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When science says that oil corps and other big "resource extractors" should't just get whatever they want, Palin's hates science.

Though if being mayor of the meth capital of Alaska counts as "chemistry policy", Palin is ahead of the curve.

Simply put, you make more and have better benefits in a union.

If your union only allows for promotion based on seniority and not based on skill, then -that- part of the union is broken. Fix that, instead of saying the whole system doesn't work. The propaganda that the entire system is broken was started by those that have to pay their workers a respectable wage. I've seen unions work greatly, and I've been in places where the workers were getting completely screwed and definitely needed to unionize.

Jobs are going overseas because the work is cheaper there. This isn't because they're un-unionized -- you can't compete with 50 cents an hour, union or not. Jobs have been allowed to go overseas because of our dropping of import taxes. While I think eventually lowering import taxes is a good thing on items, you need to do it to match the pace of the workforce acquiring new skills, to move on to more advanced jobs. You cant just drop import taxes, watch as all manufacturing work goes overseas, and tell people to now go to college and learn a new trade while they struggle to make their mortgage.

This doesn't apply to IT, though. Developers are somewhat screwed, and I don't have an answer to that question. But for all the people who work hands-on, who need to be on-site to do the job, unions would be fantastic. You can't outsource low-voltage wiring. You can't outsource an IT manager who needs to be available if a server goes down. And history has constantly shown that when these people come together to protect themselves, they make more, and they get better benefits.

It always astounds me that the people who are anti-union are usually the same who want completely free capitalism. Unions are a completely logical extension of capitalism -- workers banding together to maximize their "profit" from their jobs, so to speak. The main failures of unions are usually from corruption within the unions, and these problems should be fixed, instead of trying to tear down the whole system. A few business owners have been shown to be corrupt -- does this mean that ALL businesses are corrupt? Unions may sometimes fail, but their pros FAR outweigh their cons.

"It's simultaneously amusing and sad how Republicans have to reach back decades to find slurs for Democrats, while the current Republican Party presents such a target-rich environment for those Democrats with the guts to take advantage of it."

I can find plenty of deserving slurs for Democrats in the here and now, thanks. And your "target rich environment" the past few days seems to include starting rumors that Sarah Palin faked her pregnancy with Trig, that the baby actually belongs to her daughter, and that Hurricane Gustav killing people in the gulf is a good thing because it'll help Democrats. God, according to this ex-DNC chairman, is on your side. The hurricane is proof.

So, when hurricanes kill people, and Pat Robertson claims it's the wrath of God, that's just horrible. But if it gets votes for the Democratic Party, it's proof that God is on your side? No, no hypocrisy here.

Your "guts" prove nothing but that you can be just as scummy as anyone else in politics.

Except that Palin isn't on the top of the ticket.

So does this mean the GOP isn't going to attack Biden on anything because he's not at the top of the ticket? And let's get real here, a VP has only two jobs: break ties in the Senate, and be ready to become president if the President dies or otherwise leaves office. McCain is 72 and has four bouts with cancer.

Republicans are currently trying to bait this issue (judging from listening to a couple of their radio mouthpieces this morning) knowing that people care about the top of the ticket, not the VPs.

Good luck with that. The equivalent would be if Obama spent months trashing McCain's judgment on the Iraq war, only to pick Joe Lieberman to be his running mate, the biggest non-Republican neocon around.

if McCain dies she is just as qualified as Obama

No, she's not. Before taking national office, Obama served as a state senator for the 5th largest state in the country, from the 3rd largest city in the country. Compared to being a mayor of a town of 8,000 people.

And this is why the republicans are begging the dems to go after this point,

All the Dems have to do is cut a campaign commercial featuring Rove trashing potential Obama running mate Tim Kaine. Rove complained that Kaine, who had been governor 3 years to Palin's 2, was "only" the mayor of America's 105th largest city, while Palin was mayor for a town of 8,000. Whoopsie doopsie.

And yet, she specifically targeted the Bridge to Nowhere and had it killed.

Despite what people continue to say Palin didn't oppose the bridge to nowhere. There are more links on it.

Falcon

McCain is doomed. He just destroyed the "Obama doesn't have the experience to lead" meme.

I disagree. Obama, as the Presidential nominee, needs to be ready to lead immediately. There's no time for on-the-job training. In contrast, Vice President is a job that consists mostly of on-the-job training.

The social conservatives claim that women should be at home, not running for the Vice Presidency.

Actually, that would be DailyKos and John Roberts of CNN, not social conservatives.

That's not much compared to Bill Clinton:

You've got that backwards. Being a Yale graduate is not much compared to being the head of the Harvard Law Review.

What's Obama done in comparison to -that-? Nothing, really. I mean, he becomes a state legislature, and blah blah blah blah

How to Market Obama to Your Republican Friends. A Republican lays out reasons why Republicans should vote for Obama, and cites issues like Obama working to secure loose nukes in the former U.S.S.R., brought major transparency with The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, and more. Try reading it, but feel free to keep spouting your cute little theories. I enjoy playing Jerry to your George Castanza.

Obama has accomplished quite a lot constructively as senator, whether with Democrats, or despite Republican opposition, or even with Republican partnership. His campaign has featured many events in which he has explained lots of details of his presidential policies. He has a solid legislative history in the Senate and in the Illinois statehouse, even despite his fairly brief tenures there.

