Some Gitmo Prisoners Don't Want to Go Home - "Fearing militants or even their own governments, some prisoners at Guantanamo Bay from China, Saudi Arabia and other nations do not want to go home, according to transcripts of hearings at the U.S. prison in Cuba. Uzbekistan, Yemen, Algeria and Syria are also among the countries to which detainees do not want to return. The inmates have told military tribunals that they or their families could be tortured or killed if they are sent back."
A US Gestapo? - "Congress is about to renew the USA PATRIOT Act. After the act was first passed in 2001, members of Congress excused away their votes by saying they didn't have time to study it and were still under the influence of 9/11 shock. By now, they have had ample time to study it, and even to examine "improvements" added to the bill, such as section 3056A. ... Then, when I was at my dizziest, I finally ran across a news item that read, "A new provision tucked into the Patriot Act bill now before Congress would allow authorities to haul demonstrators at any 'special event of national significance' away to jail on felony charges if they are caught breaching a security perimeter."(3) This item wasn't in any of the more liberal of our "liberal media." It was from Fox News, which helped convince me that, sad to say, this story is for real. And the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division (SSUD) may already be operational."
Impeaching George W. Bush - "In fact, the case for the impeachment of President Bush is arguably the strongest in American history. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) makes this amply clear in its recent book, a concise indictment of President Bush that lays out four clear legal arguments that point to impeachment as a necessary remedy for the gross violation of our Constitution. The Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush covers illegal wiretapping, torture, rendition, detention and the Iraq war. An appendix compares the impeachment proceedings of Andrew Johnson, Nixon and Clinton to the comparatively more powerful case against Bush."
Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau -- March 5, 2006
Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau -- February 26, 2006
Still evolving, human genes tell new story - "Researchers have detected some 700 regions of the human genome where genes appear to have been reshaped by natural selection, a principal force of evolution, within the last 5,000 to 15,000 years. The genes that show this evolutionary change include some responsible for the senses of taste and smell, digestion, bone structure, skin color and brain function."
South Dakota governor signs key anti-abortion law - "The governor of South Dakota on Monday signed into law severe restrictions on abortion, in a direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court's legalization of the practice 33 years ago."
Amendment would establish life at conception - "The designation would give any unborn child constitutional rights of due process and equal protection."
Democrat for Senate: Kill practicing 'gays' - "A Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Ohio wants to make homosexual behavior a capital crime punishable by the death penalty. ... "Just like we have laws against murder, we have laws against stealing, we have laws against taking drugs – we should have laws against immoral conduct," Keiser told WTOL-TV in Toledo. ... The trucker, who hails from Fremont, Ohio, says there needs to be more adherence to biblical values in government, business and education – something he claims DeWine is not promoting. ... Keiser told the Register the United States should make conversion to Christianity part of the war on terror to teach Muslims the error of their choice in religion. The candidate also decries evolution, saying it is contrary to the Declaration of Independence. ... "What if this hate-filled moron called for the execution of all blacks or all Jews?" she asked. "Would the public outcry be similarly subdued? Would the press still report it as a cute curiosity or merely an alternative viewpoint? Where is moral outrage in 2006?" White speculated Keiser was planted by the GOP. "He must be a Republican plant," she wrote. "Please ... someone tell me I'm correct.""
Dodge City showdown at funeral - "This is a painful drama playing out at dozens of military funerals across the country. The group is led by Fred Phelps.
He and his family have picketed and heckled military families at more than 100 funerals since June. They say the soldiers are fighting for an army that represents a country that accepts homosexuality." -- These people disgust me.
America the Pitiful - "Calling our form of government a democratic republic does not make it so. We are what we do. ... In this land of uncommon grace that is blessed with fabulous wealth, mantras are repeated over and over, without regard to validity, until they become ingrained in the public conscience and assume the authority of truth. They become our cultural paradigms, the bedrock of society, whose moral authority is rarely revisited. Centuries of self deception have led us unerringly to the present moment. Everything that contradicts our version of reality is expunged from the public record. Americans do not like to confront unpleasant realities. Let us not hear about the abuse of captives of war. Rather than take action to correct the gross injustices we routinely heap upon the world, as demanded by conscience, we simply deny their existence. We turn our backs on any reality that assaults our conscience and suppress the evidence. We go on as if there were no consequences. Cause and effect is not something we wish to ponder, so we sweep it under the carpet."
Amid AIPAC's Big Show, Straight Talk With a Noticeable Silence - "The undiplomatic diplomat went on to describe a war on radical Islam: "While it may be true -- and probably is -- that not all Muslims are terrorists, it also happens to be true that nearly all terrorists are Muslim.""
New Jersey Bill Prohibits Anonymous Posts on Public Forums - "Makes certain operators of interactive computer services and Internet service providers liable to persons injured by false or defamatory messages posted on public forum websites."
Reflections on Auschwitz and West German Justice - "My booklet, The Auschwitz Lie, has become an under-thecounter bestseller. It has appeared in French, Spanish, Dutch, Danish and even Hungarian, as well as in several Englishlanguage editions. Actually, there's nothing very remarkable about The Auschwitz Lie except that it was written by someone who was in Auschwitz and~who recorded his experiences and recollections. People generally prefer to read sensational reports, and my booklet is certainly not that."
Court says California oral sex law violates rights - "A 22-year-old Californian man who received oral sex from a sixteen-year-old girl should not be forced to register for life as a sex offender, the California Supreme Court ruled on Monday. The state's top court found that California denied Vincent Hofsheier equal protection under the law because those having intercourse in such circumstances would not be forced to register as lifetime sex offenders."
Many companies plan more outsourcing - "Eighty-nine percent of U.S., British and Asian corporate technology decision makers plan to increase their outsourcing budget over the next 12 months."
Anorexia largely determined by heredity - "An international study concludes that the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, a rare but dangerous mental condition, is primarily genetic in origin."
Schools Avoid Class Ranking, Vexing Colleges - "William M. Shain, dean of undergraduate admissions at Vanderbilt University, said, "There's a movement these days to not let anybody know that a kid has done better than other kids." Admissions directors say the strategy can backfire. When high schools do not provide enough general information to recreate the class rank calculation, many admissions directors say they have little choice but to do something virtually no one wants them to do: give more weight to scores on the SAT and other standardized exams."
Study Warns Cell Phones Could Cause Airliner Crash - " Lifting the current ban on use of cell phones aboard airliners could pose the risk of a major accident, according to a new engineering study."
Google lets slip talk of online storage - ""With infinite storage, we can house all user files, including emails, web history, pictures, bookmarks, etc and make it accessible from anywhere (any device, any platform, etc)," the notes in the original Google presentation state."
Sun's next 11-year cycle could be 50 pct stronger - "Sun-spawned cosmic storms that can play havoc with earthly power grids and orbiting satellites could be 50 percent stronger in the next 11-year solar cycle than in the last one, scientists said on Monday."
Quote of the Day
"In the long run, every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom."
~ Thomas Carlyle
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