Ignoring pleas of human rights activists, the U.N., and others, Thailand has begun the mass deportation of 4,000 ethnic Hmong back to communist Laos where they are likely to face persecution due their assistance to the U.S. during the CIA's war in Laos and the Vietnam war.

[T]he soldiers are unarmed although equipped with shields and batons. Col Thana said the Hmong were being taken to a nearby staging area where they would be put on buses which would take them to the Thai border town of Nong Khai and then across to Laos.

It is expected the Hmong will resist and violence will break out. The State Department has tried to intervene, to no avail. It sent "a senior official" to Bangkok last week, and 9 Senators wrote a letter.

Wrote a letter? That's it? The U.S., through the CIA, recruited and used the Hmong for more than a decade during their secret war in Laos and the Vietnam War. Some stats [More...]:

Kevin Drum, circa February 2008:

I still don't know whether Obama is likely to be the Democratic Ronald Reagan (my hope) or the next Democratic Jimmy Carter (my fear), but [. . .] I think he's more likely to be RR than JC. I guess I'm willing to roll the dice.

Drum on December 26, 2009:

[E]ven some very high-information voters seem to be disappointed [in Obama], and it's baffling. Obama's entire career has been one of low-key, pragmatic leadership. [. . .] This was all pretty obvious during the campaign [. . .]

Not so obvious in February 2008 I guess. To be fair, I thought it was obvious that this was Obama's inclination, but by September 2008, I thought events and crises would lead to a realization of a transformational Presidency. Instead, the Obama Presidency is run of the mill and mediocre. This is all pretty obvious now of course. Anyone surprised about it going forward has no excuse.

Speaking for me only

Akmal Shaikh, a Briton, is 54 and bi-polar. He was convicted of smuggling 4 kilos of heroin into China, for which China plans to execute him Tuesday morning. [10:30am on Tuesday morning, Urumqi time (2:30am GMT).]

Shaikh was arrested on arrival in Urumqi from Tajikistan. Campaigners say he was duped into carrying the drugs for a gang. Reprieve says that Shaikh was lured to China by two men who promised to help him to launch a career in pop music by recording a single that would prove a hit and usher in world peace.

His cousins are in China, trying to stop the execution. He will be the first European national executed in China in 50 years.

The authorities have given no indications that they would be ready to set aside the death penalty in the case. Several appeals from Gordon Brown to China’s leaders to exercise clemency have fallen on deaf ears.

Reprieve, an organization working to enforce prisoners' human rights, has also been trying to convince China to change the sentence. Because of the publicity the case has received, China is likely to use lethal injection rather than the firing squad to kill Shaikh.

Foreign policy expert Marc Lynch points out the Christmas Day bomb attempt by Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab is barely causing a stir in the Arab media.

Whether it's AQ or not, nobody in Arab media cares

I don't know what kind of contacts the failed airplane bomber did or didn't have with Al-Qaeda Central or Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and neither does anybody else who has commented since it happened. The extent of such contacts will be mildly interesting, but it surprises nobody working on CT issues that there are still people swimming in the AQ milieu who want to hit the United States, whether on their own or with support from some AQ affiliates. One of the real stories here, which has gone largely unremarked in the coverage I've seen, is that the Arab media generally couldn't care less.

[More...]

This NYTimes editorial is almost surreal. In almost every respect it finds the Senate bill wanting and prefers the House bill but we all know that the final bill, the bill Obama wants, is the Senate bill. So a read of the editorial is basically a litany of everything that is is wrong with the health bill:

One of the few good signs from the Obama Administration in the last year was the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel. Republicans, with the help of Obama's favorite Dems - Ben Nelson et al - blocked Johnsen's nomination. In order for Johnsen to become head of OLC, Obama will have to renominate her. bmaz does not believe he will:

The nomination of Dawn Johnsen to be the head of the Office of Legal Counsel at DOJ, a critical post, is now truly dead. If Ms. Johnsen is to serve, she will have to be renominated by Barack Obama and start over. She never got the up or down vote promised as soon as the Senate had done healthcare, she never got an ounce of support from the Administration that nominated her, and a year of her life was taken in what certainly appears to be a cowardly and demeaning political ploy.

If Obama wants to score some point with a disgruntled base, he may want to resubmit AND fight for Dawn Johnsen's nomination to head OLC.

Speaking for me only

Florida football coach Urban Meyer announced yesterday he was resigning due to health reasons. The shock in the Gator Nation is great.

The NFL is in action today. 3 wins yesterday got me back to .500 during the college bowl season.

As Jeralyn has documented, al Qaida related terrorism is back in the forefront of the news.

This is an Open Thread.