McCain also has a lot of Senate record. He has made pretty clear that he will continue Bush's policies, even though he will varnish that by saying he's "different" - McCain voted with Bush 95% of the time even in 2007, after Bush wasn't even popular anymore. Because McCain is just as much a spokesmodel as Bush for the same Republican lobbyists who fed Bush most of his policies.

The problem with your description is that it describes media coverage, like CNN's windbag Bill Schneider. You somehow believe that the media is "mostly liberal", which means that you're "independent" only because Republicans aren't authoritarian enough for you, and because the corporate mass media has cultivated the "liberal media myth" to pretend their news cartel is some kind of competition.

There's no need to look at corporate mass media whitewashes of these politicians anymore. Look directly at their records, look at their specific plans. And don't quote a media whore like Bill Schneider, who just reads a script approved by his own corporate sponsor, as if he's got any insight. Especially when he says that blaming the other side in public for their failures is somehow more important to politicians than actually getting what they want. Which is mostly what they get.

The history of that bill is otherwise. While the vote was a lopsided 68/29/3 (y/n/not-voting), one must remember that it was filibustered, and overcoming a filibuster takes a 3/5 super-majority (on the US Senate base of 100), so the margin was more like 8 votes than 18, and wasn't a sure thing at all. It had previously failed, and the supporters had to "deal" in ordered to get the votes they needed. One wonders what deal Obama cut in ordered to get him to change is vote after an original pledge to oppose it if it included telecom immunity.

By contrast, as one of the drafters of the original FISA this bill was updating, Biden was opposed to the bill with the telecom immunity provision from the beginning, and remained so. He pointed out that McCain's (and Obama's as well, after he switched, tho that wasn't pointed out) position on this put him in the company of both Bush and Nixon in taking the position that the President is above the law. Further, he quoted himself from the original FISA debate in 1978, "it is not necessary to compromise civil liberties in the name of national security", saying that's as true today, in a time of war, as it was then, and calling the bill including the telecom immunity provision "a false choice -- national security or civil liberties."

While Biden's record on civil liberties isn't perfect (while he voted to extend PATRIOT in 2005, bad for civil liberties, he did at least vote against reauthorizing its wiretap provision in 2006, and he sponsored legislation that unfortunately died in committee that would have banned torture and interrogation techniques not authorized by the US Army Field Manual, which is pretty reasonable), it's actually more good than bad, better than most, unfortunately.

See this article at the Daily Kos, from which I borrowed somewhat liberally for the above, for more: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/23/112722/071

I'm on record as hoping Obama might either reverse himself or satisfactorily explain himself on this, so I could again support him. I had been as close as I'd ever been to donating to his campaign, before this, but that vote ended all thought of that, and I was seriously looking into third party candidates and even considering for the first time since I could vote, just saying home for this presidential election, as I couldn't vote for McCain, Obama wasn't leaving me reason to vote FOR him (as opposed to against McCain) either (tho as I posted in response to someone else on another story, I'd have probably voted third party, likely Barr, because altho I don't agree with much of that platform, it'd shake up Washington and the still dominant two parties would have killed anything too radical, at least the first term... and because I take voting as a duty and would have felt guilty not voting... but writing in none-of-the-above as a protest would have been an option as well). While I don't believe Biden was chosen primarily for his position on this, the choice /does/ start the process, or at least signal that it might happen. I'm still not all that hopeful, but it's possible, and at least I have the option of voting Obama/Biden now, where before it was beginning to look like my only options would be third party or a none-of-the-above write-in.

We'll see.

Well, in fairness to Scoop it's hard to call it dead when it powers Daily Kos, one of the most popular sites on the Web today. Though dKos has extensively modified Scoop and my understanding is they're doing a total rewrite that will remove Scoop altogether.

McCain just got caught plagiarizing his POW stories from a Nobel prize winning Russia novelist who died two weeks ago.

Not only has McCain plagiarized from Wikipedia (not given attribution to the content he nicked from there), he now is telling stories of his POW experience that are found instead in a novelist's short stories. The stories were written and published prior to the end of his internment.

He even made a political ad out of his plagiarized story last December to counter a Huckabee political ad.

McCain: Will Lie For Anything

Please describe how pointing out that one particular group in politics is intolerant, hypocritical and has ridiculous arguments is either hypocritical, intolerant or ridiculous in itself?

BTW, I'm no democrat either, but the right wing take the cake in this arena.

First, your idea that the right is "hypocritical, intolerant or ridiculous" is soundly disproved by the fact that only the Democratic Party has a former KKK member within its ranks. It doesn't help that he is considered a "respected member" of the party.

Let's see, "ridiculous arguments"... Well, "The Surge is a Failure" comes to mind. More recently, "Drilling for oil won't help for 10 years" is another doozie. Instead, they prefer alternative energy which won't help for 30 years. We send kids to school every year that won't graduate for 13. Besides, that is exactly what they said 10 years ago.

Intolerant? How many times to you see people on the right celebrating when someone opposite the aisle gets cancer? I can't find anyone who is happy that Elizabeth Edwards has cancer. Take a look for yourself for a find example of the tolerance of the left. Then, of course, there was the rioters throwing snow balls at Bush's motorcade on his way to his first Inauguration. How many of these people apologized when it was proven that he actually won the election? If you need more examples, they are easy to find. Check out The Daily KOS, Huffington Post or Democratic Underground.

