Of course, Bush immediately issued a statement that he's going to try to work around the decision based on the Court's language that the military tribunals were not supported by any act of Congress.

Somehow he just can't get his little dino-brain around the concept that he doesn't get his way all the time....

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a strongly worded dissent from Thursday's ruling and took the unusual step of reading part of it from the bench -- something he had never done before in his 15 years. He said the court's decision would "sorely hamper the president's ability to confront and defeat a new and deadly enemy."

I don't see anything regarding law in this statement. Is this guy what they are referring to when they talk about liberal activists judges?

The shrill level of bullcrap coming from the chimpy cabal just emphasises the need for checks and balances. The Congressheeple are not willing to deny him any of his fascist agenda, thank God there is a way around chimpies madness.

The constant Constitutional violations, military aggression willfully violating long standing laws meant to protect people from tyranny shows the real need to replace the entire cabal and try to bring peacefull negotiation back into play in the world arena.

STOP THE WAR NOW!!!

Hail to Judge Paul Stevens and his fellow judges! Hail to the rule of law! Fellow conservatives, the president is not ABOVE america and it's rule of laws. If the executive were ABOVE america and its rule of laws, he IS NOT our american president!

#1) oh they get their way all the time they just pretend like they don't in order to fool the masses and delay the dissent that is inevitably coming.
-------------------------
the president--when it comes to waging the war on terrorism--can generally do whatever he deems necessary.
the Bush administration has argued that Bush's obligations as commander in chief trump all.
a strong president is needed to combat terrorist and that no restraints should be placed upon the chief executive,
After all, a dictator might more effectively deal with terrorists than a president who has to worry about congressional oversight
Bush has said we are different from our enemies. We do have to engage in this conflict in ways that are fundamentally different from the means our foes employ.
----------
lame. it is all well and good to calmly report what is officially said or left unsaid but it is past time to either denounce or support bushco's war of terror for profit.

the ha theorem:
since the acts of and even the merest threat of terrorism are contrived and perpetrated/foisted upon john Q by those who stand to gain the most financially from the very acts/threats of said terrorism, the 'spy program' that is derived by those very same contrivers and is claimed to be designed to uncover terrorist plots can only really have as it's motive the uncovering of dissent by john Q to such heavy-handed tactics.

OVER 500 WMDS FOUND IN IRAQ!!! I GUESS THAT MEANS THAT THOSE WHO HAVE CALLED BUSH A LIAR, ARE ACTUALLY LYING THEMSELVES!!!

WASHINGTON — The United States has found 500 chemical weapons in Iraq since 2003, and more weapons of mass destruction are likely to be uncovered, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday.
"We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons," Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said in a quickly called press conference late Wednesday afternoon.

Reading from a declassified portion of a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center, a Defense Department intelligence unit, Santorum said: "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist."...

"This says weapons have been discovered, more weapons exist and they state that Iraq was not a WMD-free zone, that there are continuing threats from the materials that are or may still be in Iraq," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

The weapons are thought to be manufactured before 1991 so they would not be proof of an ongoing WMD program in the 1990s. But they do show that Saddam Hussein was lying when he said all weapons had been destroyed, and it shows that years of on-again, off-again weapons inspections did not uncover these munitions....

Santorum pointed out that during Wednesday's debate, several Senate Democrats said that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq, a claim, he said, that the declassified document proves is untrue.

"This is an incredibly — in my mind — significant finding. The idea that, as my colleagues have repeatedly said in this debate on the other side of the aisle, that there are no weapons of mass destruction, is in fact false," he said.

So Capt, Pande, Hajji, Robert Schwartz, and other progressives, now fess up and apologize to Bush and ADMIT that Iraq did have WMDs, and Bush did NOT LIE(!), and that YOU were WRONG to call Bush a liar.

http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/Iraq_WMD_Declassified.pdf

He ain't MY president, Rob! Nice try, Bushie, with the ears and all, but ALFRED E. NEWMAN is still MY president!

Bill #2,

Clarence Thomas is a political hack and an intellectual lightweight. As Al Franken noted today, he rarely poses any questions to lawyers arguing before the Court, nor does he usually read any decisions or dissents publicly. He was offended because Dear Leader lost a close one.

