Saturday Miscellany

CENTCOM=concern trolls?

Georgia10 at DailyKos tells us that the military has a "blog team" with one mission: Checking blogs and contacting bloggers to correct "misinformation". From the Defense Dept's website:

McNorton said the team contacts bloggers to inform the writers about any given topic that may have been posted on their site. This outreach effort enables the team to offer complete information to bloggers by inviting them to visit CENTCOM's Web site for news releases, data or imagery.

The team engages bloggers who are posting inaccurate or untrue information, as well as bloggers who are posting incomplete information. They extend a friendly invitation to all bloggers to visit the command's Web site.

(...)

Flowers is one of three people who read blogs and try to drive Internet readers to the CENTCOM Web site, where readers can learn more about operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

"We needed to do something to make people aware of the fact that we had this clearinghouse of photos and information," Flowers said. "We can get the whole story out there. We let them know we have a Web site."

Detainees' Names Released

Speaking of the US Military, the names of the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay were released after a federal judge ordered the Pentagon to release the information. From the Associated Press report:

After four years of secrecy, the Pentagon handed over documents Friday that contain the names of detainees held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

The Bush administration had hidden the identities, home countries and other information about the men, who were accused of having links to the Taliban or al-Qaida. But a federal judge rejected administration arguments that releasing the identities would violate the detainees' privacy and could endanger them and their families.

(...)

In another document, a detainee identified as Abdul Hakim Bukhary denies he is a member of al-Qaida but acknowledges he traveled from his native Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan to fight U.S. forces, and says he met Osama bin Laden about 15 years ago while fighting in Russia. He praises his captors for running a good prison.

"Prisoners here are in paradise," he says. "American people are very good. Really. They give us three meals. Fruit juice and everything!" Still, he says, he wants to return to his family.

Duke Cunningham goes to prison.

Can DeLay, Frist, and the multitude of scandal-ridden Republicans be far behind? From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a decorated fighter pilot in Vietnam who admitted taking $2.4 million in bribes from two defense contractors, was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in federal prison.

Asked to put the dimensions of Cunningham's corruption in perspective, Thomas Mann, an expert on Congress at the Brookings Institution, said "we haven't seen anything like" the magnitude and duration of Cunningham's crimes since the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920s. (emphasis mine)

U.S. District Judge Larry Burns imposed the sentence after prosecutors argued for the maximum 10 years and defense attorneys suggested six years because Cunningham, 64, is suffering from various physical ailments, as well as depression. The San Diego County Republican resigned from Congress after pleading guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy to commit bribery in November.

(...)

The judge recommended the prison term be served in a federal facility near Bakersfield. Burns also ordered that Cunningham pay $1.8 million in back taxes and penalties, plus $1.85 million in restitution based on the bribes he received.

The San Diego Union Tribune tells us some Cunningham's stuff will be auctioned on March 23rd. The proceeds will be used to reimburse the agencies that investigated Cunningham. Some of the items up for bid:

MINT WATER, C/O UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, APPROX 6,000 BTLS TOTAL, 2 BTL SAMPLE @ EG&G LOS ANGELES, CANNOT BE EXPORTED TO CANADA, MEXICO OR IRAN, CANNOT BE SENT TO FOREIGN TRADE ZONES (EXPORT ONLY), 500 CTNS
BALLPOINT PENS, HOME DEPOT CENTER, APPROX 2,500 PCS TOTAL, SAMPLE ON DISPLAY, 7 CTNS
BRACELET, 14KY, BLOCK LINK, 6 5/8" LONG X 9.2MM WIDE, W/TWO ROWS OF BLOCK LINKS ON THE OUTSIDE, CENTERED BY ROUND DIAMONDS, ALTERNATING BETWEEN 2.2MM ROUND BRILLIANTS PRONG SET & 1.2MM ROUND SINGLE CUT ILLUSION SET DIAMONDS, 30 BRILLIANTS & 29 SINGLE CUT DIAMONDS, ATW 1.45CT, K-L/I1, 18.6 DWT, 1 EA
SCOTCH, GLENFIDDICH & BALVENIE, APPROX 156 BTLS TOTAL (EXPORT ONLY), 14 CTNS
2000 FERRARI 360 MODENA, MANUAL, CHARCOAL GREY, 8 CYL, ODOMETER READS 8,427, VIN:: ZFFYU51A6Y0119986 - JUST ADDED!

You can learn more about the items up for bid here, the Treasury Department's website.

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