Finally, Nancy Pelosi, who promised, "We will work with Republicans in Congress and the Administration in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship." Is that what she meant when she turned the lights out on them? Maybe she was referring to her quote, "The American people voted for a New Direction to restore civility and bipartisanship in Washington, D.C. Democrats promise to work together in a bipartisan way for all Americans." when she refused a vote to allow offshore drilling. How about her saying, "Democrats are ready to lead, prepared to govern and absolutely willing to work in a bipartisan way." and then saying that Bush is a "Total Failure"?

Hypocritical? There John Edwards winning "Father of the Year". Also, what did Milosovich do that Saddam Hussein didn't? Why was it OK to overthrow the government in Bosnia, but the Senate approved and funded war in Iraq is somehow "illegal"?

Now look, I'm not saying the Republicans are perfect, but don't ignore the sins of one party in order to bash the other for doing the exact same thing!

When the John WcCain campaign turns to the current wave of "open sourcing" movements, spurred by Internet culture, what he thinks you're good for is free astroturfing labor.

If you're not getting a check for that kind of work, you're nothing but a hypocrite posing as a "Conservative".

If you are getting a check for that kind of work, you're nothing but a sockpuppet posing as a "Conservative".

All aboard the Straight Talk Express trainwreck!

Don't worry, he'll get them back in a few weeks after everyone's forgotten about the video. He'll get an official policy and all records of his suspension will be purged.

I think it was in Massachusetts where the police were recorded doing something similar, and the response was for the state to sue the person making the recording for violating privacy laws.

Yep, it was. Boston man charged with wiretapping for recording a conversation with the police. Yeah, it's the Daily Kos, but they link to actual news sources. There are two other instances they mention, both in Massachusetts, a man recorded an arrest on security cameras and was charged with wiretapping, and a woman recording police activities during an anti-war protest was charged with wiretapping.

The article makes vague references of this occurring elsewhere, but all three instances happen in Massachusetts, so maybe it's just them. But I doubt it.

By quaffing civil investigations, there is no discovery of documents or testimony that proves criminal conduct. Without discovery, there is no criminal investigation. Without that investigation, the result is criminal immunity without ever formally having voted on it.

Ain't congress wonderful?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/7/20470/12276/237/547944

Here are just a few highlights from Barack Obama's career as a US Senator: specific pieces of legislation, what they meant and how they were passed.

The Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act

Introduced by Sen. John McCain in May 2005, and cosponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy. Barack Obama added three amendments to this bill.

While the bill was never voted on in the Senate, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Acts of 2006 and 2007, respectively, drew heavily upon the wording of this bill.

The Lugar-Obama Cooperative Threat Reduction.

Introduced by Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Dick Lugar and Sen. Tom Coburn.

First introduced in November 2005 and enacted in 2007, this bill expanded upon the successful Nunn-Lugar threat reduction, which helped secure weapons of mass destruction and related infrastructure in former Soviet Union states.

Lugar-Obama expanded this nonproliferation program to conventional weapons -- including shoulder-fired rockets and land mines. When the bill received $48 million in funding, Obama said, "This funding will further strengthen our ability to detect and intercept illegal shipments of weapons and materials of mass destruction, enhancing efforts to prevent nuclear terrorism."

Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006

This act of Congress, introduced by Senators Obama and Coburn, required the full disclosure of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds in FY2007.

Despite a "secret hold" on this bill by Senators Ted Stevens and Robert Byrd, the act passed into law and was signed by President Bush. The act had 43 cosponsors, including John McCain.

The act created this Web site, which provides citizens with valuable information about government-funded programs.

Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act

This law helped specify US policy toward the Congo, and states that the US should work with other donor nations to increase international contributions to the African nation.

The bill marked the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor. Following this legislation's passage, Obama toured Africa, traveling to South Africa, Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Chad. He spoke forcefully against ethnic rivalries and political corruption in Kenya.

Honest Leadership and Open Government Act

In the first month of the 110th Congress, Obama worked with Sen. Russ Feingold to pass this law, which amends and strengthens the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.

Specificially, the changes made by Obama and Feingold requires public disclosure of lobbying activity and funding, places more restrictions on gifts for members of Congress and their staff, and provides for mandatory disclosure of earmarks in expenditure bills.

The House passed the bill, 411-8, on July 31. The Senate approved it, 83-14, on Aug. 2. At the time, Obama called it "the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate."

Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act

Following the Republican-sponsored voter intimidation tactics seen in mostly black counties in Maryland during the 2006 midterm elections, Obama worked with Sen. Chuck Schumer to introduce this bill.

The bill has been referred to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Obama said of the bill, "This legislation would ensure that for the first time, these incidents are fully investigated and that those found guilty are punished."

Obama voted in favor of all three amendments attempting to strip/delay the immunity. I'm disappointed in his vote too, but it's better than all the Republicans except Arlen Specter.

