.

And so I look around at the powers that be in our current world and am reminded of how much some of them would like to have the powers the Lords, Ladies, Knights, Priors, Priests, the Catholic Church, King and Nobles of all kinds had then and just what they did with those powers. All men ruled all women. Period. The common folk had so very few rights that they were almost non-existant. It's a world I would never want to encounter in any way, shape, or form.

Follet is a most excellent writer. The man does intensive research. I highly recommend both of his books..."Pillars of the Earth" about the building of the cathedral, and "World Without End" that concerns that same cathedral some 200 years later. Reading them is entering a world one will not soon forget.

Wrap...

Manure to Methane...Great Idea!

2009-06-29T12:48:00.000-07:00

From Conrad...

One of my favorite scientists who likes to play God is J. Craig Venter. His team found a bacteria that produces an enzyme that can turn coal into methane. This could mean the end of mountain removal mining. Instead, those microscopic bugs could be injected into the coal deposits, and the methane could be pumped out. Natural gas has a smaller carbon footprint than coal, and does not release the heavy metals, spread the radioactive dust, or pose the disposal problem of slag. This is not as carbon free an energy source like solar or wind, but it is greener than business as ususal.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6590538.ece

{Use link above to continue reading]

Wrap...

More on Vic Villalpando's new book: "The Illicit Americans"...

2009-06-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a follow up on Dr. Villalpando's book, "The Illicit American" via feedback from readers:

"Stunning and riviting. I couldn't put it down until I read the last page."---Gary Simpson, San Diego

"Dr Villalpando's writing style is dynamic and captivating, and I hope that Mr. Archuleta has him write the sequel if one is planned."---Dannez Hunter, Los Angeles

"Other than gasp from the shocking drama, I also laughed hysterically at the humorous repartee of the callous, but rather heroic and lovable smugglers."---Frank Huttlinger, Orange County

"Villalpando's writing talent made Archuleta's horrific epic into a compelling read that not only entertained me, it also stirred my conscience on current immigration issues."---Guadalupe Castanos, Yuma

"The Hispanic vernacular is right-on! It's the best I've read."---Al Velasco, San Diego

"Gripping...Panoramic...A tour de force." ---Janet Keller, La Mesa

*****************

No question about it...I have to have this book. And seems to me that since he's decided to deal with immigration before the end of this year, Obama needs to read it too.

Wrap...

This Week's Choices of Books Coming....

2009-06-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION...

DEBUT:

Alicia Bessette's ALL COME HOME, in which a young widow forms an
unlikely friendship with a 9-year-old biracial girl who lives next door,
and the two embark on winning a celebrity chef's first annual Desserts
that Warm the Soul baking contest, to Erika Imranyi at Dutton, in a
pre-empt, for publication in 2010, by Laney Katz Becker at Folio
Literary Management.

HORROR:

Alan Goldsher's PAUL IS UNDEAD: The British Zombie Invasion, the
humorous chronicle of the zombified Liverpudlians' rise to fame, to
Jaime Costas at Pocket, for publication in June 2010, by Jason Allen
Ashlock of Movable Type Literary Group (world).

GENERAL/OTHER:

Robert Newcomb writing as Robert J Barclay's IF WISHES WERE HORSES, in
which a grieving Florida horse rancher decides to reinstate his late
wife's equine therapy program for troubled teens but when the widow of
the drunk driver who killed his family unexpectedly begs him to admit
her young son to the program, he is forced to examine the true natures
of love and forgiveness in ways he could have never imagined, to Lucia
Macro at William Morrow, in a pre-empt, by Marly Rusoff
of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).

CANADA:

Paula McLain's THE GREAT GOOD PLACE, written from the perspective of
Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson, set during the five
years they lived in Paris as part of the Lost Generation along with Ezra
Pound, Gertrude Stein and the Fitzgeralds, as well as their time spent
in Toronto where their son was born, to Kristin Cochrane at Doubleday
Canada, in a pre-empt, by Julie Barer at Barer Literary.

Screenwriter, director and actor of PBS's The Newsroom Ken Finkleman's
first novel NOAH'S CRIME, about the murder of a literary rival by an
unemployed TV writer, pitched as a darkly comic cross between Martin
Amis' THE INFORMATION and Dostoyevsky's CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, to
Jennifer Lambert at Harper Canada, in a nice deal, by Chris Bucci at
Anne McDermid Associates.

NON-FICTION:

Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt's THE DAY I SHOT CUPID, exploring the new
landscape of modern dating and offering a wide range of practical tips,
from text-flirting and IM-ing to what men and women really want, and how
to start over after a breakup, to Gretchen Young at Voice, with Sarah
Landis editing, by Kirby Kim at Endeavor (world).

BIOGRAPHY:

Conservative historian and author of RIGHT TIME, RIGHT PLACE Richard
Brookhiser's JAMES MADISON, a major new biography of the politician,
philosopher, and president who fought in the revolution, led the country
through the War of 1812, and lived long enough to fear the Civil War, to
Lara Heimert at Basic, by Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management (NA).

D.T. Max's biography of David Foster Wallace, about "why he matters and
what he tried to teach us," to Paul Slovak at Viking, at auction, by Elyse Cheney at
Elyse Cheney Agency.

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

MIT economist Simon Johnson and his Baseline Scenario co-founder James
Kwak's THE COUP, expanding on their Atlantic magazine story, which draws
the parallel between the emerging market crises of the 1990s (when
Johnson was the chief economist at the IMF) and the meltdown of the last
year, arguing that the crisis is one of politics as much as economics
and meanwhile the "oligarchs" of Wall Street continue to pull the
strings, to Erroll McDonald at Pantheon, at auction, by Rafe Sagalyn of
The Sagalyn Agency (NA).

MEMOIR:

Dick Van Dyke's memoir, spanning his entire career in show business, to
John Glusman at Harmony, for publication in fall 2010, by Dan Strone at
Trident Media Group and manager Jeff Kolodny at Luber/Roklin
Entertainment.

POP CULTURE:

Emmett Rensin and Alex Aciman's TWITTERATURE: The World's Greatest
Books, Now Presented in Twenty Tweets or Less, a humorous retelling of
works of great literature in Twitter format -- written by two 19-year
old University of Chicago freshmen, to John Siciliano at Penguin, by
Brian DeFiore at DeFiore and Company (NA).

Jennifer "Kasey Bomber" Barbee and NPR host Alex "Axles of Evil" Cohen's
DOWN & DERBY: THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO ROLLER DERBY, an illustrated
celebration of the explosive sport, to Denise Oswald (aka "Princess
Die") in her first acquisition at Soft Skull, by Ted Weinstein at Ted
Weinstein Literary Management (World).

SCIENCE:

Author of NYT Bestseller How We Decide and Proust Was a Neuroscientist
Jonah Lehrer's IMAGINE: The Science of Creativity, in which he
introduces us to jazz musicians, furniture designers, and avant-garde
chefs to show how we can use the latest neuroscience to be more
imaginative and design our everyday lives, our cities, our companies,
and our culture to be more conducive to creativity, to Amanda Cook at
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Spring
2012, by Sarah Chalfant at The Wylie Agency (US).

