This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
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Are these "Neocon" Governors for real? There has been nothing but shrinkage of spending on American Infrastructure under Bush/Cheney and the 'resistant' Governors thought it was a great idea?
They don't even care about 'opportunity' to give their children a leg up. Money and the way it lines their pockets are more important than improving a child's ability to do well in life. Money in their pockets are more important that RESPONSIBLE energy. Amazing.
SC high court orders Gov. Sanford to take money (click title to entry - thank you) By JIM DAVENPORT – 1 hour ago COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's Supreme Court ordered Gov. Mark Sanford on Thursday to take $700 million in federal stimulus money aimed primarily atstruggling schools....
Police: Carradine Found Naked, Hanged in Closet (click title to entry - thank you) Actor David Carradine Was Found Dead, Hanged in Closet of Bangkok Hotel Room By RUSSELL GOLDMANJune 4, 2009 David Carradine, star of the 1970s drama "Kung Fu," was found dead in a Bangkok, Thailand, hotel room from an apparent suicide by hanging, according to police and local media. He was 72....
There is no more funding for Yucca Mountain. Now, there is this 'mysterious' mistake. Give me a break !
Obama Formalizes Push to Cancel Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste DumpFriday, May 8, 2009 (click here) U.S. President Barack Obama formally asked Congress yesterday to halt decades-old plans to build a long-term nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, Reuters reported (see GSN, April 30). "All funding for development of the (Yucca Mountain) facility would be eliminated, such as further land acquisition, transportation access and additional engineering," the administration's fiscal 2010 energy budget request states. The Obama administration requested $197 million to shutter the project and "explore alternatives" for handling the nation's nuclear waste. Energy Secretary Steven Chu is expected to establish a blue-ribbon panel that would assess various waste storage proposals and counsel the administration on which to pursue, according to the White House. The Yucca Mountain site was intended to hold millions of pounds of hazardous waste from U.S. nuclear weapons work and atomic energy production. There are now 121 sites in 39 U.S. states that hold high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel on an interim basis, according to Reuters. The budget proposal states "that nuclear power is -- and likely will remain -- an important source of electricity for many years to come and that how the nation deals with the dangerous byproduct of nuclear reactors is a critical question that has yet to be resolved" (Tom Doggett, Reuters, May 7).
This to raise public awareness and expose any recklessness of the nuclear energy industry. The public now has more clout in the nuclear enegy debate than they ever did before. If Americans scream it is to expensive and too dangerous they will get their way. All those Anti-Nuclear Reactor movements now have their chance to squelch the industry. They have lots of friends in the Executive Branch that would love to stop the spending on these dangerous forms of energy. We have alternatives and there is no reason to continue with technology that is over five decades OLD.
Dig the language of the Neocons. "Yucca is two FULL hours from Las Vegas." It should be more like "ONLY two full hours from Las Vegas."
Whom in the national media was actually born yesterday?
At any rate, Anti-Nuclear movements across the country can now add to their position the fact 'highly classified information' is leaked and endangers their National Security. Go, get 'em !!!
Is Yucca Dead? Just Look on Page 68 (click title to entry - thank you)
"Just outside of Las Vegas"? Reid makes it sound like the repository is going to be built in downtown Henderson. In fact, Yucca is a full two-hour drive from Las Vegas. That's about half-way to Disneyland in the middle of nowhere. "Just outside of Las Vegas." What a crock. And "a piece of the magnificent Nevada desert"? First of all, it's a desert, which, by definition, means it's ... a desert. Not exactly Iowa corn fields or the rainforest. Secondly, the underground project is so far off the Highway 93/95 beatin' path that no one will ever see it unless they're taking a tour of the place. And lastly, this "dumping ground for dangerous nuclear waste" is located right next to the Nuclear Test Site, the place where the United States government blows up nuclear weapons underground to make sure they work. So in reality, "storing dangerous nuclear waste" is pretty much the ONLY thing Yucca Mountain can be used for -- other than building a nuclear waste recycling facility and an international energy research center....