Ack, the post got messed up... I should have previewed. Replace that second paragraph with:

Okay, so these are the outlets found all across the country. The RV ones are especially interesting, since RV parks can often be found in even the most remote places, and I'm sure your average RV park owner would love a new revenue stream, what with RV travel down due to high gas prices. Now, let's take an upcoming EV like the Aptera Typ-1e -- 2+1 seating, 120 miles@55mph, 70 miles@80mph, 90mph top speed, 0-60 in under 10 sec, 15.9 cubic feet of cargo space, etc for $27k. It has a 10kWh battery pack. Charger efficiency isn't known, but 93% or so is standard for slow charging (i.e., charging in more than half an hour or so). Li-ion batteries range from 96% (fast charging) to 99.9% (trickle charging) efficiency. Let's say 99%. Let's ignore the slowdown at the end, since that's more significant with .

For ~2 hours worth of moderate speed driving or ~1 hour of high-speed driving, and assuming an appropriate onboard charger, you get the following charge times:
NEMA 5-15R (15A): 6.2h
NEMA 5-15R (20A): 4.6h
NEMA TT-30R: 3.1h
NEMA 10-30R or 14-30R: 1.5h
NEMA 10-50R or 14-50R: 0.92h

Now, these are with standard outlets that you can already find across the country. Thanks to modern batteries and chargers, fast charging is not only possible, but already available in places, such as Oahu. They use 60kW PosiCharge fast chargers by Aerovironment. Aerovironment already makes them as big as 250kW.

Keith Olbermann put up a post on this last night on Daily Kos explaining that John Dean calmed his fears about Obama's stance. Dean observes that the bill would "only" pre-empt civil suits and that Obama's ammunition is that his AG (if Obama is elected) would prosecute. I don't find Keith's rationale for supporting John Dean convincing, basically because it boils down to "John Dean is brilliant and I'll trust his expertise." Besides, it's a big risk to take. And no mention is made of the fact that Obama had earlier said 1) he would vote against retroactive immunity, and 2) would support a filibuster. Guess not so much. Glenn Greenwald differs with Obama's position and with Olbermann's giving Obama a pass, and has explained why.

Seriously... if Obama were as amazing as we were supposed to believe he is, it would be more than enough to promote his virtues rather than trying to smear the opponent. Guess Obama isn't all that great stuff.

So your argument is that one misguided follower serves as an indictment of Obama himself?

I'm sure you could dredge up plenty of assholes on McCain's side too. Here's one now.

So I'm guessing your vote in November will be "none of the above"? Or possibly Montgomery Brewster? (Bonus points if you get the reference.)

Everybody's got idiot followers with misguided ideas about how to promote them.

• Feedreader (collapsed) - these two feeds came with Feedreader, and I just didn't delete them.
• • Feedreader Developer Blog
  • Feedreader news and announcements
• Games
• • Deus Ex Projects - two projects for my favorite game of all time that both move one inch toward completion every 6 months.
  • • Deus Ex HTDP - high-definition texture pack. Text feed, news and announcements.
    • Project 2027 - new levels and story for Deus Ex. Text feed, news and announcements.
  • The Escapist: Zero Punctuation - if you're not watching these game reviews, you should be. Feed is links to the weekly ZP posts.
  • Valve Steam news and updates - Steam is Valve's content delivery system. This feed includes game updates and general news. Text only.
• News/aggregator
• • CNN top stories - this feed can be annoying because it sometimes contains a story summary in the item, but more often it just contains a link to the story. I wish it had summaries more often.
  • Fark - Fark is a news aggregator site that, like /., combines user submission with a little editorial control (as opposed to the Digg method). This feed is of the mainpage stories and contains only the headlines and a link. Sophomoric and dark humor are mainstays.
  • MSNBC - this is the top stories feed, editorially selected. They also have a "most viewed" feed if you're into celeb news and dogs in funny poses.
  • MSNBC - Coundown - feed of Countdown with Keith Olbermann video clips, updated nightly, with the first two stories usually posted before the show is over. Feed is links to the clips.
  • Slashdot - log in, your feed is personalized to your mainpage prefs. /.'s own feed contains headlines and story summaries.
• Politics
• • Crooks and Liars - This is a blog that supports more liberal ideals than the party line. Feed is of front page stories and contains attachments of any items referenced in the stories (usually QT files, sometimes PDFs)
  • Daily Kos - The largest liberal log/community on the net, this one is much more toward party line. Text only.
  • Electoral-vote.com - election news and coverage with a map that updates the electoral college count by poll average. Contains the site's daily upd

(Tangent: I use Yarssr [for *nix/GNOME] to organize my feeds. Lives in the GNOME panel notification area as a pop-up menu.)

Slashdot
Various Associated Press news wires
BBC News
CNN
Daily Kos
Several local news feeds from my local newspaper
Multiple single-topic feeds from ESPN
The International Herald Tribune
A custom feed from Careerbuilder
The Top Stories and In Depth feeds from Reuters
My regional surf reports from Surfline
Politics coverage from The Hill

I expect McCain to revive ideas that looked great in the 20th Century, including those that failed so badly. Especially those that lied their way into being funded for BIG BIG bucks, especially where the Federal government spent $BILLIONS in taxes subsidizing and "securing". it, but then had to admit that the payback and security risks were much worse, but only after we were stuck with them, and had to live with their consequences instead of doing the right thing in the first place.

Invading Iraq, nuke power - what's the difference, to John McCain? He doesn't have to live in the real future for very long. Just on an airconditioned bus, where relativity warps spacetime so much that to himself, McCain's talk is "straight".