SPORTS:

Former WWE superstar Mick Foley's COUNTDOWN TO LOCKDOWN, centering
around the author's arrival to TNA and his premiere fight with one of
his greatest rivals -- Sting -- as well as covering other issues such as
leaving the WWE, steroids, and as always, Tori Amos, to Ben Greenberg at
Grand Central, by Matt Bialer at Sanford J. Greenburger
Associates (World English).

Wrap....

Aggravated is an understatement....

2009-06-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Just amazing how much paper stuff has accumulated in my office!

Been going thru stacks and stacks of paper and throwing most of it in the recycling bin. And seeing dust in every crack and crevice.

That's a major problem in a home office unless one develops a system of sorting from the word go. One doesn't and one gets piles of paper that can set there for a year or more.

Had to laugh at a Navy SEAL I know, who has the habit of making little stacks of paperwork around the house. His wife has threatened him with everything but a decent death if he doesn't get rid of them. This he doesn't understand. "But they're very neat!" he says. Which means, of course, that all edges are straight and precise. SEALs are very neat and precise, but in this case, that is not gonna help him one little bit.

I have two desks in here. The one I'm sitting facing now is a real desk and the computer owns it. Then there's a table of the same size behind me that functions as the phone desk. Would that there would be only the phone on it...but no. The phone doesn't take up much space at all, thus other good and useful things have accumulated.

Like a row of books along the back of it, which is up against the bookshelf wall. The shelves go to the ceiling and have been mounted on the wall. More, I don't believe I can fit another book on any of them. Talk about dust collectors! Ah me.

Even worse, there's a shag rug wall to wall on the floor. Sort of a golden color. No vacuum we own can really clean that thing. And it sheds and totally plugs the vacuum. This is not a happy situation.

Got a big club chair in here too. So big it takes two men to move it...and it doesn't go down the hallway until the legs have been removed.

There's a reason this blog's name is Aggravated.

Wrap...

Bloggers and Books...

2009-06-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday, early evening now. I've just finished reading the latest posts on my favorite site...The Indy Weblogs. Find them at:

http://www.drlaniac.com/feeds/search.asp?mode=recent

They're one hellava good group of very knowledgeable people, with a few exceptions. Very few, actually. "drlaniac" is actually a guy named Lane, who lives in northern California, and he runs all the tech stuff. Founder is another guy named Ralph, who lives in New Jersey. I'm amazed at the day jobs of some of the Indys. They're everywhere, doing everything...scientists, journalists, doctors, lawyers, teachers, gay and straight, male and female, people in DC and all parts of the nation, actually. And they know what they're talking about.

For instance: Firedoglake. Remember the Scooter Libby trial? Well, Marcy of Firedoglake blogged it, was interviewed on TV, etc. They're part of the Indy Weblogs. As is DDay and Calitics...and so many more really top bloggers.

It's a pleasure to read them. Any time I want to know what's going on in the world, I can cruise thru the Indys and sure as hell, someone will have posted on it. You want to know about what's happening in Iran after these probably fraudulent elections? Brian Ulrich knows all about the mideast. At least half a dozen Indys will have posts and many have videos.

Anything happening in Minnesota re. the Franken-Coleman battle over who won the election for Senator several months ago? Well, both claim they won, went to court, and they're still in court. It's been a battle royal. Since this latest court won't be coming to a decision any time soon, it will probably be at least a couple of weeks more before they make their decision known. At the moment, things don't look good for Repub Coleman. And of course the GOP is backing him with cash. Court has decided that Coleman also has to cover Franken's court costs. Now that pleases me mightily.

In any case, I read the Indys regularly. They're a Dem group, almost all political. Really diverse.

Other than the Indys, I'm reading Ken Follet's huge novel, "World Without End". Over a thousand pages. Set in medieval times...and let me tell you, bad as times are now, you wouldn't want to have lived then, though I have ancestors that were very much a part of that world. Glad some of them reached the USA in 1630, for sure, and helped found Boston.

Follet wrote an earlier book set about 200 years before this one and as lengthy: "The Pillars of the Earth". Pillars told the story of the construction of one of the great cathedrals in England. In detail. World is set in the same town and revolves around the same cathedral. And again...200 years later, the cathedral needs some repairs. Enter the architects and builders, the monks, priests, knights, Lords and Ladies, criminals...all the characters and then some of that long ago world.

Those books cause me to have nightmares, but they're both absolutely and totally fascinating. Nothing glamorous about being a Knight, though they did have status. And the Catholic Church is a monster, infected with greed and power. Nothing much has changed there, even now.

Both books are an education in themselves of historical times and peoples, the research impeccable. I absolutely recommend them.

Also, just received an announcement in the mail from one Victor Villapando, who has a second book just published: "The Illicit American". This one deals with the true story of human smuggling in San Diego. There's no way in hell that I'm not gonna read his new book since San Diego is my home town.

Vic, like Follet, knows the territory and is a fine writer and researcher. I can hardly wait to get my hands on it. Will probably order thru Amazon.

And, if you have interest in the Green Berets, Edward Fitzgerald wrote "Bank's Bandits", the true story of the guys who were the original Green Berets. I mesn, the very first ones. So picture this: here they are, training out in the mountains in, I think, North Carolina, and the 32nd Airborne is sweeping those mountains, trying to capture them. They have to make their way to various points just to pick up the air drops of food or they go hungry. And then they discover that every Sunday, the 82nd gets a truck load of live chickens for their Sunday dinner...and these chickens arrive in a truck.

And the truck stops just short of the river crossing so the drivers can park and take a quick swim and cool off in the summer heat. The Green Berets sneak down there and grab a couple cages of chickens and turn the rest loose. I swear, those three chicken chapters are the most hilarious chapters I've ever read in my life. There the guys are, running down the hill with the two cages to cross the stream and run uphill to their camp. But chicken FLOCK and the ones they turned loose are squawking and flapping thru the bushes and staying right with them.... And yes, Bank's Bandits is also available at Amazon.

Enjoy!

Wrap...

New History of the NSA coming soon....

2009-06-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

A NEW HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY

"The Secret Sentry" by Matthew Aid is a comprehensive new history of the National Security Agency, from its origins in World War II through its Cold War successes, failures and scandals up until the present.

Aid, an independent historian who is also a visiting fellow at the National Security Archive, has synthesized a tremendous amount of research into a narrative that is highly readable and sometimes gripping. All of the familiar stops are there, including the Truman memo of 1952 that established the Agency, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, KAL 007, 9/11 and on to today.

But the book also includes quite a bit of unfamiliar historical material, and almost any reader is likely to discover something new and interesting. I learned, for example, that a few months after seizing the USS Pueblo in 1968, North Korea published a book in French containing the full text of many captured NSA documents, some of which, Mr. Aid says, are still considered to be classified today (p. 142).

