Washington Babylon

Foreign Policy has launched its newly revamped website, which has lots of great features, including two of my favorite bloggers: Laura Rozen on national security and foreign policy, and Marc…

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Barack Obama still hasn’t gotten around to naming his CIA director, and there’s still talk that he might retain Michael Hayden. A former senior CIA official I spoke with thinks…

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It’s not pretty. From the Washington Post: A grand jury in Albuquerque is looking into whether CDR Financial Products received a contract with the New Mexico Finance Authority because of…

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From Augustus Richard Norton and Sara Roy: Hamas’ strategic miscalculation in rejecting an extension to a six-month truce with Israel was a gift on a “golden platter” to Israel, as…

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From the New York Times: Kept afloat by billions of dollars in American and other foreign aid, the government of Afghanistan is shot through with corruption and graft. From the…

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From Wired: Days after sending aircraft to strike Hamas militants in Gaza, the Israeli government is launching a campaign to dominate the blogosphere. Among other things, the Israeli military has…

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A few days ago, I noted a joint ProPublica/New York Times story about a massive international bribery scandal involving German engineering giant Siemens. The company reportedly had an “annual bribery…

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Andrew Sullivan writes: “Sarah Palin was more qualified to be vice-president than Caroline Kennedy is to be a Senator. Both are celebrities, but Palin made her own way herself, winning…

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From the Sunlight Foundation: After months of paging through invitations we had a pretty good idea where the hottest party spots were for members of Congress and lobbyist donors. But…

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From the Seattle Times: Scientists have discovered a lotion that can save the lives of U.S. soldiers exposed to chemical weapons — a product vastly superior to the standard-issue decontamination…

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I posted an item a few weeks ago about Obama’s top White House economics adviser, Lawrence Summers, and the Managed Funds Association (MFA), the leading lobbying organization for the hedge…

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From Politico: President-elect Obama has pledged to cut farm subsidies and embrace renewable fuels – two initiatives that hit close to the wallet of his newly unveiled pick for agriculture…

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From the Associated Press: Former President Bill Clinton’s foundation has raised at least $46 million from Saudi Arabia and other foreign governments that his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton may end…

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I don’t know a lot about Mary Schapiro, Obama’s pick to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, but her bio doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. Originally appointed to the…

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From the Project on Government Oversight’s letter to congressional oversight committees: As you know, the TARP was created for the express purpose of buttressing the financial system by assisting institutions…

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From the Washington Post: Famously private, [Caroline] Kennedy nonetheless emerged during the Obama campaign as a political force of her own. Along the way, friends and colleagues say, she discovered…

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From Politico: Time Managing Editor Richard Stengel, reacting on Monday to Jay Carney’s decision to leave the magazine for a job with the Obama administration, said that his outgoing Washington…

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Curly throws a pie at George Bush. Or was that a shoe?…

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Speaking of crime and violence in Mexico, consider this number: 6,836. That’s the number of people killed in drug-related violence since 2007, more than the number of American fatalities in…

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From the Washington Post: Time magazine’s Jay Carney, who said over the summer that Joseph R. Biden Jr. is “incredibly prone to say the wrong thing,” will soon be in…

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From the New York Times: An American security consultant who has helped negotiate the release of scores of kidnapping victims in Latin America was himself kidnapped last week in northern…

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So as I noted here earlier today, it turns out that Senator Norm Coleman’s home was renovated with the help of “Shari Wilsey, an interior designer. Wilsey, along with her…

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From Fox TV in St. Paul: The FBI is now reportedly investigating the allegations that Nasser Kazeminy tried to funnel $75,000 in campaign contributions through the Senator’s wife. By why…

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From Froma Harrop: Have New York Democrats lost all self-respect? Their excited talk of whether Caroline Kennedy is “interested” in Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat makes you wonder. The late John…

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From the Dallas Morning News: After losing a valuable piece of online real estate to enterprising cyber-squatters, the Bush presidential library has replanted its flag into that e-territory. But the…

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From Foreign Policy‘s list of the ten worst predictions for 2008: “If [Hillary Clinton] gets a race against John Edwards and Barack Obama, she’s going to be the nominee. Gore…

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One of the more amusing story lines coming out of the elections is that the Republican Party, which previously had been committed to core beliefs like small government and protecting…

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News stories yesterday identified Jesse Jackson Jr. as “Candidate 5” in the criminal complaint against Governor Rod Blagojevich. “Of the six candidates for the senate seat who are identified by…

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