The good news is that McCain will probably drag policies renuking America down with him as he turns to lead before our eyes this Fall.

You know, I think you should post a diary of your experiences with AP's "Internet spirit" over at the Daily Kos. They're leading the pushback against AP's copyright greed right now. Their readers would probably love to hear some firsthand accounts about the "deciders" over there who hide behind webservers run by people who actually know how the Internet works.

[T]heir Terms of Use explicitly prohibit you, even if you've paid them, from quoting the Associated Press in order to criticize the Associated Press:

There. Now I have quoted the AP's own content, using it to criticize AP, even criticizing the contract that would prohibit me from doing any of that.

Am I glad that I never signed their contract. Nah - it wouldn't matter if I did. That contract is unenforceable, and they're sending illegit DMCA takedowns to people who never signed it.

Last week, The A.P. took an unusually strict position against quotation of its work, sending a letter to the Drudge Retort asking it to remove seven items that contained quotations from A.P. articles ranging from 39 to 79 words.

On Saturday, The A.P. retreated. Jim Kennedy, vice president and strategy director of The A.P., said in an interview that the news organization had decided that its letter to the Drudge Retort was "heavy-handed" and that The A.P. was going to rethink its policies toward bloggers.

The quick about-face came, he said, because a number of well-known bloggers started criticizing its policy, claiming it would undercut the active discussion of the news that rages on sites, big and small, across the Internet [...]

Still, Mr. Kennedy said that the organization has not withdrawn its request that Drudge Retort remove the seven items. And he said that he still believes that it is more appropriate for blogs to use short summaries of A.P. articles rather than direct quotations, even short ones.

"Cutting and pasting a lot of content into a blog is not what we want to see," he said. "It is more consistent with the spirit of the Internet to link to content so people can read the whole thing in context."

"More rights than the Nazis"? You're a fascist too. Er, I mean "Republican". Oh, right, 2008 - that's "libertarian", check.

If you weren't a fascist, lying to make Nazis look like victims, you'd know that that's a bullshit lie.

But hey, you're really not sticking up for Nazis. You're really just defending the kidnapping and secret torture of "accused terrorists", denying them protection of their Habeas Corpus rights that the Constitution requires.

How "libertarian" of you.

Conversely, when the courts do their job defending the Constitution and our rights, I applaud them. When they give you the unaccountable dictator you prefer, I loudly boo. Them and you.

I thought net neutrality was supposed to treat everyone's comparable traffic that same and not to charge extra for preferred delivery of packets.

I think that's what Richard Bennett, TFA writer, is missing about net neutrality. Nowhere does he address the possibility of ISPs demanding one content provider, such as Google, pay them not to slow their traffic.

It sounds like "I feel bad, therefore we should pass a law".

Generally I don't like, I actually oppose, new laws however what TFA writer misses besides what I say above is free speech. Say PHB at cableco X is a conservative and hates liberals so he has his engineers slow down connections to Daily Kos whereas PHB at cableco Y hates conservatives and slows down traffic from Free Republic. Both websites deliver html but their politics are different. Another thing he misses is that the government has given more than $200 billion of taxpayer money to buildout the broadband infrastructure, which for the most part they have not done.

Falcon

I noticed Richard Bennett does not address a couple of things that concerns people who push for net neutrality laws, the throttling of of traffic from some websites but not others even though they the same type of files, such as with political websites or commercial websites. Say a PHB at cableco X doesn't like Daily Kos so s/he has it slowed down whereas PHB at cableco Y doesn't like Free Republic so that company slows it down. With commercial websites cableco X goes into partnership with Amazon and so slows connections to bookpool. The only difference between these websites are the originators, they are in competition with each other.

Federal courts are already well versed in keeping official secrets sealed when used as evidence in trials.

America's justice system works, balancing proof against rightful means of obtaining it. Nothing has changed, despite the inane, cowardly chants that "9/11 Changed Everything". America's been refining its legal system for over 2 centuries, and is still pretty much the best in the world, despite Bush era work to dismantle it.

Of course we want to get only the real terrorists. Otherwise, we'd leave the real terrorists at large. And of course injustice just fans the flames, making it easier for terrorists to get support, and harder for American to find local allies who can help us get the terrorists.

The problem with American justice is that the ghost of Johnnie Cochran can game the system, when he's up against punks like the LAPD, which is filled with racists who taint the evidence. Guantanamo produces nothing but that kind of tainted evidence. If the Feds had captured people on real evidence, rather than just bounties for Afghans and Pakistanis to sell out their local Hatfield/McCoys, and kept them in maximum security Federal jails, interrogating them legitimately, we would have blown apart their networks by now. The government has hotshot top lawyers who can make people like Cochran look like Matlock, and shut down any BS technicalities. But instead, we're going to let some of them get away with murder (and worse), among the rest who did nothing but wander too near America's huge "post-9/11" vacuum operations.

And to show how deeply unserious we are, John McCain has taken to insisting that 30 people freed from Guantanamo have returned with new terrorism. Now, that's probably just yet another lie. And even if true, those would be people who Bush has freed, not anyone freed as "fruit of the poisonous tree", like violated Habeas Corpus rights, who in Bush's judgement weren't threats. But these kinds of lies and stupid decisions are typically just garbled versions of the facts. So probably what's happened is that Bush released some prisoners who our intel agencies haven't tracked, even though they're the #1 most likely to become terrorists, even if they weren't before, even if just out of a grudge or because now they're valuable "jihad celebrities".