What will make The Secret Sentry indispensable to researchers are its nearly one hundred pages of endnotes, which constitute a unique finding aid to the most current archival releases, internal agency histories, and other valuable records. Some of the documents gathered by Mr. Aid in the course of his decades of research later vanished from public stacks at the National Archives, prompting him to realize that some government agencies were silently -- and often improperly -- reclassifying declassified records. Portions of those now inaccessible records have been integrated into this new history.

Inevitably, the book contains some minor errors. Mr. Aid repeats an assertion by the 9/11 Commission that Osama bin Laden was alerted to NSA monitoring of his satellite phone as the result of a 1998 news story that appeared in the Washington Times (p. 383, note 69). But he neglects to note that this assertion has been effectively refuted. (See, e.g., "File the Bin Laden Phone Leak Under 'Urban Myths'" by Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, December 22, 2005.)

The author is generous in his citations to the leading authors in the intelligence field, from David Wise and David Kahn to Seymour Hersh and Jeffrey Richelson and other less celebrated writers -- with one strange and disconcerting exception. There is not a single reference in the entire book to James Bamford, whose 1983 book The Puzzle Palace, among others, blazed the trail that The Secret Sentry follows. Perhaps Mr. Aid felt it was necessary to ignore Mr. Bamford so as not to be constantly agreeing or disagreeing with him, and confirming or disputing his accounts. If that is the case, he ought to have said so.

The Secret Sentry is being published this week by Bloomsbury Press.

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

Wrap...

Reports From Intel Science Board...

2009-06-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

A FEW INTELLIGENCE SCIENCE BOARD REPORTS

There is "an astonishing number of groups and activities concurrently pursuing the subject" of information sharing, according to a newly disclosed 2004 report (pdf) of the Intelligence Science Board (ISB). But those activities are not well coordinated. "In effect, we aren't even sharing information about information sharing."

The ISB is a little-known advisory panel that addresses intelligence science and technology issues at the direction of the Director of National Intelligence. Almost all of its products are classified, but a few are not.

It's hard to say whether the ISB is influential. But it has performed important and interesting work, most notably on the science of interrogation. Its 2006 report on "Educing Information" (pdf), concluded that there was no scientific evidence to support a belief in the efficacy of coercive interrogation. ("Intelligence Science Board Views Interrogation," Secrecy News, January 15, 2007.)

Now the only other unclassified ISB reports have been released by ODNI under the Freedom of Information Act: "Concept Paper on Trusted Information Sharing" (November 2004) and "What Makes for a Great Analytic Team?: Individual versus Team Approaches to Intelligence Analysis" (February 2005). All of the unclassified ISB reports are available here:

http://www.fas.org:80/irp/dni/isb/index.html

Wrap...

A Selection of Books Coming....

2009-06-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION:

WOMEN'S/ROMANCE:

Julia London's THE SECRETS OF HADLEY GREEN, Desperate Housewives set in Regency England featuring love and scandal (and a mysterious narrator) in a small enclave south of London, to Maggie Crawford at Pocket, in a significant deal, in a four-book deal, for publication in fall 2010, fall 2011, by Jenny Bent at The Bent Agency (world).

GENERAL/OTHER:

Giorgio Vasta's TIME ON MY HANDS, about a group of terrorist boys in Italy in the late 70s, to Mitzi Angel at Faber, Lee Brackstone at Faber & Faber, Vincent Raynaud at Gallimard in France, Koen van Gulik at Wereldbiblioteek in the Netherlands, Monica Carmona at Mondadori in Spain, for publication in October 2008, by Lorenza Pieri at minimum fax.

CHILDREN'S/MIDDLE GRADE:

Sarah Prineas's THE CROW KING'S DAUGHTER, featuring faerie lore without the urban setting and without drugs, sex, and angst, to Toni Markiet at Harper Children's, in a three-book deal, by Caitlin Blasdell at Liza Dawson Associates (NA).

UK/FICTION:

Ben Kane's SOLDIER OF CARTHAGE, LEGIONARY, and THE FINAL BATTLE, featuring young Roman and Carthaginian protagonists and is set against the background of the fierce rivalry between the two civilizations, to Rosie de Courcy at Preface, by Charlie Viney at The Viney Agency (World).

NON-FICTION...
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

NPR Morning Edition workplace correspondent, executive coach and Psychology Today blogger Ben Dattner and Darren Dahl's untitled book on credit and blame at work, offering new insight and solutions to the most difficult manifestations of office politics, including historical and evolutionary explanations for why we are so bad at getting praise for the good things we do and avoiding blame for other peoples' mistakes, to Emily Loose at Free Press, by Esmond Harmsworth and Jennifer Gates at Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency (NA).

COOKING:

Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift's THE SPLENDID TABLE'S HOW TO EAT WEEKENDS, follow-up to THE SPLENDID TABLE'S HOW TO EAT SUPPER - personal favorites, iconic ethnic dishes, classic Americana, with history, stories, and tips for home cooks to slow down and enjoy the pure art of cooking, to Emily Takoudes at Clarkson Potter, for publication in Spring 2011, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management (World).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

University of North Carolina historian Kathleen Duval's INDEPENDENCE LOST, the story of the American Revolution from the perspective of the outsiders -- including slaves, Indians, women, the Spanish, Acadian immigrants, and Loyalists, to Jonathan Jao at Random House, at auction, by Jill Kneerim at Kneerim & Williams.
rgardner@randomhouse.com

Helen Rappaport's MEMORIAL - The Day Prince Albert Died, countdown of the final two weeks of Queen Victoria's beloved consort Prince Albert, and how his death set the tone for Victorian period by the author of the acclaimed The Last Days of the Romanovs, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, for publication in 2011, by Charlie Viney at The Viney Agency (NA).

Washington Post foreign correspondent Pamela Constable's sweeping account of modern Pakistan, analyzing the country's social alienation, economic inequality, entrenched corruption and religious strife, to Jonathan Jao at Random House, by Jane Dystel at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

LIFESTYLE:

Barbra Streisand's A PASSION FOR DESIGN, an illustrated book featuring up to 50,00 words of text and photos of her Malibu compound and other residences, called the culmination of a lifelong passion for American architecture and designto Clare Ferraro at Viking Penguin, for publication in fall 2010, by Robert Barnett at Williams & Connolly
MEMOIR:

Suraya Sadeed, with Damien Lewis's DROP BY DROP A RIVER IS FORMED, the true story of Afghan-American Suraya Sadeed, who, moved by the trauma of her husband's unexpected death, set out to rebuild her homeland from a war funded by her American tax dollars; chronicling Sadeed's heartbreaking, nail-biting, and -- at its core -- hopeful journey from Afghanistan to America and back again, to Voice, with Betsy Wilson editing, for publication in Winter 2011, by Jesseca Salky at Russell & Volkening.
UK rights to Little Brown UK, by Felicity Bryan.
Translation: Andrew Nurnberg Associates

TRUE CRIME:

International art dealer and BBC Antiques Road Show regular Philip Mould's SLEUTH: Adventures of an Art Detective, tales of forgery and discovery based on the author's own experiences focusing on six paintings, including a fake Norman Rockwell, a would-be Rembrandt and a Winslow Homer that miraculously surfaced on a trash heap in Ireland -- and the eccentric characters behind their dramatic histories -- to be published in conjunction with a multi-part prime time series of the same name, to Joy de Menil at Viking Penguin, in a very nice deal, at auction, by Elizabeth Sheinkman at Curtis Brown UK.
Translation: Betsy@Curtisbrown.co.uk

Wrap...