I am not saying President Obama even gave a nod to this, but, someone pulled the plug for a reason. Nuclear power plants are expensive. Not only that, but, how does a President that wants to disarm North Korea and Iran even justify his stand if the USA is going to continue to expand its nuclear reactor numbers.
Basically, the information is what is reported to the IAEA. Why not just keep the reporting completely transparent and all the world can know where the USA stands on nuclear power and otherwise. It is not a military document. This is to allow the people of the USA to know exactly what is happening in their neighborhoods and the world to know the USA's capacity. It serves many, many purposes, EXCEPT, the purpose of making a mistake. This was no mistake. Anybody for peace talks?
...The 266-page document was published on May 6 as a transmission from President Barack Obama to Congress. According to the document, the list was required by law and will be provided to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Some of the pages are marked "highly confidential safeguards sensitive." Damien LaVera, a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration, said the document had been reviewed by a number of U.S. agencies and that disclosure of the information did not jeopardize national security. He said the document is part of an agreement on nuclear material inspection under the IAEA's nuclear nonproliferation effort. "While we would have preferred it not be released, the Departments of Energy, Defense, and Commerce and the NRC all thoroughly reviewed it to ensure that no information of direct national security significance would be compromised," LaVera said in a statement.Read more: "Government mistakenly publishes list of nuclear materials, sites; sensitive data was not classified....
In his latest audio message, bin Laden warns Americans to prepare for war as the policies of Obama are no different from those of former President George W. Bush in the eyes of al Qaeda. Bin Laden makes reference to this spring's violence in the Swat Valley of Pakistan, indicating that he recorded his message relatively recently. (/ABC News)
..."Obama and his administration have planted seeds for hatred and revenge against America," the Saudi-born bin Laden declared, saying Obama was treading in the footsteps of his predecessor. "Let the American people prepare to continue to reap what has been planted by the heads of the White House in the coming years and decades," bin Laden said....
In the coming years and decades? Huh? Bin Laden has no way of carrying out attacks on the USA anymore. The intelligence in Europe has become too good. The USA now abides by the warnings issued by Great Britain, Germany and Interpol, rather than ignoring them as under Bush/Cheney when the tragedy of September 11th happened.
There have been attempts by al Qaeda since 911 to assault The West in spectacular muscle flexing by that terrorist network and have failed on some occassions. There are terrorists currently in prison in the USA that have been successfully prosecuted.
It is all rhetoric. If Bin Laden had anyway of predicting the acts of his network during the President's visit to the Middle East he would do so. But, to simply try to 'up stage' President Obama is a sign of sincere loss of power and influence in a way that matters.
The Pakistani assault on the militants within their country has profoundly turned whatever sympathy is left for him against any possibility of having influence.
The Taliban hold marginal control over the people of Swat Valley. They rely on an extremist radio Mullah in order to continue to instill fear in people seeking to outwit the Pakistan government and military. I find it odd the Pakistani government hasn't stopped these transmissions. They are akin to the radio transmissions used in the massacres in Rwanda.
Radicalizing the Pashtun Maulana Shah Dauran (click here) is another FM Mullah in Swat who is famous for his harsh and derogatory denunciations of Pakistani politicians, the United States and the coalition of nations involved in the war on terrorism. He typically parodies the Pakistani leadership and specializes in character assassination.
A Taliban leader in Darra Adam Khel, commander Tariq Afridi, has recently launched a pirate FM station which is also considered to be one of the most influential in the area. It is a short-range broadcast that can be heard only within a two-kilometer radius, but its words are taken very seriously. Tariq Afrida has been threatening tribesmen with dire consequences if they dare to raise a lashkar (tribal militia) against the Taliban or help the government against the Taliban in any way....