The Habeas Corpus rights are the basis of a system that tests evidence for proof of acts. That might not be the best way to find the truth, but we don't know any better ones. And since so much hangs on doing this as right as we can, we better get right, right away. We've already let almost 8 years doing it wrong make the terrorists' wettest dreams come true.

Read the dissenting opinion.

Bolding mine. How would anyone know if they've tried to use the courts if they haven't had access to them in the first place? And saying that Habeas Corpus isn't a "time-honored legal principal"?

Amazing, isn't it?

Quotes taken from here.

The Constitution doesn't give us rights. The government doesn't give us rights. We have rights, inalienable rights, that come from "the Creator", whatever that is. The creator is a mysterious, unspecified entity, but it is not the Constitution or the government.

We, the people, create a government to protect those rights. In the USA, we (our forefathers) wrote a Constitution that our representatives explicitly agreed to support and defend. That Constitution creates a government from nothing, that protects those rights.

Those rights are inalienable. Even when the government fails to protect them, we still have those rights. But unless they're protected, we might not have the freedom to exercise them. That is why we create that government, which has no other power or even existence other than as we create it under the Constitution.

Americans aren't magically different from any other people. All people have the same inalienable rights. But what Americans have that is different is an American government that protects those rights. Foreigners have their own governments. It's up to them to protect their rights with their governments. Often they do not. But though it is in America's interest to help everyone we can to protect their rights, it is not automatically America's government's obligation to do so, unless Americans so instruct it. Even when we do, America is obligated to merely help those people free themselves , so they are free to create their own governments to protect their own rights.

That is what is fundamentally wrong with the Iraq War. Wrong with any occupying American government abroad. It's what was right with the US conversion of Japan and Germany from their tyrannies after WWII: we worked for several years to free those people, who then created their own governments.

But though we're not obligated to free anyone but ourselves, though our government is not obligated to protect anyone's rights but our own, our government is never free to violate those rights. The US government has no powers to violate any rights, except temporarily, according to explicit due process, and only when necessary to protect the rights of other Americans - like when jailing criminals, even suspending their rights to vote, freely travel and associate, and even to express themselves.

Americans in foreign lands have reduced protection of our rights by our government, as a matter of practical fact, but not from any change in our rights themselves. Foreigners in foreign lands have foreign governments that factor into the US ability and obligation to protect their rights, which is minimal.

But no one under control of the US, in US territory (including soverign military territory like Guantanamo) can see their rights infringed in any way.

Sometimes that happens. Sometimes the people in the government break the law, violate the Constitution. The Constitution of course has the remedy: prosecution and jail time, even impeachment. The Constitution isn't just some theoretical philosophy, but the only instrument which creates legitimate government power. And its power does not differ in application to anyone on US soil (with the sole and irrelevant exception that a US president must have been born American).

There shouldn't have been any question that Habeas Corpus must apply to everyone in US custody. But of course the 4 dissenting "Justices" in this case also installed George Bush as president. These people are part of a blatantly, flagrantly anti-American conspiracy among themselves to destroy America and everything it stands for.

Everyone knows it. Lots of us say it. But only far too few of us have the courage and integrity to live it. And we, the Americans with a clear conscience, want to bring these evildoers to justice.

The Constitution. Dodging a bullet today that should never have been fired, that should have seen millions of Americans jumping to take the hit. The closeness of this call is just one 87 year old man away from making a total mockery of America as "the land of the free, the home of the brave."

They're more likely trolls than the insane bigotry posted to McCain's website.

But it's perfectly clear that you are nothing but a McCain troll here on Slashdot.

'Moderation' to me means a willingness to at least listen to other ideas with an open mind. This is not exemplified by Dailykos.

'Moderation' to me means disagreeing with your opponents without being disagreeable. This is not an example of treating your opponent respectfully and trying to encourage a meaningful dialog.

No, I'm sorry, they aren't 'mainstream American liberal'. They are far-left on the American political spectrum. There's nothing inherently wrong with that and they are certainly entitled to air their opinions -- but I wouldn't call them mainstream.

Why don't you write a diary about it on the Daily Kos blog? If well written (focused on your ID theft, mentioning your other problems only in actual connection with your crisis), it could get some proper attention. Perhaps at first only by other ID activists or people who might know tips for your recovery. Maybe by some journalists who could pressure your DA to act. Or perhaps only as more popular pressure that could force change in 2009, when the Democrats take over and replace your US Attorney (Federal prosecutor) and probably your regional FBI chiefs with a different staff, who might be less corporate and worthless to the people as the current Bush crew.

You mean like how Hillary sucked up to them by saying that FL and MI "won't count for anything"? Don't take my word for it -- it's her own quote.

Then I'd guess that you don't want the candidate who ignored the caucus states and whom assumed the coronation^Wrace would be over on Super Tuesday?

That's an interesting idea, anytime money changes hands in a copy it can be taxed. Advertisers can be taxed a portion of their revenue and sales taxes can be levied on any kind of sale.

The problem then is making sure it goes to the creator. Sound Exchange is an example of how not to do this because it's more like the monopoly given to a private interest that you worry about. Sales taxes are typically used for infrastructure and that might not be a bad way to spend what the RIAA has been squandering on payolla, whores and coke. Creators have a better chance of getting paid by a state office than they do now.