Madder than hell here...

2009-06-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know what's happening elsewhere, but here in San Diego, we're getting ripped off en masse at the grocery stores.

Hadn't gone in one lately, but when I entered Von's a couple of days ago, it took about 3 minutes to send me into a fit. Practically everything they have on their shelves has been minaturized. I mean, they're small. Tiny cans, tiny containers, little slices of cheese...you name it, it's shrunk something fierce but the prices stayed the same.

But hey...the prices didn't. I was in a state of shock when I walked out. So decided to check Keil's. Same thing!!! What the hell is this?

And gas up to $2.79 9/10's a gallon this morning.

Greed reigns, people.

So gonna now check out the farmer's markets. At least those people earn their money the hard way.

Wrap...

Republicans blocking Dawn Johnson for OLC...

2009-06-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

A PROFILE OF THE OFFICE OF LEGAL COUNSEL

The organization, role and operation of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which produces binding interpretations of the law for the executive branch, are usefully described in the Justice Department's FY 2010 budget request (pdf).

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/olc/fy10-olc.pdf

"OLC’s mission remains highly critical and urgent as the Department enters into a new era of responsibility confronting national security and intelligence challenges, reinvigorating federal civil rights enforcement, and advising the myriad of agencies involved in responding to the economic crisis," the budget request document states. "The Office is operating at a particularly challenging time, when a number of major legal positions of the United States government are under review or in the process of being changed."

Under the Bush Administration, the OLC notoriously issued numerous opinions -- many of which would later be withdrawn under criticism -- authorizing abusive interrogation, warrantless surveillance, and other departures from established legal norms. The President's distinguished nominee to head the Office, Prof. Dawn Johnsen, still awaits Senate confirmation and she reportedly faces opposition from some Senate Republicans.

Wrap...

Big Bunch of Coming Books...

2009-05-26T14:09:00.001-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Rhodes scholar Chaya Bhuvaneswar's JACKSON HEIGHTS, about two Indian-American girls' gritty coming of age journey one summer, as they discover the stark realities of sex trafficking from South Asia into New York's immigrant Indian community and investigate the mysterious death of a girl their age, to Cindy Spiegel at Spiegel & Grau, by Emma Sweeney at Emma Sweeney Agency (NA).

THRILLER:

Former FBI agent Noah Boyd's THE BRICKLAYER, featuring an ex-FBI agent who's brought back in by the Bureau to solve a brilliant and deadly extortion plot -- pitched as reminiscent of John Sandford's and Lee Child's bestsellers, to David Highfill at William Morrow, in a pre-empt, for publication in January 2010, by Esther Newberg at ICM (NA).

UK rights to Wayne Brookes at Harper UK, in a pre-empt, by Jonny Geller.

GENERAL/OTHER:

Jim Powell's THE BREAKING OF EGGS, the tale of a 60-something, left-leaning misanthrope who has made his living publishing a yearly tourist guide to Eastern Europe; after a rapacious American publishing conglomerate offers to buy out his travel guide, he journeys out into the world to discover that many of his conceptions about people and politics may be incorrect and that the story of his family may be very different from what he imagined to Arzu Tahsin at Weidenfeld & Nicolson (world), in a pre-empt, by Conville & Walsh, and to Stephen Morrison at Penguin, in a pre-empt (world).

Foreign rights to Einaudi in Italy and HR Ferdinand in Denmark, by Susan Howe at Orion.

NONFICTION...
HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Investigative journalist Misha Glenny's THE WORM, explore the new frontiers of crime and politics in an increasingly networked world, to Dan Frank at Pantheon, in a significant deal; to Will Sulkin at the Bodley Head (UK); and to Sarah Maclachlan at House of Anansi, in a very nice deal (Canada); by Clare Conville at Conville & Walsh.

Israeli rights to Ilai Melzer at Books in the Attic, Dutch rights to Haye Koningsfeld at Ambo Anthos, Brazilian rights to Luis Schwartz at Companhia das Letras, German rights to Julia Hoffman at DVA, and Spanish rights to Ramon Perello at Destino.

HUMOR:

Actor, producer, and standup comic Jay Mohr's humorous stories of modern fatherhood, including his adventures in test-tube baby conception, as waxes poetic about dirty diapers, spins theories on to spank or not to spank, and ponders questions like "why do kids all wake up so damn early? It's as if they are all preparing for life as longshoremen," to David Rosenthal and Kerri Kolen at Simon & Schusterr, for publication in 2010, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm.

LIFESTYLE:

Style writer and children's book author Lesley Blume's first adult book, based on her popular Huffington Post column Let's Bring Back..., offering an amusing and illuminating illustrated encyclopedia of objects, rituals, and ideas from the past that can (and should) be used to better modern life, from fainting couches and courting candles to powder puffs, limericks, and sealing wax, to Emily Haynes at Chronicle, in a very nice deal, for publication in Fall 2010, by Kate Lee at ICM (World English).

MEMOIR:

Barbara Sinatra's MY LIFE WITH FRANK, an honest but loving portrait of life with her late husband, Frank Sinatra, whom she was married to from 1976 until his death in 1998, co-written by Wendy Holden, to Shaye Areheart at Harmony, for publication in 2010, by Alan Nevins at Renaissance (world).

Real Simple marketing executive Sarah Ellis and guitarist for the rock band Antigone Rising Kristen Henderson's TIMES TWO, the sweet, humorous, inspiring story of two women in love who want to have a family together, try for years to get pregnant, and then finally do -- both of them, at the exact same time -- revealing the human side of the gay marriage controversy and the changing face of modern families, to Wylie O'Sullivan at Free Press, for publication in Spring 2011, by Larry Weissman of Larry Weissman Literary (NA).

NARRATIVE:

Andrew Blackwell's VISIT SUNNY CHERNOBYL (and Other Adventures in the World's Worst Environments), an adventurous, thought-provoking romp through the world's most polluted places; equal parts travelogue, expose, environmental meditation, and faux-guidebook, careening through a rogue's gallery of environmental disaster areas in search of the worst the world has to offer -- and our part in it, to Colin Dickerman at Rodale, at auction, by Michelle Tessler at Tessler Literary Agency (NA).

SPORTS:

NYT columnist Harvey Araton's WHEN THE GARDEN WAS PARADISE, a Boys of Summer-like account of the New York Knicks championship teams of the early 70's which featured Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere and Earl Monroe and how they presaged the future of the NBA, to David Hirshey at Harper, by Andrew Blauner of the Blauner Books Literary Agency.

