Annual, ritual State of the Union speech will stitch together many applause lines, Afghan exit spin, few policy initiatives…..In his 5th SOTU, Obama is expected to announce that 34,000 troops will leave Afghanistan in next 12 months, facing no pressure to move faster
–Pakistan opens roads for our exit plan, first 50 containers are moved
–your humble host wrote a detailed report for Truthout about the devolution of progressive talk radio
–N. Korea conducts 3rd nuclear bomb test, Israel has not threatened to attack
–Senate Armed Services Committee approves Hagel’s nomination to Defense in party line vote 14-11
–Violence Against Women Act passes Senate, again, with 78 votes
–two top Italian spooks draw heavy prison terms for bungled US kidnap/rendition plot in Milan in 2003. The name of the book referenced is A Kidnapping in Milan: The CIA on Trial by Steve Hendricks, a freelance reporter–search on this site for podcast
–another Gitmo prosecutor who quit in disgust, profiled by Jess Bravin in The Atlantic
–strong critique of the tenure of Pope Benedict from Matthew Fox is here; The Pope Song, with over 100 f-bombs, is here
–California Highway Patrol encourages motorcycles to use “lane splitting”, PBC thinks it is crazy dangerous
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