This is the kind of genocidal leadership The Taliban offered to the people of Swat Valley. Realizing there are millions in refugee camps at this moment is to realize they rather be there than under the control of madmen like the Taliban and al Qaeda. Then to realize the millions displaced to refugee camps are outside that influence is to realize the shrinking populous available to The Taliban and al Qaeda to influence into attacks.
The chaos of war in Pakistan has served the government and not al Qaeda. The radios necessary to have influence to people are no longer turned on or in the listening distance of those that have fled. The Pakistan government should interrupt those transmissions and replace them with instructions to leave Swat and abandon any ideation of violence.
Al Qaeda has lost its footing in Pakistan. They don't have the populous to control, murder and intimidate. The people of Pakistan are freer today. They won't return to the hatred of their government and its ally the USA to return to the fear of living within their own homes.
Tehran’s Substitute Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said clues of the involvement of the US and Israel in Thursday's bombing of a mosque in Zahedan were discernable. Talking to a large congregation gathered at Tehran University campus for Friday prayers, the Ayatollah condemned the blast at a mosque in the city of Zahedan in southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan Thursday evening, which killed 25 and injured 125 others.
According to IRNA, he said the powerful Islamic establishment in Iran will surely identify the elements behind the terrorist act and punish them.
I guess it is a good thing he's a SUBSTITUTE for Friday prayers, huh? Then one wonders why the Palestinian - Israel conflict never gets settled. It would be good if all the countries in the Middle East were on the same page. ISRAEL EXISTS !!! This is such childish nonsense already ! The Palestinian people await the day Iran STOPS lying !
Blood is seen on the ceiling inside a mosque after a bomb explosion in Zahedan, 1076 km (668 miles) south east of Tehran, May 28, 2009. An explosion at a prominent Shi'ite Muslim mosque in the southeast Iranian city of Zahedan on Thursday killed 30 people and wounded 60, the semi-official news agency ILNA reported. REUTERS/IRNA
Pakistan: Iran partially closes border crossing (click here) By ABDUL SATTAR – 1 day ago QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Iran has partially closed a border crossing into Pakistan following a deadly mosque bombing in southeastern Iran, two Pakistani officials near the border said Monday. The foreign minister said the frontier was open. Qamar Masood, a senior official in Baluchistan province on the Pakistan side of the border, said the crossing at Taftan had been closed for trading but that foot traffic was still being allowed. Shahbaz Ahmed, an official with the Pakistani border security force at Taftan, told AP the border had been closed for the past three days and that no vehicles had crossed during that period. "Officially we have not been given any intimation or reason, but I think that blast in Zahedan could be the reason," Masood told The Associated Press, referring to the mosque attack. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a statement that Pakistan's border with Iran "was never closed" and that five Iranian trucks carrying aid for refugees from a military offensive in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley region had crossed over on Monday. Officials could not immediately explain the different accounts. Calls to Iranian officials were not immediately returned on Monday....
Posted on Tue, Jun. 2, 2009 (click title to entry - thank you) By Ashraf Khan and Nahal Toosi Associated Press ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Taliban extremists ambushed a convoy of vehicles carrying at least 400 students, staff, and relatives from a boys' school yesterday, taking dozens - possibly hundreds - captive in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. The army said today that its troops had rescued 79 of the captives, with at least one person still missing. The brazen abduction was part of a string of extremist actions in Pakistan's tribal belt that the army believes is partly aimed at distracting the military from its offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley. The extremists were said to have rockets, grenades, and automatic weapons. Details were still emerging early today about what exactly happened in North Waziristan. Originally, as many as 500 people were believed to have been abducted, but about 200 students were later found to be safe. Army Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said a group of 80 had been held in North Waziristan's Goryam area....
The assembly workers at the GM plants already know how to build mass produced vehicles. They could easily be tooled up to produce anything the country needs. Why build new plants, why train new employees, when everything the country needs is right there in front of us?