Wrap...

And Now It's Memorial Day 2009....

2009-05-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

From Phil N. Jurus:

MEMORIAL DAY 2007

“READY! AIM! FIRE!”

The crackle of rifles punctuated the air followed by the metallic sound of the weapons being unloaded and reloaded by the men in uniform.
“READY! AIM! FIRE!”

Again a unison volley as the triggers were pulled and the rifles discharged followed by the cartridges being ejected and the guns reloaded.
“READY! AIM! FIRE!”

Once more, there was the crack of gunfire and the click and swish of spent cartridges being dislodged from their chamber.
“ATTENNNN HUT!” was the next command.

There was a pause where the sound of muted sobs was all that could be heard. Then the painful sound of Taps being played by the bugler filled the air.

My friend and I, aged 6 or 7 at the time, were standing by the cemetery fence a couple hundred yards behind our homes. We watched until the hearse and all the cars filled with mourners drove away and the grave diggers filled the grave, took down the tent and laid the flowers on the fresh mound of dirt. Then we walked to the place where the small American flag had been planted in the earth.

We scoured the grass looking for the shiny brass shell casings, scooped them up and went back to one of our yards to play.

We didn’t understand much more than that a soldier who had gone to war and been killed was now buried in that place and we had some souvenirs of that event.
Soon there would be a star by the name of that person on the Honor Roll of those who served that had been erected in the front of our elementary school.

More than six decades later, men and women are fighting in a war in Iraq. More than Three Thousand Four Hundred have been killed and those graveside rituals are occurring somewhere almost every day.

My grade school playmate is dead. I no longer live near a cemetery. I no longer hear the sound of the rifle’s salute or the orders barked by the commanding officer, or the sound of taps, or the sobs of the mourners. I gather no spent shell casings from the graves. I see no Honor Roll in school yards that list the names of those who served and the names with stars beside them of those who died.

But I see their names, their ages, 19, 21, 26, 32, 39, 45, 53, and the thumbnail obituaries in the newspaper that tell how they died, the unit in which they served, and where they were based.

I see the photographs, “in silence and as they become available”, on the Evening News Hour on PBS. I see the faces, faces I never saw before and faces that no one will ever see again. In the pictures they are usually smiling. I am crying, inwardly and outwardly for the loss of all these lives.

I understand they died fighting in a war.
I don’t understand why they have had to die in “this” war.
I don’t understand why there is “this” war.
Its purpose is as empty as a shell casing.
The tears are my souvenirs.

Wrap...

Blogger interviews TwitterWit editor.....

2009-05-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

The Groucho Marx of Twitter
by
Simon Owens:
"I got a chance today to interview and profile the editor of the book, Nick Douglas, about the new literary genre that he sees bubbling up from Twitter and his attempts to capture it:"

If brevity is the soul of wit, then it isn’t inconceivable that a major book publisher would seek to package witticisms in 140-character morsels. Nick Douglas, a former Gawker writer, formulated the idea of collecting funny tweets back in 2007, when the micro-blogging service was a mere twinkle in the eyes of venture capitalists. As one of its early adopters, Douglas observed the rise of a new form of literary humor that relied on a turn of phrase, a twist delivered deftly at the tail end of a tiny sentence that in just a few words quickly built a mode of tension to be subsequently released with a simple syllable. Perhaps before he even realized that he one day wanted to collect these tweets into a book, he began favoriting them, creating his own tiny feed of one-liners and quotable quotes.
A year later he was approached by a literary agent who had read Douglas’ tweets and his writing elsewhere. The agent asked if the writer had any book ideas in mind, a question that eventually led to communication with an editor at HarperCollins. By early this year it had been announced that Douglas, who had been paid a reported five figures, would be editing a book for the publisher, titled Twitter Wit, due out this fall.

http://bloggasm.com/the-groucho-marx-of-twitter

[Use link above to continue reading]

Wrap...

More books on the way...

2009-05-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Mark Keating's THE PIRATE DEVLIN, a swashbuckling historical naval adventure set in the 18th century, to Les Pockell at Grand Central, by by Howard Morhaim at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency, on behalf of Jim Gill of United Agents (NA).

GENERAL/OTHER:

Author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid's PURELAND, set in Pakistan and the West, exploring the unmaking of identity - personal, national, sexual, spiritual - at a moment of global seismic shift, following Rebecca Saletan to Riverhead, by Jay Mandel at the William Morris Agency (NA).

LA Times reporter and author of SNITCH JACKET Chris Goffard's YOU WILL SEE FIRE, about an American priest in Kenya who takes on the country's brutal dictatorship as well as the Catholic church while fighting social injustice, only to die under mysterious circumstances, to Alane Mason at Norton, by Lydia Wills at Paradigm and Seth Jaret at Jaret Entertainment (NA).
UK/Translation: Philip Patterson at Marjacq Scripts

NONFICTION/BIOGRAPHY:

Former Guggenheim fellow and author of FATHER OF FRANKENSTEIN, Christopher Bram's EMINENT OUTLAWS, a group biography of the gay American writers who changed the culture, to Jonathan Karp at Twelve, by Edward Hibbert at Donadio & Olson (NA and translation).

Director of "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" Jeff Feuerzeig and journalist Paul Cullum's DEVIL TOWN, a biography of Daniel Johnston, the singer-songwriter and artist whose songs have inspired and been covered by several generations of indie-rock royalty and whose life - complete with running away to join the carnival, extraordinary art world accomplishment, and persistent and unshakeable madness - has the outsized elements of a fable, to David Patterson at Holt, in a pre-empt, by Nathaniel Jacks at Inkwell Management (NA).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Author and VF contributing editor William Prochnau and aviation journalist Laura Parker, working in collaboration with many of the passengers on USAir flight 1549, to tell MIRACLE ON THE HUDSON, a minute-by-minute in the survivors' own words of the flight that landed in the Hudson River, to Luke Dempsey at Ballantine, for publication on November 3, by Jennifer Joel at ICM (NA).

NYT bestselling author and Salon political commentator Glenn Greenwald's untitled book, about the death of the rule of law in America, and THE INVISIBLE SPECTRUM, which uses the career of Noam Chomsky to examine the relationship between our media and our political discourse, to Sara Bershtel of Metropolitan, by Dan Conaway of Writers House.

MEMOIR:

Star of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE Alison Arngrim's CONFESSIONS OF A PRAIRIE BITCH, a comic memoir of growing up as one of television's most memorable characters -- the devious Nellie Oleson -- with behind-the-scenes stories from the set, as well as tales from her bohemian upbringing in West Hollywood and her headline-making advocacy work on behalf of HIV awareness and abused children, to Kate Hamill at It Books, at auction, by Kent Wolf at Global Literary Management (NA).