And close it was. Shrub needs one more appointment to become Dic(k)tator.

Right now, we have a republic - if we can keep it.

bush is a liar and i call him and his co. liars.

Timmy, Timmy, Timmy....where 'ya been? The DOD debunked the Sad, Sad Santorum "findings" a week or more ago.

How many miles to the gallon is 'yer wife gettin' on the John Deere?

She's a HOTTIE!

-T

"Fox News’ Jim Angle contacted the Defense Department who quickly disavowed Santorum and Hoekstra’s claims. A Defense Department official told Angle flatly that the munitions hyped by Santorum and Hoekstra are “not the WMD’s for which this country went to war.”

Et Tu, FOX?

Gee, it took Tim a week to come here to crow about Santorum's publicity stunt, even though the story has been discredited several times over.

David Kay says the stuff under my kitchen sink is more dangerous than that crap.

Tim, you haven't been sniffing stuff from under the sink, have you?

Don...

Funny thing is...that's EXACTLY what I'm doing under mine!

Some of this stuff is not only dangerous...it is just as old as the chemical munitions Donny Rumsfeld sold Saddam in the 80's! (either I should clean more often, or Jill should stop buying cleaning products for a while, even IF the coupons are about to expire!)

-T

please don't spend the whole thread proving that timL is a fool. that's just what the DOT would have us wasting time with. it is a nice day out, even if a tad warm for my taste. go outside!

Anybody think Dumbya is thinking he could just issue a signing statement that'll get him out of this?

Spy,

I'd go outside, but it IS a little too frikken hot!

I'm cleaning inside and the animals are sorting out the pecking order with the re-addition of Ike, the "prodigal puppy!

So far he's learned to stay out of range of Pabla's hooves, Goatdiva's horns and Boozer's food!

-T

DAvid:

A SCOTUS War on Terror decision! Something worthy of my dropping in w/my 2 bits.....

Going against the grain (yet again), I don't read the present SCOTUS decision as "a harsh swipe at the Bush administration". To me, in the larger context, it's a victory for Bush and the Right. Americans would prefer to see that Bush & Co. are doing `too much', rather than `too little'......Hasn't the (lack of) reactions from the NSA wiretapping taught the Left anything?

The SC ruling to `rein in' (terror fighter) Bush, IS a good reminder to what HE IS DOING... even with some questionable basis for jailing/holding hundreds of `enemy combattants'.

Fact is, we have never had to deal with hundreds of Jihadists caught in the field. They are most certainly NOT the POW referred to in the Geneva Convention. We are in essence, exploring the compromises needed for establishing the `Rules of Engagement' for combatting these Islamic Extremists! Gitmo has become a problem on so many fronts and now, Bush's next decision on it can be pawned off on: "well, the SC sort of made me do it"!

Is it still flooding in the DC area? I was just wondering if Dubya is still wearing the floaties under his suit jacket.
They don't dare let 'im go into the deep end by himself. Holding hands with Chainee, maybe, if he didn't just eat his Trix.

Happy, you came back to unleash more of your unabashed babble. The SC's order was a win for Dubya is 'bout the only thing I could follow, and of course that was wrong. The rest is just more 'all over the place' b/s that I doubt you even understand.
Before that we had one of the Timz pop in for his dose of babble. The right should be ashamed of the quality of 'stock' they're filled with.

Hajji,

Do you remember this one from childhood?

(sung to the tune of the "Colonel Bogey March")

Comet...
It makes your teeth turn green!
Comet...
It tastes like vaseline!
Comet...
It makes you vomit
So go buy Comet
And vomit
TODAY!

I hope Timmy didn't get into any of that!

Right now, we have a republic - if we can keep it

By Don

Don, I like your republic very much. Why without the help of liberal activists like yourself, my war against America would not be successful. If my jihadists were captured in one of my countries they would have been hanged. You've got to love America. Freedom to bring down the Great Satan with the help of it's own people like you doesn't get any better.

Thank you America!!!!

Hajji

I'm going to give you twenty virgins!

Hajji

If you can get my fellow jihadists amnesty like in Iraq, I will give you 30 virgins.