Excellent thought.

It's always good to hear classical (instrumental) compositions, and I'm reminded of Markos Moulitsas' music (the Daily Kos guy).

If it sounds good and has talent behind it, I'm more than happy to pay.

This is my first of a series of diaries about prisoners murdered by US forces. It will tell the story of an Iraqi man who died hanging by his cuffed wrists from a door frame, gagged, and beaten to death by his US interrogators. As the Final Autopsy Report noted:

The remains are received clad in a white shirt, white pajama type pants, and white
undershorts. Feces covers the clothing from the waist down....There is gauze dressing on the left wrist. No other evidence of medical intervention is noted.... The right chest wall has fractures of ribs three through seven anteriorly and ribs six through twelve posteriorly. The left chest wall has fractures of ribs two through nine anteriorly and ribs seven through twelve posteriorly. There are fractures of the lateral aspect of ribs nine and ten on the left side. There is a horizontal fracture through the mid-portion of the body of the sternum."

Yes, our tax dollars are paying for this. Hung up by the wrists and beaten so badly that he not only had over 25 separate rib fractures, many slicing into his lungs, he also had a fractured sternum. The thick, solid bone protecting your heart.

It gets uglier over the fold. It's time to face reality.

• bewert's diary :: ::

UPDATE: Wow, top of the rec list. You care. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I have at least two more weeks of similar diaries, I want to make them happen, to get the facts, the horrible knowledge, out to the public in the leadup to Conyers hearings. Again, thank you all for the support. Together, we might be able to have an effect.

UPDATE 2: Some context, as much as I can glean:

The autopsy seems to have been performed as part of an Army CID investigation. I was done under the auspices of (from the header of the autopsy report):

ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE QF PATHOLOGY
Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner
1413 Research Blvd., Bldg. 102
Rockville, MD 20850
1-800-944-7912

The incident in question occurred in Al asad, Iraq on Jan. 9, 2004. The victim was a member of the Iraqi Army-the rank has been redacted. The autopsy was performed at BIAP Mortuary in Baghdad. After the autopsy,

ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES
Documentary photographs are taken by OAFME Photographer PH3 [redacted] USN
Specimens retained for toxicologic testing and/or DNA identification are: vitreous fluid, cavity blood, spleen, liver.urine, brain, bile, lung, kidney; and psoas muscle
The dissected organs are forwarded with body
Clothing and personal effects are released to the Army CID agents present at the autopsy

So it seems that it was an incident that was investigated as a crime. With more digging we might be able to find out more details, but right now I'm not sure who, what, or why. And this treatment is not condoned, as it resulted in death. As we know, it's considered torture only if major organ failure or death occurs.

UPDATE 3--This appears to the case of Abdul Jaleel.

From the Final Autopsy Report:

Circumstances of Death: Iraqi detainee died while in U.S. custody.

Authorization for Autopsy: Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, lAW 10 USC 1471

Identification: Identification by accompanying paperwork and wristband, both of which include his nam

This is my first of a series of diaries about prisoners murdered by US forces. It will tell the story of an Iraqi man who died hanging by his cuffed wrists from a door frame, gagged, and beaten to death by his US interrogators. As the Final Autopsy Report noted:

The remains are received clad in a white shirt, white pajama type pants, and white
undershorts. Feces covers the clothing from the waist down....There is gauze dressing on the left wrist. No other evidence of medical intervention is noted.... The right chest wall has fractures of ribs three through seven anteriorly and ribs six through twelve posteriorly. The left chest wall has fractures of ribs two through nine anteriorly and ribs seven through twelve posteriorly. There are fractures of the lateral aspect of ribs nine and ten on the left side. There is a horizontal fracture through the mid-portion of the body of the sternum."

Yes, our tax dollars are paying for this. Hung up by the wrists and beaten so badly that he not only had over 25 separate rib fractures, many slicing into his lungs, he also had a fractured sternum. The thick, solid bone protecting your heart.

It gets uglier over the fold. It's time to face reality.

• bewert's diary :: ::

UPDATE: Wow, top of the rec list. You care. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I have at least two more weeks of similar diaries, I want to make them happen, to get the facts, the horrible knowledge, out to the public in the leadup to Conyers hearings. Again, thank you all for the support. Together, we might be able to have an effect.

UPDATE 2: Some context, as much as I can glean:

The autopsy seems to have been performed as part of an Army CID investigation. I was done under the auspices of (from the header of the autopsy report):

ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE QF PATHOLOGY
Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner
1413 Research Blvd., Bldg. 102
Rockville, MD 20850
1-800-944-7912

The incident in question occurred in Al asad, Iraq on Jan. 9, 2004. The victim was a member of the Iraqi Army-the rank has been redacted. The autopsy was performed at BIAP Mortuary in Baghdad. After the autopsy,

ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES
Documentary photographs are taken by OAFME Photographer PH3 [redacted] USN
Specimens retained for toxicologic testing and/or DNA identification are: vitreous fluid, cavity blood, spleen, liver.urine, brain, bile, lung, kidney; and psoas muscle
The dissected organs are forwarded with body
Clothing and personal effects are released to the Army CID agents present at the autopsy

So it seems that it was an incident that was investigated as a crime. With more digging we might be able to find out more details, but right now I'm not sure who, what, or why. And this treatment is not condoned, as it resulted in death. As we know, it's considered torture only if major organ failure or death occurs.

