That's the last we'll ever hear of Yang Zhou. Pity, considering he had a good point.
Yang Zhou is a VERY common name in China, like David Thompson. Probably a few thousand of them around... Difficult to track him down! I personally know of three of them within one company I work with in Dongguan. Something like 90% of China uses just 85 family names, so you get some MASSIVE numbers of people with the same name (there are estimated to be around 20,000 women with the name Wang Xiaoyan, for instance). It's getting so bad that China is allowing families to combine their names to make a new family name.
At least it's not as bad as South Korea, where something like 40% of the population has the family name Kim!
That said, all the expats I know, and most of the Chinese nationals browse through proxies, and have zero problems reaching any site. Proxies are plentiful and easy to access. Those who can afford computers know how to get around the firewall, and do so regularly. Walk into any of the Internet cafes in Shanghai and you can see many people surfing through proxies.
Yes, it sucks that China has the firewall, but the biggest challenge facing China is how to ride out the coming change to a much more open society. The economic Pandora's box has been opened, and the Chinese government leaders can't close it. More and more the wealthy provinces and cities are demanding - and getting - more and more autonomy from Beijing. What is heavily restricted in Chongqing isn't restricted at all in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
China's rapidly growing middle and upper classes are demanding more and more freedom and opportunity. And the riots you read about are nearly all by farmers and the lowest classes raging against restrictions on their upward economic mobility. The Chinese government is acquiescing, albeit slowly.
The writing's on the wall in China - China either continues opening itself up to more and more personal freedoms and economic success, or it all collapses. The leaders of China are aware that to clamp down and take it back to where it was in the mid 80s, they'll have riots like they've never seen and the country WILL collapse. Now it's a matter of how to manage the change to minimize the shock to their own power.
No wonder you're confused and angry... You don't understand some fundamental basics about our Government.
1. The filibuster is in the SENATE, not the House. The House is simple Majority Rules. The Senate, likewise, but by tradition 6 of 10 sitting Senators (not 60 votes, just 60% of those present) need to agree to end debate. This is a procedural rule only, not a law, and can be changed by a simple majority vote in the Senate.
2. ALL appropriations bills - spending of money - MUST originate in the House. The Senate and President cannot spend money; only the House has that ability. The Senate and President must approve the bill for it to become a law so funds can be spent, but they cannot start bills with spending on their own.
This means, inherently, the purse strings of the government are controlled DE FACTO by the House; specifically the Appropriations Committee. As committee heads are chosen by the majority party, the Democrats now control the purse strings. That's a LOT of power.
Since the Democrat party controls the Congress - committee chairs AND numerical majorities in both - they could push any legislation or bill desired to the desk of the President, where he could sign or veto. The lack of action so many on the angry left decry is, I believe, rooted in wishful thinking about revenge or perceived slights/malfeasance rather than actual fact.
I have a hard time believing that Waxman, Schumer, et al would NOT be pushing impeachment or thousands of subpoenas issued if there were actually reasons to do so. I think there's a lot of delusion going on out there...
In essence, by having a majority in both houses
I actually have friends who live in Shanghai and Nanjing, know a bit about the prices/wages earned there...
Li probably works the normal 10 hour shift, meaning he makes around 25 RMB (yuan) per day. Does this 6 days a week, about 49 weeks out of the year (maybe getting a week at Chinese New Year and 3-5 days during Golden Week).
His weekly income would be around 150 RMB. He'd earn around 600 RMB per month.
I have a friend, Alice, who is a cashier in a grocery store on the outskirts of Nanjing. She earns 600 RMB a month for 9 hours a day, 6 days a week, 2 weeks off per year. This does not include a dorm - she shares a 1 bedroom apartment with 5 other girls (apartment is 650 RMB per month).
So I'd say he's pulling down the equivalent of 710-750 RMB per month, once you factor in housing. Low wages, but about what a lot of unskilled laborers make in that city.
For comparison, last time I visited Nanjing (April 2007) a 5 nice meal with 15 dishes and 4 liters of beer ran 110 RMB, and fed 6 people. A taxi ride of less than 5 km is 8 RMB, bus ride anywhere around town was 2 RMB, and the 2.5 hour train ride from Nanjing to Shanghai was 84 RMB.
Maybe because the health care insurance industry isn't the disaster that the media makes it out to be?
I've been self-employed for 10 years, meaning for the last 10 years I've had to fend for myself for health insurance. During that time I've been independent (like now - no employees) and ran a small business with a few (3-10) employees. And provided healthcare.