NARRATIVE:

Horsemen of the Esophagus author Jason Fagone's THE DREAM SHOT, a narrative account of maverick scientist Stephen Hoffman's crusade to eradicate malaria, offering an intimate look at the grim effects of the disease, the process of scientific invention, the unseen rituals of billion-dollar philanthropy, and the David vs. Goliath battle between a small startup and Big Pharma to come up with a vaccine that will save a million lives each year, to Rachel Klayman at Crown, by Larry Weissman at Larry Weissman Literary (world).
Foreign: kschulze@randomhouse.com

Wrap...

He's been waterboarded and he says....

2009-05-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

From Bill M.:

There's an excellent compilation on Wikipedia under "water-boarding." Don't see that I could add much to the topic except to add that the S.E.R.E. program training used to be taught to us to show us that ALL are breakable. The trick is to know that and be fortified on how to handle the pieces). Somehow the Bush administration twisted that to mean that because some others outside the law might use these techniques it is okay for us to use them when it suits us. Flaying someone alive has been used for the same purpose. To Cheney, I suppose it's okay for us to do that too.

It's amazing how much rhetoric is stirred up regarding water-boarding, torture and whether the U. S. should condon the use of torture for interrogation. The bottom line is, while generations of people since before the crusades recognized water-boarding as torture and almost all countries have signed the Geneva Conventions (the U.S. not among them), that if the United States approves water-boarding's use even under any special circumstances it thereby acknowledges the right of any other country, organization or group to use water-boarding against any U.S. soldier or citizen that it considers, or has even been suspected of being, one who has broken their laws, in "legal" combat or otherwise. What we are saying is that there are no "Rules of War" and anything goes if one thinks it will work. The alternative to "Rules of War" is the loosening of "The Dogs of War". God help us all if that profound lack of distinction is considered permissible. Civilization regressed.

Wrap...

The Sitting Ducks for Getting Taxed....

2009-05-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Opinion
The tyranny of taxing 'sin'

Scrambling for revenue, politicians are pursuing higher taxes on junk food, alcohol, and tobacco – a clear threat to individual liberty.
By Patrick Fleenor
from the May 14, 2009 edition

Washington - Sin is big, at least in the minds of federal and state lawmakers. The US Senate is currently considering a soda tax to help pay for healthcare reform. In New York, Gov. David Paterson (D) wants a sin tax on non-diet sodas, and West Virginia Delegate Margaret Staggers (D) supports "a heckuva junk food tax." Nationwide, Democrats and Republicans have proposed higher taxes on alcohol and especially tobacco.

Such politicians are often called "nanny-staters" because they think the proper role of the state is to scold the people in the same way a nanny scolds children. Don't touch that chocolate!

But it's probably not politicians' love of scolding that keeps these tax hikes coming – it's their love of money. They want to spend more, and they'll take whoever's money is easiest to grab.

Sin taxes are easy to get enacted for several reasons, but the biggest is that each allegedly sinful product is consumed by a minority of the public. So it's the classic danger of democracy that Alexis de Tocqueville warned about two centuries ago: the tyranny of the majority.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0514/p09s02-coop.html

[Use link above to continue reading]

Wrap....

Keep That Water Flowing...

2009-05-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

From News 8 San Diego:

Last Hurdle For Largest Desalination Plant In West

San Diego's water board has given Poseidon Resources final approval to begin constructing the largest desalination plant in the Western hemisphere

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=10358348&Call=Email&Format=HTML

[Use link above to continue reading]

Wrap...

Some Most Unusual Books....

2009-05-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

New York Social Diary contributing editor, CEO of wealth management firm
Lebenthal & Company, and active figure on the NY social scene, Alexandra
Lebenthal's debut novel, telling the story of four Manhattan socialites
whose perfect Upper East Side lives get turned upside down when the
economic collapse wreaks havoc on their pampered existences, to Karen
Kosztolnyik at Grand Central, by Richard Curtis of Richard Curtis
Associates (World).

Sandi Tan's THE BLACK ISLE, a "ghost history" of Singapore, in which an
elederly psychic recounts her amazing role in the growth of the city
state from a backward island haunted by countless spirits to a sleek
center of world finance, to Mitch Hoffman at Grand Central, in a very
nice deal, by Barbara Braun at Barbara Braun Associates (world).

Poet Jillian Weise's THE COLONY, the story of a 25 year-old who starts
up a relationship with a swashbuckling, suicidal cowboy and develops a
friendship with Charles Darwin, all at the Cold Spring Harbor Colony,
where her missing leg will be re-grown, to Anne Horowitz at Soft Skull,
in a nice deal, by Julia Kenny at the Elaine Markson Agency (NA).

MYSTERY/CRIME:

Swedish crime writer (with over 3 million copies sold in Sweden, and
translated into 25 languages) Camilla Lackberg's debut THE ICE PRINCESS,
set in the coastal town of Fjallbacka, where a young writer tries to
solve the murder of her childhood friend, to Jessica Case at Pegasus, in
a two-book deal, on behalf of Tara Hiatt and Harper UK.

GENERAL/OTHER:

Thrity Umrigar's THE CLARIFYING PRINCIPLE, the story of four 50-year-old
Indian women and what happens when one of them, now married and living
in America, learns she is dying and comes to feel deeply how much she
missed by leaving behind her three best women friends from college, and
their decision to travel from India to be with her one last time, to
Claire Wachtel at Harper, by Marly Rusoff of Marly
Rusoff & Associates (world, excl. Germany).

Soldiers of Salamis author Javier Cercas's THE ANATOMY OF A MOMENT,
telling what lay behind the attempted coup in the Spanish Parliament on
23 February 1981 by exploring the moment when Lieutenant-Colonel Tejero
and the Guardia Civil burst into the Cortes and fired their weapons, and
were, unbeknownst to them, captured on tv cameras, to Bill Swainson at
Bloomsbury UK, with Anton Mueller, at Bloomsbury, by Gloria Masdeu at
the Carmen Balcells Agencia Literaria.

NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY:

Journalist and CEO Margaret Heffernan's WILLFUL BLINDNESS, exploring the
psychological, social and organizational mechanism whereby critical
faculties are impaired and disabled in individuals and groups, even
nations and societies; arguing that the tendency to deliberately blind
ourselves to the obvious, to refuse to face facts and look the other way
is at the root of human behavior; drawing on examples from business and
finance, science, psychology, sociology and history, to George Gibson at
Bloomsbury, at auction, by Joelle Delbourgo at Joelle Delbourgo
Associates.

Canadian rights to Kristin Cochrane at Doubleday Canada, in a pre-empt.
Foreign: Natasha Fairweather at AP Watt

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

HE NEW BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF FILM author David Thomson's LET THERE
BE LIGHT: FILMING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, the story of the past hundred
years through the movies and how motion pictures and their makers were
shaped by the era's cultural, political, and aesthetic movements, and
how movies both reflected and influenced the very century that saw the
birth of its defining -- and most popular -- art form, to Jonathan
Galassi of Farrar, Straus, by Steve Wasserman at Kneerim & Williams
(world English).