"it wasn't always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship..." - Guess who?

thank you scotus

Dear Mr Don,

I am writing to you as my new pen pal and would like to request sponsorship for the new "House a Gitmo foreign exchange terrorist" I promise not to behead anyone related to you for all your hard work in freeing me from the Evil American oppressors. You may want to put me up in your guest house since I will be working with explosives.

Sincerely,

A greatful terrorist

arp

No, thank you.

Stupid troll tricks!

LBH+Osama=Morons²

Osama,

I'm too old to start training "virgins", much less 30 of 'em!

(for the WV definition of 'virgin' e-mail me)

Can I trade 'em for 1 good, somewhat experienced and open-minded woman with a nice singing voice who knows when to go home?

-T

oh, yeah...lawn-tractor riding experience is a MUST!

We still are a republic but don't kid yourself - there are those with the agenda of destroying what we have - some of them are among the ruling class.

Can I trade 'em for 1 good, somewhat experienced and open-minded woman with a nice singing voice who knows when to go home?

"Hajji's request"

Dear loyal one, I would like to honor your request and give you Ms Helen Thomas in place of the 30 virgins. Since you've been such a loyal jihadist. I will even throw in some of Rush Limpbaugh's Viagra, free of charge. Helens an animal.

We still are a republic but don't kid yourself - there are those with the agenda of destroying what we have - some of them are among the ruling class.
Joe

Don't forget me Joe. It can stay our little secret.

Mr Den,

You just keep working on getting Rove indicted and you will get your share of virgins also. You must earn them as Don and Hajji have.

Osama,

I've got about 3,500 nephrology patients, here in the Upstate of SC, who'd pay a BUNCH of dollars to your cause, if only you'd share your secret of how you dialyze without electricity, in a cave, with no heparin, no shunt, no machine.

-T

Pathetic

I think LBH got into the Comet.

Oh faithful ones, I need your help once again. I am very worried now, please help.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The Iraq Solution

The Pentagon announced TODAY the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF).

These Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, West Virginia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas boys will be dropped off into Iraq and have been given only the following facts about terrorists:

1. The season opened today.
2. There is no limit.
3. They taste just like chicken.
4. They don't like beer, pickups, country music or Jesus.
5. They are directly responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt.

The Pentagon expects the problem in Iraq to be over by Friday.

Osama,

It is in the mounting of shotguns on the decks of bass-boats that the problem lies.

Are the Largemouth biting on the Euphrates this time of year?

Paid troll in the house!

I wonder how long it will be before bush's DoJ (oxymoron) rules that bush has the power to construe today's Gitmo ruling in a manner *consistent* with the constitution, as they interpret it.

Our government relies on the leaders of each branch to exercise self-restraint but bush has declared himself the judge of his own powers, so whenever necessary, he rules in his favor! (Voila! I am king! So there!)

In the meanwhile, however, I am enjoying this serious rebuke to bush and his boyfriends. Go SCOTUS!

Thank you, David, for your insightful think piece on this issue!

Are the Largemouth biting on the Euphrates this time of year?

Ah, Hajji, you know that I've been a guest in your home for the last three years. Be proud of your loylaty to me.

Well, well. Three activist judges, Scalia, Thomas and Roberts. Not libral activist judges, mind you. Ultra-reactionary activist judges, who want to take us back to before the Magna Carta. Which was? 1252?

Why do I increasingly feel that David Corn is sorta like Alice in Wonderland? "No, no," said the Red Queen, "verdict first, trial afterwards." ... and then she finally awoke and said, "Why you're nothing but a pack of cards." Washington, D.C., gives ever fresh meanings to "pack of cards."

yeah, but this one's almost funny!

Don,

Re: Comet, Vomit, etc.

The worst thing about my brain is how music and lyrics are able to entrench themselves for my entire life.

While it is nice to be able to sing "Come Sail Away" in Cartman's voice, no less) at the drop of a hat, when somebody mentions just about anything, it tends to set off a jingle in my head.

My old Mudshark Buddy, EBP, used to say that driving to a gig with me was "like a friggin' "Name that Tune" marathon!"

It is still just as painful for those around, as it is for me!

-T

Osama,

Yeah...stop using my toothbrush, dickweed!

Benson,

A pack of cards too greasy to deal!