For example, I currently have a plan that is true insurance - it covers me against big losses ($2500 annual deductible), covers my first 6 visits to the doctor for preventive and regular checkups, even covers most of an emergency visit ($100 copay). And it does this, for a 39 year old male, for $93 per month.
My wife has a similar plan through her employer, where she pays 100% of the premium, but it's only $78 per month. And she's a cancer survivor who daily takes medications, and monthly gets blood work to regulate her body chemistry.
Health insurance is NOT expensive if you shop around, make informed choices, and treat it like any other insurance package; it's there to cover big expenses, not to use every time you wake up and your wrist feels funny.
Dental? I worked out a plan 8 years ago with a local dentist. They give me and my employees (now ex-employees) 50% off, and we paid cash direct. Typical cleaning runs around $60 per visit, and a cavity is around $200. Haven't had a cavity in 11 years (brushing twice a day really works!), so my dental runs me $10 per month. The dentist loves it because she gets cash immediately for service; sure, she'd make a bit more if it was billed (she normally makes $80/cleaning after insurance form costs are factored in), but don't have to wait 60-90 days for payment.
Private insurance works REALLY WELL if people just would take the time and treat it with a bit more than "oh nos my head hurtz to the emergency room I goes and why doesn't someone pay for it!". Your life is a BIT bigger asset than a house or car, but people put 10 times more effort into understanding the options and financing of those assets, and completely ignore the health care issue. Other than to rant about how much it costs...
It's only $50/month in Canada? Wow, didn't know it was that cheap... You see, I buy my own coverage down here in the States for $93/month.
Affordable healthcare exists, if people were just willing to actually shop for it themselves. When so many expect it as a basic "right" there's a loss of ownership in the expenses, and as such too many pay way too much for what they want (want, not what they need).
Of course, $22,500 in 1992 is equivalent to about $32,000 today. You could buy 2 Smart cars AND fuel them for 3 years for the same price (assuming 10,000 miles per year, $3/gallon, and 40 MPG). A bit different comparison, I think...
Simple question to a "believer"... What should the average temperature be? Because a few thousand years ago - well before any industrial revolution - the Earth was quite a bit warmer, and there weren't any glaciers in the Alps.
So was the climate then "correct"? Is the climate 50 years ago "correct"? What is the "ideal" climate so we know we've reached where we're supposed to be...
Right now, I see a lot of the AGW proponents postulating a problem, but without being able to point to what the ideal should be, its awfully hard to judge whether or not there even IS a problem...
I'd rather worry about issues like mercury poisoning, sewage treatments for the developing world, sanitation in general, and the like rather than debating over the supposed problem of AGW when we're not even sure if the current average temperature is low or high...
There's actually a lot of research indicating most whale populations are increasing, or have reached their natural limit. In other words, this hunt is a curiousity because of the previous portion of spear found, but shouldn't be a concern or rallying point to press for changes in cultural heritage to "save" the population.
As someone who had a business that accepted CCs (we had the contract with a CC processor, terminal, could swipe cards) the fees charged by Paypal are actually in line with real CC charges. Around 2.4% of total sale (don't break out shipping - total amount) and $0.30 per transaction. Processing of CC charges ranged from 1.8% to 3.3% depending upon the volume of sales you did (we did around $30K/month and were at the 2.4% price range).
EBay's fees are quite high, though, and I don't have any experience with Paypal's CS so can't comment there, but the fees they're charging seem to be somewhat in line with meatspace...
For those following along, the amount of currency traded EVERY DAY is equivalent to the entire ANNUAL GDP of China. The annual currency trades are about 20 times that of the US GDP. One month sees about the same money flow as the combined GDPs of the US and the EU. Annually more currency is traded than the actual GDP of the world.
French opposition to the war in Iraq, for instance, was largely based on a good understanding of which political and sociological forces would naturally prevail in Iraq once the artificial Baathist regime was terminated.
Based on the UN's own data, and own resolutions, the Security Council voted to authorize the conclusion of the Gulf War (the 12 years between were supposed to be a cease-fire).
Heh. That's champions of democracy and human rights at work for ya. _Obviously_, that's so morally superior compared to the Soviets;)
Yeah, Communism's only killed 100,000,000 people so far, let's give it another chance...
Curious that thousands of people were arrested or killed for fleeing from East Germany to West Germany, and really no one went the other way. Maybe the fact that thousands fled - at risk of death - to escape the USSR into the West and the US tells you something about the moral superiority of the US... Dissent here, you don't get shot.