MEMOIR:

Actress Stefanie Powers's ONE FROM THE HART, with NYT bestselling author
Richard Buskin, covering the author's career that commenced during the
last days of the star-studded studio system; her extensive, ongoing
involvement with wildlife conservation; and her close relationship with
the talented but troubled Oscar-winning actor, William Holden, to
Mitchell Ivers at Pocket, by Frank Weimann at The Literary Group (world).

Musician John Forté's memoir about his life and career, including his
journey from Brownsville, Brooklyn to Phillips Exeter to The Fugees,
followed by over seven years in prison for drug trafficking before
having his sentence commuted by President Bush last November, to David
Rosenthal at Simon & Schuster, with Sarah Hochman editing, for
publication in spring 2010, by Ed Victor at Ed Victor Ltd. (world
English).

NARRATIVE:

Popular Science editor Seth Fletcher's BOTTLED LIGHTNING, a narrative
account of the advent of the lithium-ion battery and the technological
and cultural transformations it has enabled -- including the rapid
miniaturization of consumer electronics, culminating in the cellphone,
laptop and the iPhone; the resurrection of the electric car, starting
with GM's moon-shot, the Chevy Volt; and the impending clean-energy
revolution -- along with the resource struggles and geopolitical drama
that could accompany the rise of the lithium economy, to Joseph
Wisnovsky at Farrar, Straus, by Larry Weissman at Larry Weissman
Literary (world English).

National Outdoor Book Award winner Lou Ureneck's CABIN: Two Brothers, a
Dream and Five Acres in Maine, in which the author, through chronicling
the building of a small cabin in the Maine woods with his brother, tells
a deeper story about home, family, the knockdowns and disappointments
that middle age bring, and the healing power of nature, to Paul Slovak
at Viking Penguin, for publication in 2011, by Jill Kneerim at Kneerim &
Williams (world).

Wrap...

FBI Censors Book Manuscript....

2009-05-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

COURT REBUFFS FBI CENSORSHIP OF MANUSCRIPT

A federal court last week rejected most of the objections raised by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to publication of a 500-page manuscript critical of the FBI counterterrorism program that was written by retired FBI Special Agent Robert G. Wright. The manuscript had been submitted for pre-publication review in October 2001.

"This is a sad and discouraging tale," wrote Judge Gladys Kessler in a May 6 order (pdf), referring to the FBI's handling of the manuscript.

"In its efforts to suppress this information, the FBI repeatedly changed its position, presented formalistic objections to release of various portions of the documents in question, admitted finally that much of the material it sought to suppress was in fact in the public domain and had been all along, and now concedes that several of the reasons it originally offered for censorship no longer have any validity," Judge Kessler observed.

The 41-page, partially redacted court ruling reviewed the facts of the pre-publication review dispute as well as the legal standards for official censorship of such materials, and dismissed all but one government objection to the manuscript. The court also dismissed other government objections to release of written answers to interview questions submitted by then-New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

Wrap...

Some Fascinating Books On the Way....

2009-05-06T15:08:00.001-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

Neuropsychologist Kylie Ladd's AFTER THE FALL, which follows the origin and fallout of an unexpected affair as told through the eyes of two young, seemingly perfect married couples, to Jackie Montalvo at Doubleday, at auction, by Stephanie Abou at Foundry Literary + Media, on behalf of Curtis Brown Australia (NA).
Foreign: pippa@curtisbrown.com.au

Ernessa Carter's 32 CANDLES, a fairytale of how the town's ugly duckling escapes Mississippi, reinvents herself as a beautiful lounge singer in LA, where, several years later, she runs into her high school crush; unaware of her true identity, he finds himself as in love with her as she once was with him, to Dawn Davis at Harper, in a pre-empt, by Sarah Jane Freymann at the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency (World English).

THRILLER:

Authors of SHOOTER and KILL ZONE Jack Coughlin and Donald Davis's fourth book in the NYT bestselling Sniper novel series, in which hero Gunnery Sgt. Kyle Swanson is imprisoned and made to look like the perpetrator of a civilian massacre in Pakistan, and must escape, find the engineers of his capture, and recover his honor, to Charles Spicer at St. Martin's, for publication in 2011, by Jim Hornfischer at Hornfischer Literary Management (World).

GENERAL/OTHER:

Priya Parmar's debut THE ORANGE GIRL, with a unique take on the life of Eleanor Gwynn, and her relationship with King Charles II, to Danielle Friedman at Touchstone Fireside, by Tamar Ellman Rydzinski at Laura Dail Literary Agency (North America).

Author of the NYT bestseller OBEDIENCE Will Lavender's DOMINANCE, in which a renowned literature professor -- and convicted murderer -- teaches a controversial night class from his prison cell, and years later aids a former student in her desperate attempt to solve the next generation of murders as the students from the infamous night class are picked off one by one, to Sarah Knight at Shaye Areheart Books, by Laney Katz Becker of Folio Literary Management (World).

CHILDREN'S/PICTURE BOOK:

NYT bestseller and Newbery Medal winner for GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES!, Laura Amy Schlitz's PRINCESS CORA AND THE CROCODILE, the story of a mischievous princess whose pet crocodile, a gift from her fairy godmother, causes much havoc at the royal place, to Mary Lee Donovan at Candlewick, by Stephen Barbara at Foundry Literary + Media (world English).
Foreign: Stephanie Abou

UK:

Pseudonymous Swede Lars Kepler's crime novel THE HYPNOTIST, to Patrick Janson-Smith at Blue Door, at auction, for two books, for likely publication in 2010, by Susanne Widen at Bonnier.

Rights to Claudia Muller at Lubbe in Germany, for one book; to Marjolein Schurink at De Bezige Bij in Holland; to Johannes Riis at Gyldendal in Denmark, for two books; to Marianne Fugelsø Nilssen at Cappelen Damm in Norway, for two books; to Jorge Oakim at Intrinseca in Brazil, for two books; and to Forlagid in Iceland, for one book. Bonnier reports pending offers in eight more territories.

NON-FICTION/BIOGRAPHY:

Jeffrey Meyers's JOHN HUSTON, a biography of the acclaimed and charismatic director of "The Maltese Falcon," "The Treasure of Sierra Madre," and the "The Misfits" among others, detailing his colorful, Hemingway-esque life, to Charlie Conrad at Broadway, by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group.

COOKING:

Clara Cannucciari with Chris Cannucciari's CLARA'S KITCHEN: Wisdom, Memories and Recipes from the Great Depression, words of wisdom to buck up America's spirits and recipes to keep the wolf from the door by a 93-year-old great-grandmother who has become a YouTube sensation and swept national media with "Great Depression Cooking with Clara," a YouTube cooking show shot by her filmmaker grandson Chris, to Michael Flamini at St. Martin's, at auction, for publication in October 2009, by Sharon Bowers at The Miller Agency (World).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

NYT reporter and WP op-ed columnist E. J. Dionne, Jr.'s THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT, covering the entire span of American history, to Anton Mueller at Bloomsbury, by Gail Ross at Gail Ross Literary Agency.