This should be interesting, especially since the TARP funds were 'given away' by Bush/Paulson without any records as to where the monies were going. Mueller might want to start with the earliest fraud of the Bush White House and the free give away of the first $87 billion US to Iraq.
FBI Director Robert Mueller in the East Room of the White House, May 29, 2009. REUTERS/Larry Downing
By Grant McCool and Martha Graybow NEW YORK (Reuters) - The FBI is working with other U.S. agencies to prevent wrongdoing related to government bailout money and the economic stimulus package, in what could be the "next wave" of financial fraud cases, Director Robert Mueller said on Tuesday. Mueller said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York that the FBI, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program were working to track where federal money is going. "With billions of dollars at stake -- from the purchase of troubled assets to improvements in infrastructure, healthcare, energy and education -- even a small percentage of fraud would result in substantial taxpayer losses," Mueller said....
SEPTEMBER 10, 2003 COMMENTARY By Howard Gleckman The Neatest Thing about That $87 Billion (click here) Bush and congressional leaders plan to treat the Iraq spending as if it were off-budget, pretending they're not creating red ink Time to follow Alice for another quick trip down Washington's rabbit hole. Just take a look at what's about to happen with President Bush's request for $87 billion to continue U.S. military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush will get the money from Congress, all right. But that's where things will begin to get strange. The President and congressional leaders are going to try to make $87 billion in federal spending disappear. How? By treating it as if it were off-budget spending. Here's how: For fiscal year 2004, which begins on Oct. 1, Bush has insisted that Congress hold discretionary spending -- that is, all expenses except for programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on the debt -- to $784.7 billion, and not a penny more. From now until Thanksgiving, the White House and Congress will do battle over every cent....
The H1N1 virus is stated to have four components of previous virus. One avian, one human and two swine. I believe the obesity 'link' is connected with the dominant characteristic found in pigs. FAT.Combine that with a human strain and an avian strain and one has a nasty virus with higher virulency.
...Public health officials in California had said it was only a matter of time before someone in the state died from swine flu. For the most part, the flu - a strain of influenza A type H1N1 - has been relatively mild, with few hospitalizations. But cases of all types of flu should have all but disappeared by now, public health officials said. Instead, officials at the CDC say there's been a slight increase in flu activity in recent weeks. "This virus is circulating much later than the annual flu viruses," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for the CDC's science and public health program, in a press conference last week. "We're really not seeing much of any other seasonal flu viruses anymore. But we are continuing to see this strain circulate." The CDC and state public health agencies regularly keep track of the number of patients with flu-like illnesses seeking medical treatment. Typically the number of patients increases during the flu season in the winter months, then declines sharply in May and nearly disappears over the summer....
We’re Officially Nervous About Swine Flu Again (click here) 5/28/09 at 12:34 PM ...“Many, many people share the same underlying causes that my husband had, and if he’s at risk, many people are at risk,” said Bonnie Wiener, the widow of Mitchell Wiener, 55, the first New Yorker to die of swine flu, on May 17. She disputed the city’s assertion that underlying conditions were a factor in his death. “He was overweight and he was taking medicine for high blood pressure,” she said. “How many people 50 and above don’t?”...
Morning Rounds: Flu and Fat, Gifting Docs, Hamburg Gets To Work (click here) by April Fulton Good Morning. One more reason to lose weight: NPR's Richard Knox reports that obese people may be at a higher risk for a complicated case of the swine flu, or H1N1 virus, according to the CDC. A survey of people hospitalized in California recently indicates that obesity may be as a much of a risk factor as heart disease, pregnancy and diabetes, the Washington Post reports. Also, CDC's Anne Schuchat told NPR's Melissa Block on All Things Considered last night, there are likely 20 times more swine flu cases than are being reported in the U.S. Many are mild, she said. Still, there is at least one likely new U.S. death today, which would bring the U.S. total to seven. Reuters says a 44-year-old Missouri man diagnosed with H1N1 died in a hospital Tuesday, although officials are still investigating whether the virus was the cause of his death.
Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann were incredible last night. They reported on a News Network that used George Tiller as an icon to the Religious Right. News Corp, Bill O'Reilly and Glen Beck were as responsible for the man's death as the man that pulled the trigger in a Kansas Church, Scott Roeder.
In addition to the line of conspirators at the title of this entry, there is the matter of Randall Terry, the founder of the organization Scott Roeder, the suspected murder was a member. Randall Terry is the hard line bigot that defamed and rejected his own children because their mother was African American. He withdrew from the 'center stage' of the media some time ago to conduct his mission at "Operation Rescue."
Terry willingly defamed and maligned his own children in order to prove his dedication to the Religious Right. His daughter became pregnant without the benefit of marriage and this son is Gay. He helped conduct the Terri Schiavo Campaign by the Religous Right. One of Jeb Bush's buddies.
...Lindsey Roeder said that the early years of the marriage were good and that Scott Roeder worked in an envelope factory. She said he moved out of their home after he became involved with the Freemen movement, an antigovernment group that discouraged the paying of taxes. The Roeders have one son, now 22. "When he moved out in 1994, I thought he was over the edge with that stuff," his ex-wife said. "He started falling apart."...(click title to entry - thank you)
So there you have it. The Relgious Right advocated hate of a 'particular' physician and now he is dead. The FOX news Channel and extremists like O'Reilly and Beck (He appeared on a news segment with O'Reilly advocating same.) need to be prosecuted.Randall Terry is 'in it' for the money.
The disappearance of Air France 447 is shrouded in an air of mystery that sets it apart from other aircraft disasters.
The Airbus 330 has a remarkable safety record from the stand point of crashes. There was only one fatal incident in a test flight whereby 7 crew members died. However, it does not have an unmarred record. This incident occurred in 2002.
Robert Piché spoke calmly, systematically detailing the terrifying realization that the jetliner he was directing was heading out of the sky and into the dark ocean below. The pilot of the Air Transat Airbus A330 spoke for the first time Tuesday after landing his aircraft on a tiny Azores landing strip last Friday with no fuel, no instruments and the lives of 300 people in his hands. Mr. Piché said his training prepared him for the unthinkable — that his craft, Flight 236, was literally going to fall from the sky....
Sound right?
There are a lot of theories, including the possibility that it was a terrorist attack. There is 'speculation' that supports that theory as well. If I may at the expense of a lost airline and dead people.
I am sure the terrorist plot to hijack upto 10 airliners in 2006 is still fresh enough to remember.
On the night of Aug. 9, 2006, British authorities arrested 24 men and charged them with plotting to blow up as many as 10 trans-Atlantic flights, using explosive liquids that were to have been smuggled aboard the airliners in soda bottles. The announcement led to an immediate ban on all carry-on liquids, creams and gels -- a measure that snarled air traffic worldwide at the height of the summer tourist season -- and an eventual change in security rules that limits travelers to only small amounts of such materials. The case was quickly whittled down to eight defendants, amid widening public skepticism of the scale of the plot. The eight went on trial in London in April 2008, charged with conspiring to murder thousands of people by carrying out the attacks on passenger jets bound for North America. On Sept. 9, 2008, the jury found three of the eight guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, but returned no verdict on the most serious charges, involving a conspiracy to blow up airliners....