And yes, I have first hand accounts from my mentor Alexandr who escaped the USSR in 1974, via smuggling himself and his son (left his wife and 3 daughters) in a boxcar carrying pigs from the Ukraine to the Balkans, then hiked it out to Austria over 6 weeks, and after 5 years finally made it to the US.
After the wall fell, he was able to go back and visit his wife's memorial (no grave allowed - erected by family), and spend time with his last living daughter. Wife and one daughter were executed for his escape, but it allowed his son to live (who was slated to go for front duty in supressing uprisings in the Ukraine where the casualty rate was near 80%, and fled with Alexandr at his wife's request, knowing she would probably die). Other two daughters were smuggled to relatives living in southern Ukraine. And one died in childbirth in the so advanced hospitals.
Visit an orphanage in the Ukraine sometime. Talk to the people who lived under the boot of the USSR, and get a real clue about how it was. When farmers had to turn over 80% of their crops to feed people in Odessa, while the farmers starved to death. Where you were sent to Siberia - if your family even knew that much - for simply having been seen with a "conspirator" who was accused of trying to overthrow the USSR. Where you would be shot for trying to cross a border, no questions asked.
What war crimes trials are going on? Per Geneva Conventions, those in Guantanamo can be held indefinitely at our discretion, and could actually be shot as they are not covered as actual combatants or protected persons.
Impeachment is a finding of guilt by the House. Conviction is trial of the impeachment and determination of penalties, up to and including removal from office, by the Senate.
President Clinton was impeached; he was not convicted. See the US Constitution Article 1, section 2, clause 5 for impeachment. See Article 1, section 3, clause 6 for conviction.
Personally, I voted against President Clinton, and believe he was guilty of much more than what he was impeached for. But legally, he was impeached but not convicted. I'm not making it up, that's what the US Constitution says.
This is the most controversial section of Protocol I. More specifically the paragraphs 3 through to 5. It is the primary cause for US administrations not adopt this protocol.
The US has not adopted this protocol; we're not bound by it.
I disagree with your conclusion of Article 4. Al Qaeda is not a State that bound by the Convention. If they are from a foreign country, those surrounding Iraq (who have normal relations with Iraq), then they are not covered as protected persons. If they are Iraqis, then they are nationals of the State, and are covered by the laws of the State, not the Geneva Conventions.
You cannot be a foreign terrorist and claim coverage of the Conventions. The fact that the insurgents violate all protections to be afforded to Protected Persons immediately disqualifies their own protection.
With a strict reading of the Constitution, I'd agree with you. And one could argue that, in order for those two Senators to provide their advice and consent they had to communicate with the foreign government. It's a stretch, admittedly, but at least they are from the chamber tasked to work with the President on treaties unlike Speaker Pelosi and the other House members.
The exception, of course would be if members of the House were asked to go to sit with foreign governments on the behalf of the President. They would then be acting as the President's representative.
But to be a representative, and go without the consent of the President is really pretty cut and dried wrong.
This is true, but a bit misleading. Any non-military forces are de facto civilians and military forces thus have responsibilities and limits in their treatment of civilians under the conventions.
This is not true. From the Army field manual "The Law of Land Warfare" (publication FM 27-10):
Persons, such as guerrillas and partisans, who take up arms and commit hostile acts without having complied with the conditions prescribed by the laws of war for recognition as belligerents, are, when captured by the injured party, not entitled to be treated as prisoners of war and may be tried and sentenced to execution or imprisonment (FM 27-10 Par. 80).
Likewise, the Hague Convention and Geneva Convention afford ZERO coverage as civilians or actual soldiers for anyone who does not fit ALL four of the following statements:
that of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates.
that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance.
that of carrying arms openly.
that of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
Note that not wearing a uniform OR hiding your weapon OR not operating according to the Conventions (killing prisoners, for instance) all mean you are not a solider. No coverage.
Bottom line: terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are neither soldiers nor civilians, and should not be afforded the rights of either.
I'd say yes. It wasn't their right to execute such meetings, and in fact is counter to the Constitution. At the very least all should be tossed out of the House.
OK. I was arguing there's nothing to impeach him for because there still isn't even an illegal activity he's being accused of doing. To impeach you gotta have a high crime or misdemeanor you want to charge the President with. And to date there's ZERO evidence of either, since the "illegal wiretapping" hasn't been declared illegal yet.
In other words, there has to be something to impeach him for. What would that be?