MEMOIR:

Josh Sundquist's EVERY BIT OF GRACE, the story of how when he was 9 years old, Ewing's Sarcoma, a virulent strain of cancer, claimed his left leg; his amazing journey takes him from his religious up-bringing in a small Southern town, and culminates with him skiing in the Paralympics in Turin, to Josh Kendall at Viking Penguin, for publication in February 2010, by Paul Cirone at Friedrich Agency (NA).

NARRATIVE:

Former federal agent Robert Mazur's THE INFILTRATOR: My Secret Life Inside the Dirty Banks Behind Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel, a true story of global money laundering, an international drug empire, and justice served, to Junie Dahn at Little, Brown, by Robert Guinsler at Sterling Lord Literistic. Film rights optioned to 2929 Productions.

SCIENCE:

38-year-old biologist and "virus hunter," named to Popular Science's Brilliant 10 in 2005 and to Rolling Stone's Top 100 Agents of Change for 2009, Nathan Wolfe's THE VIRAL STORM, trying to "tie together some of the most important events in the history of our species," showing how viruses and humans have evolved side-by-side, but also how viruses have often had the upper hand, arguing that outbreaks like the current swine flu pandemic are due as much to humans invading the world of viruses as the inverse, and discussing how we can fight back, to Robin Dennis at Times Books, reportedly in a six-figure deal, for publication in early 2012, by Max Brockman at Brockman (NA).

Wrap....

On the matter of Intelligence....

2009-05-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

From Keith Taylor:

The Bush administration justified its invasion of a country which posed no threat to us because “everybody” believed the intelligence. Not everybody. Navy Times published this early in the current Gulf War. KRT

CRYSTAL BALLS AND VOODOO ESPIONAGE

by

Keith Taylor

I always figured that the most important part of intelligence would be intelligence. Now it shares top billing with loyalty. Both have been taken to new levels. Loyalty has been taken a level up, intelligence a level down.

I have a bit of an insight into this intelligence business because I was once a spy, sort of. The Navy designated me a cryptologist as a young lad of 18 and I worked in that field for 22 years, nine months and 11 days. Although it sounds impressive and I brag about it a bit, cryptologist is not much more than a highfalutin word. Mostly I was a specialist in radio things. We listened to radio signals not meant for us.

Other guys were supposed to figure out what those signals meant regardless of whether it was good news -- or, more importantly, unexpected news. Intelligence is often not conclusive. Folks have to infer things from bits and snips of data collected from here and there. Still the information should be based on what is most likely to be true.

But things don’t always work the way they’re supposed to work. One thing I learned was that no matter how important the job or how many brains it took to do it, the guys who crank out intelligence are humans just like us regular guys. Even people with high IQs share our very human trait of wanting recognition, even praise, for their work. Few things bring praise faster than telling the boss what he wants to hear. And it’s there for the taking. Like looking into a crystal ball, a zealous analyst can infer all sorts of things from nebulous information.

Is there any other way to receive lavish praise from a superior than to tell him what he wants to know? Better yet is there any way to be considered loyal. Our new CIA director, Porter Goss is the one who promoted loyalty to a new level. He is even said to have told the CIA to purge those considered disloyal in favor of those who support the Bush policy in a war – a war that’s gone awry because of poor intelligence by the way.

Looking at the changes being made in our top spy outfit I fear that poor intelligence will soon give way to no intelligence. Sure Goss claimed his spooks would be pure “We provide the intelligence as we see it, and let the facts alone speak to the policy maker.”

Sounds great but he also said “We do not identify with, support or champion opposition to the administration or its policies.”

What would a trained analyst would infer from that bit of information?

I was always told that the best immediate use of intelligence was to win battles. The Battle of Midway is often used as an example of the value of knowing what the enemy was going to do. Information gleaned from radio intercepts indicated Japan would attack Midway in early 1942.

Other information, much of it suggested by Japanese actions, indicated the attack would be on the Aleutians. Admiral Chester Nimitz had to make a choice. He couldn’t defend both because his fleet was decimated after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was under pressure from Washington to defend the Alaskan islands.

If he guessed wrong his career would be over. He made a choice based on the reliability and honesty of his top cryptologist, Commander Joseph Rochfort. Nimitz defended Midway and surprised the Japanese fleet which was trying to surprise us. We won the battle and probably shortened the war by a couple years.

What if he had felt his loyalty would have been to skew the intelligence to agree with his bosses?

I would offer some advice to those who crank out intelligence and those who provide guidance to them. It was the best I ever received. In 1947 an old boatswain’s mate, apparently cut from a different cloth than most nabobs, told me, “Let’s stop this damned beating around the bush and you tell me the *$%^(^$ truth! This is getting serious!”

So is this boats. I wonder there is anybody in the spooky world of espionage today like the old boatswain’s mate? My crystal ball is ominously murky on the subject.

*************************

//Keith Taylor is retired from the Navy after 23 years as an enlisted man and as an officer in the field of cryptology. He can be reached at krtaylorxyz@aol.com //

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US Troops doing the forbidden....

2009-05-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

From Al Jazeera:

US soldiers have been encouraged to spread the message of their Christian faith among Afghanistan's predominantly Muslim population, video footage obtained by Al Jazeera appears to show.

Military chaplains stationed in the US air base at Bagram were also filmed with bibles printed in the country's main Pashto and Dari languages.

In one recorded sermon, Lieutenant-Colonel Gary Hensley, the chief of the US military chaplains in Afghanistan, is seen telling soldiers that as followers of Jesus Christ, they all have a responsibility "to be witnesses for him".

[Use link below to continue reading]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/05/200953201315854832.html

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These Settlements Are Bad News...

2009-05-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

A "SECRET" DATABASE OF ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS

Last January 30, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz disclosed a secret Israeli government database on settlements in the occupied West Bank, and posted the Hebrew text (pdf) of the database on their website. Last month, the ODNI Open Source Center completed an English translation of the 200-page document. Secrecy News obtained a copy of the translation (pdf) which we are publishing today.

The database provides a concise description of each of the dozens of settlements, including their location, legal status, population, and even the origins of their names, which are often Biblically-inspired. Crucially, the database makes clear that unauthorized and illegal construction activity has taken place in most of the settlements.

"An analysis of the data reveals that, in the vast majority of the settlements - about 75 percent - construction, sometimes on a large scale, has been carried out without the appropriate permits or contrary to the permits that were issued," according to the Haaretz account. "The database also shows that, in more than 30 settlements, extensive construction of buildings and infrastructure (roads, schools, synagogues, yeshivas and even police stations) has been carried out on private lands belonging to Palestinian West Bank residents."

A copy of the database had been requested by Israeli citizens groups under that country's freedom of information law, but release was denied by the Defense Ministry. Haaretz obtained a copy independently and, notwithstanding Israel's military censorship apparatus, proceeded to publish it. See "Secret Israeli Database Reveals Full Extent of Illegal Settlement" by Uri Blau, Haaretz, February 1, 2009.

The English translation of the settlement database prepared by the ODNI Open Source Center is now available here. A copy of the Hebrew original is here.

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