T.R. the Rooster conducts The Chicken Choir — Baby Face, from episode 207 of The Muppet Show.

If Orwell hadn’t been writing so early in the age of television, he undoubtedly would have foreseen something like this. In the meantime, if Rupert Murdoch ever sets up a Fox children’s cartoon network (he hasn’t already, has he?), he’ll have some core programming ready to go.

It’s a remote control game of chicken and we’re tied in the seat.

Oh this is rich. After NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly got the residents and businesses surrounding the federal courthouse all ginned up with fear of holding the terrorism trial of Kalid Sheik Mohammed in NYC federal court, he has now brought a case to be tried in a NYS courthouse right next door.

Most of the leaking so far has fit under the Bob Woodward rule that says no secret is too sensitive if it makes the high level person who authorized the leak look good. Or if it makes the country’s nemesis look like a dirty old man (though doesn’t our country already know that religious conservatives tend to be dirty old men?)

The timing of this announcement, just as the President plans a major speech on the Arab world next week, and with Benjamin Netanyahu headed to the US for talks at the White House, is significant.

The National Consumer Law Center just released a report on something that’s been a pet peeve of mine for some years: states’ increasing reliance on pre-paid cards to distribute unemployment compensation, rather than checks. (h/t Susie) As the report explains, issuing funds via a card is much cheaper for the states. But what’s really happening is that unemployment recipients end up paying for the cards out of series of fees the banks issuing the cards charge (which violates the law that says administrative costs should not come out of benefits).

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, through an advisor, made a vow prior to planned protests on Friday; he would not order protesters to be shot dead in the streets. At least, not this time. Because he’s a humanitarian. Sure, the UN estimates that 850 Syrians have died from government suppression. But today, the people will speak in a bullet-free manner.

I don’t think the protest movement had any reason to believe that.

A leaked confidentiality agreement that those doing “business” with WikiLeaks are expected to sign was obtained and published by the New Statesman. The New Statesman and other news organizations believe they have uncovered another aspect of the WikiLeaks organization that indicates it is unfit to be trusted by whistleblowers. But, for anyone who understands confidentiality agreements there may be nothing extraordinary or even draconian about the agreement.

The trustees report for Social Security and Medicare shows that the slow recovery out of the Great Recession continues to damage the finances of the safety net programs.