MILITARY ASSISTANCE- (A) The President is authorized to direct the drawdown of defense articles from the stocks of the Department of Defense, defense services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training for such organizations.
Bold emphasis mine. The President was authorized to use materiel and personnel of the US Military to achieve the goals of the bill. In addition to military education and training. The intent may have been different, but the text of the bill is pretty unambiguous.
Also, note further that section 4(e)(1) takes the cost of military materiel and personnel out of the budget for the bill.
President Clinton's signing statement (an action which apparently is so evil to use, you even reference his use of signing statements) clarifies his position to support overthrow of Saddam, and to work through the US Security Council to see that happen. Which is exactly how President Bush executed the completion of the Iraq War - with approval of the UNSC.
Might want to learn how to follow a thread... Impeachment happens for high crimes and misdemeanors. What high crime? What misdemeanor? What are you going to charge him with? Because what's being bandied about here is about supposed "illegal wiretaps" which - to this date - still have not been found illegal.
If you want to impeach the President for these actions, how about deciding if the actions are even criminal to begin with? That has yet to be determined.
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Yang Zhou is a VERY common name in China, like David Thompson. Probably a few thousand of them around... Difficult to track him down! I personally know of three of them within one company I work with in Dongguan. Something like 90% of China uses just 85 family names, so you get some MASSIVE numbers of people with the same name (there are estimated to be around 20,000 women with the name Wang Xiaoyan, for instance). It's getting so bad that China is allowing families to combine their names to make a new family name.
At least it's not as bad as South Korea, where something like 40% of the population has the family name Kim!
That said, all the expats I know, and most of the Chinese nationals browse through proxies, and have zero problems reaching any site. Proxies are plentiful and easy to access. Those who can afford computers know how to get around the firewall, and do so regularly. Walk into any of the Internet cafes in Shanghai and you can see many people surfing through proxies.
Yes, it sucks that China has the firewall, but the biggest challenge facing China is how to ride out the coming change to a much more open society. The economic Pandora's box has been opened, and the Chinese government leaders can't close it. More and more the wealthy provinces and cities are demanding - and getting - more and more autonomy from Beijing. What is heavily restricted in Chongqing isn't restricted at all in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
China's rapidly growing middle and upper classes are demanding more and more freedom and opportunity. And the riots you read about are nearly all by farmers and the lowest classes raging against restrictions on their upward economic mobility. The Chinese government is acquiescing, albeit slowly.
The writing's on the wall in China - China either continues opening itself up to more and more personal freedoms and economic success, or it all collapses. The leaders of China are aware that to clamp down and take it back to where it was in the mid 80s, they'll have riots like they've never seen and the country WILL collapse. Now it's a matter of how to manage the change to minimize the shock to their own power.
But the change IS coming...
1. The filibuster is in the SENATE, not the House. The House is simple Majority Rules. The Senate, likewise, but by tradition 6 of 10 sitting Senators (not 60 votes, just 60% of those present) need to agree to end debate. This is a procedural rule only, not a law, and can be changed by a simple majority vote in the Senate.
2. ALL appropriations bills - spending of money - MUST originate in the House. The Senate and President cannot spend money; only the House has that ability. The Senate and President must approve the bill for it to become a law so funds can be spent, but they cannot start bills with spending on their own.
This means, inherently, the purse strings of the government are controlled DE FACTO by the House; specifically the Appropriations Committee. As committee heads are chosen by the majority party, the Democrats now control the purse strings. That's a LOT of power.
Since the Democrat party controls the Congress - committee chairs AND numerical majorities in both - they could push any legislation or bill desired to the desk of the President, where he could sign or veto. The lack of action so many on the angry left decry is, I believe, rooted in wishful thinking about revenge or perceived slights/malfeasance rather than actual fact.
I have a hard time believing that Waxman, Schumer, et al would NOT be pushing impeachment or thousands of subpoenas issued if there were actually reasons to do so. I think there's a lot of delusion going on out there... In essence, by having a majority in both houses
Li probably works the normal 10 hour shift, meaning he makes around 25 RMB (yuan) per day. Does this 6 days a week, about 49 weeks out of the year (maybe getting a week at Chinese New Year and 3-5 days during Golden Week).
His weekly income would be around 150 RMB. He'd earn around 600 RMB per month.
I have a friend, Alice, who is a cashier in a grocery store on the outskirts of Nanjing. She earns 600 RMB a month for 9 hours a day, 6 days a week, 2 weeks off per year. This does not include a dorm - she shares a 1 bedroom apartment with 5 other girls (apartment is 650 RMB per month).