As predictable as the sun rising, the Chicago/Third Way/DLC type that support the Obama Third Way are laying blame for the coming Dem loss in 2010. As one would expect, Chiacgo pol and DLC stalwart William Daley blames the DFHs:

The announcement by Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith that he is switching to the Republican Party is just the latest warning sign that the Democratic Party -- my lifelong political home -- has a critical decision to make: Either we plot a more moderate, centrist course or risk electoral disaster not just in the upcoming midterms but in many elections to come.

The battle of the 2000s in the Democratic Party was between those seeking Fighting Dems and folks like Daley and Rahme Emanuel who were for accomodating conservatives and Republicans. Because George Bush was the worst President in history, the decision on that battle was inconclusive. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party was handed back without a fight to the DLC wing by the fantasy that Barack Obama was not a Third Way politician.

Perhaps the wake up call has arrived and progressives will realize that pols are not their best friends. They are pols, and they do what they do. Fight for the policy, not the pols. See also Cenk Ugyur.

Speaking for me only

Kevin Drum writes:

I think the thing that surprises me is that anyone ever thought [Obama would bring transformational change. . . .] His nickname was "No Drama Obama," and his temperament was plainly cautious, sober, and businesslike. This was all pretty obvious during the campaign [. . .] Personally, I wish Obama would articulate the liberal agenda more full-throatedly, and I wish he'd take a few more risks and push his own caucus a little harder. I've thought that ever since the 2008 campaign. But the fact that he hasn't hardly comes as a surprise. He's as liberal a president as we've had in 40 years, but he's no starry-eyed idealist. Why would anyone ever have thought differently?

The reason anyone would have thought so is by looking at history. Was FDR some "starry-eyed idealist?" Or did he see huge problems that required innovative and transformational change? When Obama entered office, the opportunity and the IMPERATIVE for big EFFECTIVE change was there. I thought him a better politician and statesman than he has turned out to be. He is run of the mill, a President who has taken the biggest Congressional majorities and electoral mandate in 40 years to do what a 43% President would be able to achieve. Is Obama a bad President? Of course not. But his Presidency so far has been a squandered opportunity. What is surprising is that any self professed progressive Democrat would not express disappointment about this missed historic opportunity.

Speaking for me only

The New York Times has a really lengthy article on terminal sedation and end of life decisions. If there's a better way, I haven't read about it. Seems like a no-brainer.

Another interesting article: The Bail Sitters, about the security guards hired to guard the rich on bail -- think Bernie Madoff and Cameron Douglas. It asks whether the guards would rat out their ward given that's who's paying them. In Cameron Douglas's case, the answer was yes. As to the fact that only the rich can afford them, is that a reason to deny bail to those who can? [More...]

As I wrote last night, the charges for which actor Charlie Sheen was arrested signal the use of a deadly weapon.

Now, ET says the Aspen Police Department spokeswoman has confirmed that some kind of weapon was allegedly involved. TMZ and OK report the same.

I'm calling first dibs. The question now: Was he trying to get the weapon away from her or was he threatening her with it? Given his lawyer's statement that he believes it will be shown that no criminality was involved, his wife's BAC being over the legal limit while his wasn't, and his wife's refusal to continue speaking with police, I won't be surprised if he's ultimately cleared. The Aspen District Attorney has not yet decided whether to file charges and has this to say:

“I am hearing the same rumors as you are hearing about Ms. Mueller being the aggressor, but I don’t have that evidence yet,” Mordkin speaks of Charlie’s wife to OK!, “I do know she is not speaking to the police for now. She may be compelled to cooperate.”

But, what if her testimony would incriminate her with respect to falsely reporting a crime? Surely, her lawyer would tell her to take the 5th at that point, unless she's granted immunity. If that happens, and it's still a big "if", her cooperation would help clear him.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23 year old Nigerian who was apprehended after a foiled attempt to allegedly detonate an explosive device on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, has been charged via complaint in the Eastern District of Michigan with willful attempt to destroy an aircraft and willfully placing and causing to be placed a destructive device on an aircraft. Both carry up to 20 years in prison. The DOJ manual explains the offenses here. The statute is here. Abdulmutallab is charged under sections (a)(1), (a)(2) and (a)(8).

[P]assengers told authorities that Abdulmutallab went into a bathroom on the plane for about 20 minutes. When he returned, he said he had a stomach ache and covered himself with a blanket. Moments later, passengers heard a pop, smelled smoke and the ensuing fire.

A preliminary FBI analysis found that the device contained the high explosive pentaerythritol, according to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint. The FBI also found what look like remnants of a syringe believed to have been part of the device.

The complaint is here (pdf.) The Government alleges that PETN is a destructive device under 18 USC 921 (a)(4). A passenger took a smoking syringe from Abdulmutallab, shook it to make it stop smoking and threw it on the floor of the aircraft. (Interesting that the passenger knew to do that. Sounds risky and dangerous to me.) [More...]