And there is information that the Iranian President suddenly and without reason cancelled his highly anticipated trip to Brazil before the loss of the plane.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad Cancels Brazil Trip Indefinitely (Update2) (click here) By Joshua Goodman and Ladane Nasseri May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad canceled a trip to Brazil this week without explanation amid criticism at home from the country’s clerical leader and U.S. concern about Iran’s growing influence in Latin America. The state visit of more than 100 officials and businessmen was set to begin tomorrow in Brasilia and focus on expanding the countries’ trade, which quadrupled to $2 billion in 2007 from 2002. Ahmadinejad has been seeking allies among nations critical of U.S. policy in the conflict over U.S.-led efforts to shut down his nuclear program. Since coming to power in 2005, he has visited Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the U.S.’s fiercest critic in the region, as well as allied governments in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, where U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week Iran was building a “huge” embassy that undermines U.S. interests in the region. The trip, including stops in Venezuela and Ecuador, was postponed indefinitely, Ahmadinejad’s office said in a statement, without saying why the plans changed. Roberto Jaguaribe, a political undersecretary at Brazil’s foreign ministry, told reporters in Brasilia it will be rescheduled for a date after Iran’s June 12 elections. Lula may visit Iran following an Ahmadinejad trip to Brasilia, he said....
There is speculation there was turbulent air and storms that inteferred with the flight plan of the pilot of Air France Flight 447. That is a possibility, but, from personal experience on Icelandic Air, when these pilots are flying into severe turbulence as found today in the upper troposphere they handle it well. The Icelandic Air pilots literally flew with the engines wide open through some of the most difficult air turbulence. The plane was fine and the flight unremarkable. People slept on the five hour flight.
From the description of the flight from whatever existing information there is, it sounds as though the AF 447 Airbus ran into operating problems no different than the flight interrupted in June of 2002. Taking into consideration this was a relatively new aircraft, it all seems fairly clear it had 'bugs' in its operating mechanisms that were never discovered and well concealed.
My deepest sympathies to the families of those lost in this aircraft anomaly. My sincere sadness for France. The people of France and their government are profoundly saddened by these incidents. If one remembers the Air France disaster with the SST? They grounded the fleet and ended the career of those airplanes. To France, the loss of one life is more than it can tolerate. (click here)
It has to be the LONGEST debate in the country's history. When the voters went to the polls in November little did they realize they would be opening up the debate that would follow, namely what is a valid vote and what it not.
Coleman, Franken oral arguments complete; Now we wait (click title to article - thank you) By Jason Hoppin jhoppin@pioneerpress.com Updated: 06/01/2009 11:17:50 AM CDT Seven months after 2.9 million voters cast ballots in the 2008 U.S. Senate race, a decision on who won the race is in the hands of five jurists. The Minnesota Supreme Court this morning grilled lawyers for apparent winner Al Franken and former Sen. Norm Coleman, as they laid out what could be their final arguments — to the relief of many Minnesotans, undoubtedly — before the election is finally and conclusively decided. Coleman lawyer Joe Friedberg hammered home the point that a three-judge panel that heard Coleman's appeal of the results applied different standards than county elections officials on whether to accept or reject absentee ballots that proved crucial to the outcome of the race....
Prince Harry of Wales, right, is sprayed with champagne while hoisting the trophy with teammates at the second annual Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic polo match on Governor's Island in New York on Saturday, May 30, 2009. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
...As their motorcade set off, the crowd rushed toward the barrier, cheering, “Obama!”...
President Obama and his wife Michelle Obama are escorted off a helicopter near Pier 11 in Manhattan on May 30. The two went on a date to dinner and to see a Broadway show. (Courtesy of Trisha Deniega)
Was there any VALID reason for this man's death? No. None !
George Tiller, who was shot and killed in Wichita, Kansas
And ABC 'got it right.' George Tiller believed in the DEMOCRATIC society of CHOICE we all live in. He wasn't afraid to stare down death in the face of INTIMIDATION and FEAR. The anarchy of the Religous Right and its zealotry AT ANY COST, is what killed George Tiller.
June 1, 2009 The controversial abortion doctor who was gunned down in a Wichita church Sunday persevered, even though "he existed in a climate of intimidation and fear," according to his lawyer and friend....