So I'd say he's pulling down the equivalent of 710-750 RMB per month, once you factor in housing. Low wages, but about what a lot of unskilled laborers make in that city.
For comparison, last time I visited Nanjing (April 2007) a 5 nice meal with 15 dishes and 4 liters of beer ran 110 RMB, and fed 6 people. A taxi ride of less than 5 km is 8 RMB, bus ride anywhere around town was 2 RMB, and the 2.5 hour train ride from Nanjing to Shanghai was 84 RMB.
I've been self-employed for 10 years, meaning for the last 10 years I've had to fend for myself for health insurance. During that time I've been independent (like now - no employees) and ran a small business with a few (3-10) employees. And provided healthcare.
For example, I currently have a plan that is true insurance - it covers me against big losses ($2500 annual deductible), covers my first 6 visits to the doctor for preventive and regular checkups, even covers most of an emergency visit ($100 copay). And it does this, for a 39 year old male, for $93 per month.
My wife has a similar plan through her employer, where she pays 100% of the premium, but it's only $78 per month. And she's a cancer survivor who daily takes medications, and monthly gets blood work to regulate her body chemistry.
Health insurance is NOT expensive if you shop around, make informed choices, and treat it like any other insurance package; it's there to cover big expenses, not to use every time you wake up and your wrist feels funny.
Dental? I worked out a plan 8 years ago with a local dentist. They give me and my employees (now ex-employees) 50% off, and we paid cash direct. Typical cleaning runs around $60 per visit, and a cavity is around $200. Haven't had a cavity in 11 years (brushing twice a day really works!), so my dental runs me $10 per month. The dentist loves it because she gets cash immediately for service; sure, she'd make a bit more if it was billed (she normally makes $80/cleaning after insurance form costs are factored in), but don't have to wait 60-90 days for payment.
Private insurance works REALLY WELL if people just would take the time and treat it with a bit more than "oh nos my head hurtz to the emergency room I goes and why doesn't someone pay for it!". Your life is a BIT bigger asset than a house or car, but people put 10 times more effort into understanding the options and financing of those assets, and completely ignore the health care issue. Other than to rant about how much it costs...
Affordable healthcare exists, if people were just willing to actually shop for it themselves. When so many expect it as a basic "right" there's a loss of ownership in the expenses, and as such too many pay way too much for what they want (want, not what they need).
Of course, $22,500 in 1992 is equivalent to about $32,000 today. You could buy 2 Smart cars AND fuel them for 3 years for the same price (assuming 10,000 miles per year, $3/gallon, and 40 MPG). A bit different comparison, I think...
So was the climate then "correct"? Is the climate 50 years ago "correct"? What is the "ideal" climate so we know we've reached where we're supposed to be...
Right now, I see a lot of the AGW proponents postulating a problem, but without being able to point to what the ideal should be, its awfully hard to judge whether or not there even IS a problem...
I'd rather worry about issues like mercury poisoning, sewage treatments for the developing world, sanitation in general, and the like rather than debating over the supposed problem of AGW when we're not even sure if the current average temperature is low or high...
There's actually a lot of research indicating most whale populations are increasing, or have reached their natural limit. In other words, this hunt is a curiousity because of the previous portion of spear found, but shouldn't be a concern or rallying point to press for changes in cultural heritage to "save" the population.
EBay's fees are quite high, though, and I don't have any experience with Paypal's CS so can't comment there, but the fees they're charging seem to be somewhat in line with meatspace...
2. Dominant (90%+) Office Suite worldwide? Check.
3. Member of the DJIA? Check.
4. Zero debt? Check.
5. Making a BILLION DOLLARS A MONTH IN PROFIT? Check.
Well, there we have it. I guess Microsoft really DOES need to listen to F/OSS to learn how to run a business...
Vegetarian: old Cherokee word for bad hunter.
For those following along, the amount of currency traded EVERY DAY is equivalent to the entire ANNUAL GDP of China. The annual currency trades are about 20 times that of the US GDP. One month sees about the same money flow as the combined GDPs of the US and the EU. Annually more currency is traded than the actual GDP of the world.
That's a bit of cash flowing around...
I thought it was more about Jacques Chirac, Charles Pasqua, Jean-Bernard Merimee and many other top French officials getting illegal bribe payments from Iraq via the oil-for-food scandal. Silly me!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20 020912-1.html
Based on the UN's own data, and own resolutions, the Security Council voted to authorize the conclusion of the Gulf War (the 12 years between were supposed to be a cease-fire).