UPDATE 3--This appears to the case of Abdul Jaleel.

From the Final Autopsy Report:

Circumstances of Death: Iraqi detainee died while in U.S. custody.

Authorization for Autopsy: Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, lAW 10 USC 1471

Identification: Identification by accompanying paperwork and wristband, both of which include his nam

This is my first of a series of diaries about prisoners murdered by US forces. It will tell the story of an Iraqi man who died hanging by his cuffed wrists from a door frame, gagged, and beaten to death by his US interrogators. As the Final Autopsy Report noted:

The remains are received clad in a white shirt, white pajama type pants, and white
undershorts. Feces covers the clothing from the waist down....There is gauze dressing on the left wrist. No other evidence of medical intervention is noted.... The right chest wall has fractures of ribs three through seven anteriorly and ribs six through twelve posteriorly. The left chest wall has fractures of ribs two through nine anteriorly and ribs seven through twelve posteriorly. There are fractures of the lateral aspect of ribs nine and ten on the left side. There is a horizontal fracture through the mid-portion of the body of the sternum."

Yes, our tax dollars are paying for this. Hung up by the wrists and beaten so badly that he not only had over 25 separate rib fractures, many slicing into his lungs, he also had a fractured sternum. The thick, solid bone protecting your heart.

It gets uglier over the fold. It's time to face reality.

• bewert's diary :: ::

UPDATE: Wow, top of the rec list. You care. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I have at least two more weeks of similar diaries, I want to make them happen, to get the facts, the horrible knowledge, out to the public in the leadup to Conyers hearings. Again, thank you all for the support. Together, we might be able to have an effect.

UPDATE 2: Some context, as much as I can glean:

The autopsy seems to have been performed as part of an Army CID investigation. I was done under the auspices of (from the header of the autopsy report):

ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE QF PATHOLOGY
Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner
1413 Research Blvd., Bldg. 102
Rockville, MD 20850
1-800-944-7912

The incident in question occurred in Al asad, Iraq on Jan. 9, 2004. The victim was a member of the Iraqi Army-the rank has been redacted. The autopsy was performed at BIAP Mortuary in Baghdad. After the autopsy,

ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES
Documentary photographs are taken by OAFME Photographer PH3 [redacted] USN
Specimens retained for toxicologic testing and/or DNA identification are: vitreous fluid, cavity blood, spleen, liver.urine, brain, bile, lung, kidney; and psoas muscle
The dissected organs are forwarded with body
Clothing and personal effects are released to the Army CID agents present at the autopsy

So it seems that it was an incident that was investigated as a crime. With more digging we might be able to find out more details, but right now I'm not sure who, what, or why. And this treatment is not condoned, as it resulted in death. As we know, it's considered torture only if major organ failure or death occurs.

UPDATE 3--This appears to the case of Abdul Jaleel.

From the Final Autopsy Report:

Circumstances of Death: Iraqi detainee died while in U.S. custody.

Authorization for Autopsy: Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, lAW 10 USC 1471

Identification: Identification by accompanying paperwork and wristband, both of which include his nam

Meanwhile, Mukasey's partner in crime Mike McConnell (the head of all US intel powers) is out there lying to shut down any constraints on Bush's powers to spy on us.

Feel safer?

. . . to place their propaganda on the internet (ahem, Huffington Post, DailyKos, etc, ad nauseum), then why can't the military use bloggers to post its point of view?

Seems like another double-standard to me.

Well, I don't know that we can assume that Wright hasn't indulged that kind of inflammatory (and rarely even irresponsible) through his entire long career, most of which has been out of the reach of YouTube. But even so, it's a tempest in a teapot.

But thanks for the compliment about my summary. I think most people have realized for themselves what I posted, because it's not too complicated. And because Obama's speach explained it, of course more clearly than I did - that's his job as a (legitimate) politician.

There are more ideas from Obama. In the couple days following his "Wright was wrong" speech mostly about race and one's relationship to one's church, Obama delivered two major speeches about his policy on the current economy, and about Iraq policy. Of course the corporate mass media preferred more endless replays of the Wright clips and some clips from Obama's response speech to covering those essential policies at all, but they're out there. Clinton, too, has more specific policies, though it seems to me they're more politically opportunist, tuned to media promotion strategies without showing real leadership out of our problems. But she's got the mass media working to turn her into a spokesmodel, too, so I'm probably missing more substance that's not "telegenic".

For example, I just found a letter Obama sent to Fed Chairman Bernanke a year ago, demanding specific actions to stop the growing handouts of unsupportable mortgages. I wish that there was more discussion of that letter than, say, whether Obama is "Black enough". But you have to look for yourself. Like I said, that's the kind of proactive research smart people can do to recognize that we'll get a smart president, if we deserve one.

He plans to pursue the same policies as Bush, Reagan and Bush - policies which, in case you hadn't noticed, have been a fiscal disaster for this country. http://doctor-frog.dailykos.com/

I hear buzz growing about amaranth as a grain contender. Better protein, restores soil nutrients, etc.

As for the Clinton campaign "making racial slurs"... really? Really?! They have never done any such thing. You can't cite even one.