Lawless in Islamabad, 250 million for Cheney, Congress' sick values, BP in Azerbaijan, Rich invest outside U.S., Mich., canary in coal mine, tasteless T.V.

Identifying the lawless not an easy task
ISLAMABAD – The CIA yanked its top spy out of Pakistan after his cover was blown and his life threatened, and 54 suspected militants were killed in a U.S. drone missile attack Friday in stark new signs of the troubled relationship between mistrustful allies locked in a war on terror groups.
The CIA's decision to remove its Islamabad station chief comes at a pivotal moment. The Obama administration is pressing Pakistan to rid its lawless northwest frontier of militants, even as public outcry in the country has intensified against the U.S. spy agency's unacknowledged drone war.
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Power taking care of its own, price? chump change, $250,000,000
Bush Sr., James Baker Instrumental in Getting Nigeria to Drop Bribery Charges Against Cheney
Friday 17 December 2010
by: Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | Report
Dick Cheney recently faced bribery charges related to $180 million in bribes that executives working for Halliburton's former subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root paid to Nigerian government officials between 1994 and 2004. (Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Kristin Fitzsimmons / Wikimedia)
Last week, after the indictment was filed in Abuja, Nigeria's capitol, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "We do not believe that there will be a basis for further action (requiring Cheney to respond to the charges), but we will look into it."
Former President George H.W. Bush and ex-Secretary of State James Baker were part of a negotiating team that convinced Nigerian government officials to drop bribery charges against Dick Cheney and Halliburton, the oil services firm he led prior to becoming vice president.
Bush and Baker participated in conference call discussions with senior Nigerian government officials, including the country's attorney general, Mohammed Adoke, last weekend on behalf of Cheney in an attempt to work out a settlement, according to Nigerian news reports.
Representatives for Halliburton also participated in the talks.
On Friday, Femi Babafemi, a spokesman for Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the agency that filed the 16-count indictment last week, said the case against Cheney and Halliburton was "formally dropped."
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WHAT A JOKE

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A controversial measure providing a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children was dealt a death blow in the U.S. Senate on Saturday by Republicans who said it would reward illegal activity.

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Why WikiLeaks—where was the media
WikiLeaks Cables Reveal BP Narrowly Avoided Disaster in Azerbaijan
Mike Ludwig, Truthout: "Just 18 months before the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, British Petroleum (BP) evacuated 211 platform workers from a BP platform in the Caspian Sea after an undersea well blowout caused a potentially explosive gas leak, according to US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks. Wikileaks released cables detailing the 2008 BP platform blowout off the coast of Azerbaijan just hours after the US Department of Justice announced a civil lawsuit against BP for contaminating the Gulf of Mexico with millions of gallons of oil."
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Reagan continues to destroy the Middle Class to profit the rulers
Robert Reich | The New Tax Deal: Reaganomics Redux
Robert Reich, Truthout: "More than thirty years ago, Ronald Reagan came to Washington intent on reducing taxes on the wealthy and shrinking every aspect of government except defense. The new tax deal embodies the essence of Reaganomics. It will not stimulate the economy. A disproportionate share of the $858 billion deal will go to people in the top 1 percent who spend only a fraction of what they earn and save the rest. Their savings are sent around the world to wherever they will earn the highest return."
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Taking on Reality TV With Jennifer Pozner
Anne Elizabeth Moore, Truthout: "'Reality Bites Back,' a new book on the phenomenon of unscripted television programming from feminist media critic Jennifer Pozner, distills into 386 pages an entire decade full of the cheapest, sleaziest TV shows in history. It's also the most popular genre of media the information age has yet produced.
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Politicizing blind justice
Ruth Marcus | Of Politics and Judges
Ruth Marcus: "I'm hoping for the moment when a federal judge picked by a Democratic president strikes down the health care law. Or when a Republican-appointed judge upholds it. Either way. Because the current lineup of decisions, in which two Democratic-nominated judges have ruled in favor of the law, one Republican against, is not healthy for the judiciary or the democratic process."