Yeah, Communism's only killed 100,000,000 people so far, let's give it another chance...
Curious that thousands of people were arrested or killed for fleeing from East Germany to West Germany, and really no one went the other way. Maybe the fact that thousands fled - at risk of death - to escape the USSR into the West and the US tells you something about the moral superiority of the US... Dissent here, you don't get shot.
And yes, I have first hand accounts from my mentor Alexandr who escaped the USSR in 1974, via smuggling himself and his son (left his wife and 3 daughters) in a boxcar carrying pigs from the Ukraine to the Balkans, then hiked it out to Austria over 6 weeks, and after 5 years finally made it to the US.
After the wall fell, he was able to go back and visit his wife's memorial (no grave allowed - erected by family), and spend time with his last living daughter. Wife and one daughter were executed for his escape, but it allowed his son to live (who was slated to go for front duty in supressing uprisings in the Ukraine where the casualty rate was near 80%, and fled with Alexandr at his wife's request, knowing she would probably die). Other two daughters were smuggled to relatives living in southern Ukraine. And one died in childbirth in the so advanced hospitals.
Visit an orphanage in the Ukraine sometime. Talk to the people who lived under the boot of the USSR, and get a real clue about how it was. When farmers had to turn over 80% of their crops to feed people in Odessa, while the farmers starved to death. Where you were sent to Siberia - if your family even knew that much - for simply having been seen with a "conspirator" who was accused of trying to overthrow the USSR. Where you would be shot for trying to cross a border, no questions asked.
Yeah, that's SO morally equal to the US...
What war crimes trials are going on? Per Geneva Conventions, those in Guantanamo can be held indefinitely at our discretion, and could actually be shot as they are not covered as actual combatants or protected persons.
President Clinton was impeached; he was not convicted. See the US Constitution Article 1, section 2, clause 5 for impeachment. See Article 1, section 3, clause 6 for conviction.
Personally, I voted against President Clinton, and believe he was guilty of much more than what he was impeached for. But legally, he was impeached but not convicted. I'm not making it up, that's what the US Constitution says.
This is the most controversial section of Protocol I. More specifically the paragraphs 3 through to 5. It is the primary cause for US administrations not adopt this protocol.
The US has not adopted this protocol; we're not bound by it.
You cannot be a foreign terrorist and claim coverage of the Conventions. The fact that the insurgents violate all protections to be afforded to Protected Persons immediately disqualifies their own protection.
The exception, of course would be if members of the House were asked to go to sit with foreign governments on the behalf of the President. They would then be acting as the President's representative.
But to be a representative, and go without the consent of the President is really pretty cut and dried wrong.
This is not true. From the Army field manual "The Law of Land Warfare" (publication FM 27-10):
Persons, such as guerrillas and partisans, who take up arms and commit hostile acts without having complied with the conditions prescribed by the laws of war for recognition as belligerents, are, when captured by the injured party, not entitled to be treated as prisoners of war and may be tried and sentenced to execution or imprisonment (FM 27-10 Par. 80).
Likewise, the Hague Convention and Geneva Convention afford ZERO coverage as civilians or actual soldiers for anyone who does not fit ALL four of the following statements:
that of being commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates. that of having a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance. that of carrying arms openly. that of conducting their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war.
Note that not wearing a uniform OR hiding your weapon OR not operating according to the Conventions (killing prisoners, for instance) all mean you are not a solider. No coverage.
Bottom line: terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are neither soldiers nor civilians, and should not be afforded the rights of either.
I'd say yes. It wasn't their right to execute such meetings, and in fact is counter to the Constitution. At the very least all should be tossed out of the House.
In other words, there has to be something to impeach him for. What would that be?
MILITARY ASSISTANCE- (A) The President is authorized to direct the drawdown of defense articles from the stocks of the Department of Defense, defense services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training for such organizations.
Bold emphasis mine. The President was authorized to use materiel and personnel of the US Military to achieve the goals of the bill. In addition to military education and training. The intent may have been different, but the text of the bill is pretty unambiguous.
Also, note further that section 4(e)(1) takes the cost of military materiel and personnel out of the budget for the bill.
President Clinton's signing statement (an action which apparently is so evil to use, you even reference his use of signing statements) clarifies his position to support overthrow of Saddam, and to work through the US Security Council to see that happen. Which is exactly how President Bush executed the completion of the Iraq War - with approval of the UNSC.
If you want to impeach the President for these actions, how about deciding if the actions are even criminal to begin with? That has yet to be determined.