See, it goes like this. It doesn't matter if you have a Democratic and Free country, if the people don't practice that freedom. Dr. Tiller believed any woman was intelligent enough to handle her life without the 'rule of law' governing her uterus.
He believed in women and he bravely stood up for the rights this society granted them. People are supposed to live their lives within the boundaries of law without inhibition by the government through theocratic dogma.
Dr. Tiller made sure women that chose to have an abortion were granted safe and competent medical attention. He did nothing "W"rong, yet while demanding the law reflect Extremist Christian Values his life was taken from him. THAT, is oppression.
Abortion clinics and hospitals need to have 'stepped up' security. This is a form of HOME GROWN terrorist. Where is the FBI today? Saving George Tiller's life? No. Nowhere to be found.
Scott Roeder was a KNOWN threat to society, known to be capable of violence, so where was the FBI? Maybe to be protected from death, a USA citizen has to be the focus of a 'sting' operation !!!
By James Carlson Created June 1, 2009 at 6:38am Updated June 1, 2009 at 7:32am Scott Roeder presented a "threat of danger to the public," a Shawnee County District Judge said in 1996 of the man now accused of shooting abortionist George Tiller. "There is an indication that you have not been willing to conform your conduct" to the law, judge James Buchele told Roeder at his sentencing for possessing explosives. Roeder, 51 of Merriam, was arrested in Johnson County Sunday afternoon in connection with the shooting death of Tiller at a Wichita church service earlier in the day. In 1996 stories in The Capital-Journal, law enforcement officials described Roeder as a man who disregarded American law, while his father termed him a "loving" but "obsessed" man who wouldn't hurt a living thing. Roeder had associated with the Freeman movement - a right-wing, anti-government group - causing then Shawnee County assistant district attorney James Brown to label Roeder a "substantial threat to public safety." "This defendant has chosen to exempt himself from our laws," Brown said during the August 1996 sentencing hearing. "He doesn't recognize your authority." The Freeman group had been in the news at the time as a month-long standoff took place at a Montana ranch between federal authorities and members of the group....
...and now they feel as though they have to be vincidated of any statement that publicly indicts them of atrocities in engaging in and conducting a war in Iraq. They also believe their 'torture,' engaged in desperation for lacking the will to continue to conclusion the war in Afghanistan, is completely void of peril for our military. They put our military soldiers in harms way with their own methods and words and didn't give a damn !
I could never understand how Colin Powell would make blatant lies to the United Nations. However, when his integrity and the power of that integrity was diluted by false information due to torture, it makes far more sense than it doesn't.
I believe him when he states he didn't know if the information in 'SLAM DUNK' was obtained by torture. At that time, he knew only of the reports being handed him. He was being held accountable by Cheney and Bush to explain away any of the words on the page in front of him.
He may have had 'druthers' otherwise, but, Cheney wanted Iraq Halliburton for the sake of saving himself from a lawsuit with stockholders, something Bush would empathize with due to his own experiences. Bush wanted Saddam in revenge for threats against his father.
Powell did not have the 'methods nor the clout' either through his current authority or his morality to raise questions of Rumsfeld for his actions within the Defense Department to obtain information otherwise. He was stuck. At this point, as before, it was a matter of 'processing' the information and moving to venues that would insure our national security, or so it would APPEAR.
Could he have 'pulled the plug' on Cheney, Bush and the CIA? No. When Former Secretary Powell states, "So." It is because penmanship doesn't count when decisions of national security are on the line and the subordinate hasn't commissioned proof of why the information would be tainted.
Do I believe Former Secretary Powell consciously made the decision to lie? No. Absolutely not. It was not an action of looking the other way as a convenience to carry out torture or invade Iraq. I don't believe that for a minute. He only served one term. I think that speaks for itself.
The truth of the matter is that "SLAM DUNK" was facilitated by Rumsfeld with a battery of lunatic lawyers that SOUGHT 'loopholes' in the law where it would 'AVOID' any illegalities.
