Monthly Archives: October 2011

According to a UPI special report the French have shelled and conducted covert strikes inside Somalia. This is not really surprising but if added to the constant stream of updates flying out of Africa it helps paint a picture of the intensity of the semi-covert aspects of the conflict there. Given the rise in intensity it seems that any pretense of secrecy will likely fall away as the offensive against al-Shabaab heats up. This shadow war is coming out of the shadows.

This story is still developing. Most casualty reports are ranging from 1-2 killed and 8-12 injured. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but all eyes are on al-Shabaab. They’re obviously not happy with the Kenyan offensive which could be why these resent attacks are focused on the locals rather than congregations of expats or foreigners. As said in an earlier update, Africa is heating up.

Reports of an attack at or near the OTC bus station in Nairobi are streaming in via Twitter. Several injuries reported. This is a developing story. Updates will follow as details emerge.

The Department of Justice has proposed significant Freedom of Information Act rule revisions that have transparency advocates up in arms:

When a component applies an exclusion to exclude records from
the requirements of the FOIA pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(c), the component
utilizing the exclusion will respond to the request as if the excluded
records did not exist. This response should not differ in wording from
any other response given by the component.

So rather than vague denials, which can be issued today, the government will now be able to completely deny the existence of requested records. It’s worth noting that the proposed changes have not been enacted. With this on the radar of the open government and transparency advocates some sort of compromise is still possible.