My mom used to tell me when I was a kid that "as long as you don’t talk, no one will know what you are thinking".

Now, this saying always had its’ two edges: it could be a good thing or a bad thing for people to know something about you, or not know about you.

Well, everyone can now quit wondering and speculating about Spike Lee’s thoughts on Condolezza Rice:

Says Lee: "I dislike Condoleezza Rice more than [President] Bush. The thing about it is that she’s gotten a free ride from black people."

Oh no, he didn’t.

"People say, ‘She’s so successful’ and ‘Look at her position as a black woman.’ She is a black woman who grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and said that she never experienced a day of racism in her life," Lee tells the April issue of Stuff magazine.

"Condi, stop smoking that crack!"

"I know you love your Ferragamo shoes, but come on. While people were drowning in New Orleans, she was going up and down Madison Ave. buying Ferragamo shoes. Then she went to see ‘Spamalot.’"

So now we know a few things about Spike Lee:

• He does hate at least ONE other person more than President Bush;
• He has, as Russell on Fat Albert would say,
              "NC….. No Class"!!

If he would have been quiet, we never would have know any of this.

The Guantanamo interrogation logs frequently refer to a particular "theme" or "approach" that the interrogator is taking. (These approaches are detailed in the Army’s field manual FM 34-52, Intelligence Interrogation.) In particular, the log notes:

The approaches employed were Pride and Ego down, Fear Up Harsh, and Invasion of Space by a Female.

That last one sounds pretty fun. "Pride and Ego Down" is used frequently on this guy. As you might expect, it consists of efforts to embarrass the detainee and make him feel worthless, with the aim of softening up his little terrorist brain. Fear Up Harsh is kind of like the old Good Cop/Bad Cop trick, only without the Good Cop. But my personal favorite approach is what I like to call “Let’s Screw With This Guy’s Head”: Read more

I’m not one to count my chickens before they hatch, but things are not looking good for the Democrats in the Texas Redistricting Case. By the looks of what some of the justices said I am thinking their hints are a loud slap down of the hopes of the Democrats.

Justices Hint Texas Redistricting Will Stand

Politics is partisan, they note during oral arguments over Tom DeLay’s map, which benefited Republicans.

By David G. Savage, Times Staff Writer

Democrats and civil rights activists appealed to the high court to undo what they called the "partisan gerrymander," saying it was unfair and threatened to poison politics in other states.

But during oral arguments Wednesday, most justices said partisanship was a fact of life in drawing electoral districts. Moreover, several said, Texas’ congressional districts now are no more skewed toward Republicans than the 1990s map was toward Democrats.

(snip)

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, seen as a swing vote in the case, said he was not convinced the current plan was unfair. Had the Legislature not redrawn districts, it would "leave in place something that is slanted in favor of the Democrats," he said.

"It seems to be odd" to say it is unconstitutional for a majority party to "correct" election boundaries that favored the minority party, he said..

(snip)

Read more

Time has released an 84-page log detailing the interrogation of suspected terrorist Mohammad al-Qahtani at Guantanamo Bay. It’s not quite a transcript, but a log that notes everything this guy did for about a month of questioning.

I should note that I have serious reservations about Time publishing secret documents like this. After all, it’s practically a textbook on how to interrogate terror suspects. All the tricks are in there: when to offer and withhold creature comforts, the good cop/bad cop treatment, using female interrogators to mess with their heads, you name it.

But it’s like Valerie Plame’s identity. However it got out, it’s out now, and we ought to talk about it. If you’re a terrorist, and you’re reading this for tips, piss off.

It’s a very long document, so I’ll write a series of posts with my thoughts. Here goes: Read more

Well 2 more workdays till Monday.  It’s that "OBSCENE PROFITS" thing with me.  Crap the way I’m going I’ll never get out of this week.

Hope y’all have a good weekend just the same.