Can 'loopholes' be prosecuted? I do believe they can be prosecuted if THE WILL to pursue 'justice' is important enough.
It is no different than the 911 Commission. They were 'allowed to exist' and publically prosecute the Bush Administration including the "Bin Laden DETERMINED to Strike the US" memo and the sequelae of denial by Rice, Cheney even though Senator Feinstein was 'on the job.' Rice and Cheney should have been held accountable, but, they abused power and demanded to be immune from prosecution for the sake of national security. The Fifth Amendment was waived for the sake of the country. Basically.
The same thing goes here. The lawyers involved in 'justifying' the actions of the Bush White House for false impetus; LOOKED for loopholes and justification. THAT is abuse of power. It is not only illegal, dangerous at that level, it is also unethical. They knew better. They should not be practicing.
The Cheney/Bush White House is being given 'a pass' and it is done consciously.
Scalia and Thomas are just a waste of time. They are chronically biased according to their personal beliefs.
Every Hispanic woman seeking to participate in the dynamics of the USA, including the pursuit of law, should be inspired and confident.
By the way, I did say I thought Same Sex Marriage is about GENDER Discrimination, didn't I ? It is. Completely. It is a matter of whether there is a man or woman standing next you when the vows are said. It is completely analogous of the bigotry when the law attempted to criminalize the marriage of Black and White. Same thing.
She is going to be great. Completely. We better not be deprived of her presence on the Supreme Court because of "POPULOUS POLITICAL BIGOTRY." We better not !
But, then she hasn't been confronted with many in the District she precided.
What I found interesting about the analysis at the link to the title to this entry, was this:
...Sotomayor is not a predictable vote for environmentalists, industry, states or the federal government in environmental cases. Instead, she seems to weigh each case on its own merits, while displaying considerable skill in grasping the often arcane science and administrative history that form the basis of much modern environmental litigation....
She sounds reasonable, open minded and intelligent. She weighs all the facts and looks at the application of the law. She does it consistently while not 'favoring' the government over that of the individual, etc. No one can say that of the four conservative judges currently sitting firmly on their rectum.
It would seem 'the gap' between Approval or Disapproval is closing a bit, simply because the 'undecideds' are starting to make up their minds. It will be a very sad state of affairs if they making up their minds based upon the extremist media's racism sounding as if it is legitimate.
“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.”
Man are they racist. They were waiting for this one weren't they? Amazing. The statement is a 'quip.' A quip. It means the woman has a sense of humor. Dear God, forgive that a woman should have a sense of humor and very sharp elbows at the same time.
She obviously is concerned with the statements of peers. And she relies on those peers to understand the 'emphasis' that lies in those words. With any of these 'racist remarks' about Judge Sotomayor by ? members ? of the media it takes them completely out of context. You know the 15 second sound bite. Conservatives can't seem to move past that. Money, ya know?
But, at any rate, the statement was made in admiration and in support of the same kind of 'observation' by Former Supreme Court Judge Sandra Day O'Connor.
The larger context of the sentence is Sotomayor addressing former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's famous quote that "a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases."
Sandra was the first woman on the Supreme Court. All these folks, even when one reads interviews of people like Jackie Robinson, have faced horrible public scrutiny and ridicule. It becomes a huge burden in a person's life. Emotional scars result. She has every right to express in tones of humor the experiences of her life and her views as a result.
In any of those quotes, Judge Sotomayor is speaking primarily to peers. Sure we and the media are allowed to 'listen in,' but, in every instance she is speaking to people that are asking questions within the subject of 'the practice of judging the law.' Kindly get that right. "The Practice of Judging the Law." That is basically what any Judge does. They look at the facts presented in a 'sterile' environment in a court room, examine the application of the law to the circumstances and makes a judgement. Kindly get that right. The word is JUDGEMENT.
When the 'extremist' media finally speaks in words of 'analysis' rather than 'ridicule' I might even listen.
