Project Azorian

Awesome.

In 1974, far out in the Pacific, a U.S. ship pretending to be a deep-sea mining vessel fished a sunken Soviet nuclear-armed submarine out of the ocean depths, took what it could of the wreck and made off to Hawaii with its purloined prize.

Now, Washington is owning up to Project Azorian, a brazen mission from the days of high-stakes — and high-seas — Cold War rivalry.

After more than 30 years of refusing to confirm the barest facts of what the world already knew, the CIA has released an internal account of Project Azorian, though with juicy details taken out. The account surfaced Friday at the hands of private researchers from the National Security Archive who used the Freedom of Information Act to achieve the declassification.

[...]

Despite the declassified article, the greatest mysteries of Project Azorian remain buried three miles down and in CIA files: exactly what parts of the sub were retrieved, what intelligence was derived from them and whether the mission was a waste of time and money. Despite the veil over the project, its existence has been known for decades.

“It’s a pretty meaty description of the operation from inception to death,” said Matthew Aid, the researcher who had been seeking the article since 2007, when he learned of its publication thanks to a footnote he spotted in other documents. “But what’s missing in the end is, what did we get for it? The answer is, we still don’t know.”

Twenty-One Hour Workweek?

Works for me!

The working week should be cut to 21 hours to help boost the economy and improve quality of life, a left-wing think tank has said.

The New Economics Foundation claimed in a report the reduction in hours would help to ease unemployment and overwork.

The think tank said people were working longer hours now than 30 years ago even though unemployment was at 2.5 million.

The foundation admitted people would earn less, but said they would have more time to carry out worthy tasks.

They would have better scope to look after children or other dependents, there would be more opportunity for civic duties, and older people could even delay retirement, it said.

Carping on Sunday Insight

I’ll be on Sunday Insight with Charlie Sykes tomorrow morning.  Mikel Holt again predicts that the Asian Carp will emerge from Lake Michigan and devour the citizens of Milwaukee like some campy monster flick.

Global Warming Scientist Admits Poor Work

Sloppy or corrupt? 

Phil Jones, the professor behind the “Climategate” affair, has admitted some of his decades-old weather data was not well enough organised.

He said this contributed to his refusal to share raw data with critics - a decision he says he regretted.

But Professor Jones said he had not cheated over the data, or unfairly influenced the scientific process.

He said he stood by the view that recent climate warming was most likely predominantly man-made.

But he agreed that two periods in recent times had experienced similar warming. And he agreed that the debate had not been settled over whether the Medieval Warm Period was warmer than the current period.

Operation Moshtarak

Pray for our Marines and the soldiers of our allies. 

Nato-led forces say they are making good progress hours after launching the biggest offensive in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.

There were clashes as more than 15,000 US, UK and Afghan troops swept into the Helmand districts of Marjah and Nad Ali in a bid to secure government control.

The Afghan regional commander said 20 militants had been killed. Two Nato soldiers are confirmed to have died.

A Taliban commander reportedly said his men were retreating to spare civilians.

Operation Moshtarak - which means “together” in the local Dari language - is being led by 4,000 US Marines, supported by 4,000 British troops, with Canadians, Danes and Estonians.

Sheridan’s Long Distance Dating

Heh.

Sheridan - under fire for dating a payday loan lobbyist and switching his position on how to regulate that industry - updated a campaign finance report Friday that provides more details about his travel last year, as required by law.

That travel included $756 for luggage fees and airfare to a posh Georgia resort in October for a conference that was also attended by Shanna Wycoff, the payday loan lobbyist Sheridan has dated. Other expenses for Sheridan were covered by the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, which received sponsorships for its conference from payday lenders, including Axcess Financial, Wycoff’s employer.

The updated report also shows Sheridan used his campaign to travel to a Council of State Governments conference in California in November and a Democratic fund-raiser in Washington, D.C., in December - events also attended by Wycoff. Sheridan, a former United Auto Workers local president, also tapped his campaign to pay for a trip to Chicago, where he took Wycoff on a date to a UAW Christmas party.

The $756 spent for the trip to Georgia - $616 for airfare and $140 for luggage fees - covered one ticket, Sheridan aide Rebekah Sweeney said.