-T

"White House Spokesman Tony Snow said after the ruling that about 100 of the 450 detainees are listed to be returned to their own countries. But there is a problem there.

Some of them are enemies of their own governments - those from Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan for example. They cannot just be sent back to an unknown fate." BBC News

Isn't it haertening to know we are protecting them from a fate worse than death by their detention?

Thomas, Scalia and Alito were probably the dissenters, and Roberts had to recuse himself since the whole Gitmo thing was partially his plan to begin with.

I just scanned the document and it was these three. It cracks me up to hear scholars say that these men are above politics and capable to hear a case on its merits.

Re #48: geof01, thanks for the correction. But it doesn't matter in that it's a stacked deck. There are two jacks of hearts, Alito and Roberts.

Osama,

Yeah...stop using my toothbrush, dickweed!

Mr Hajji, be nice or I'll have my way with you like last night!

Christian Archaeology Team Believes It Has Found the Ark
____________

June 29, 2006 — A team of Texas archaeologists believe they may have located the remains of Noah's Ark in Iran's Elburz mountain range.

"I can't imagine what it could be if it is not the Ark," said Arch Bonnema of the Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration (B.A.S.E) Institute, a Christian archeology organization dedicated to looking for biblical artifacts.

Bonnema and the other B.A.S.E. Institute members hiked for seven hours in the mountains northwest of Tehran, climbing 13,000 feet before making the apparent discovery.

"We got up to this object, nestled in the side of a hill," said Robert Cornuke, a member of the B.A.S.E. Institute. "We found something that has my heart skipping a beat."
___________

Well, then, there 'ya go!

The Old Testament is factual! "Eye for and Eye" is law!

Custody battles to be settled with a sword!

Don't need nukes, TRUMPETS will be the new "Bunker-Busters!!!"

sigh...

-T

Osama,

Just so long as you don't try to kiss me...that "toothbush" is actually the TOILET BRUSH!!!

Osama,

I've got about 3,500 nephrology patients, here in the Upstate of SC, who'd pay a BUNCH of dollars to your cause, if only you'd share your secret of how you dialyze without electricity, in a cave, with no heparin, no shunt, no machine.

-T

Mr Hajji, Howard Dean has sent me his best medical team available. I have much gratitude towards the haters of Bush, the evil one. However, I'm very concerned that if Mr Dean regains control of the White House in 08, my support will vanish. I look forward to left nut bloggers, like yourself, to carry on my mission.

how many arks does that make now?

Osama,

Just so long as you don't try to kiss me...that "toothbush" is actually the TOILET BRUSH!!!

If I were you, i would be more worried about the condom I used on you last night that had a whole in it. You know you love me, come on say it like you mean it!

Magna Carta signed in 1215. So the infamous three want to return us to about 1213. Maake something out of that number!

1213 is the number of virgins assigned to liberal bloggers that have helped me, again, win victory over America the Great Satan.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

"...However, I'm very concerned that if Mr Dean regains control of the White House in 08, my support will vanish..."

Yep, I pretty much feel the same way, since the current White House occupants have done more to drive monetary support, publicity and new recruits to you than you could ever have amassed yourself.

Now, give me back my TEVAs you sandal-stealing son of a Saudi Prince!

-T

Yep, I pretty much feel the same way, since the current White House occupants have done more to drive monetary support, publicity and new recruits to you than you could ever have amassed yourself.

T.

Hajji, you're so modest. I've always had my people amassed to myself. It's all the new liberal bloggers that have amassed to me that are what I'm talkin bout!

Osama,

Sorry I couldn't make it last night, but worry not about your prophilactic predicament. My dog ROVER still wimpers in appreciation of your attention in the kennel!

(this, btw, is as far as I'll carry this charade, thanks for the humor)

-T

Hajji,

Is this what you American liberal bloggers call foreplay? I like it.

(this, btw, is as far as I'll carry this charade, thanks for the humor)
T.

See you tonight! Tell rover to keep my spot warm until I get there and don't start without me this time!

Mr Don and Mr Hajji, can you please work on correcting this injustice for us? Thank you!

The Christian Science Monitor gets the facial decision correctly:

The court ruled 5-to-3 Thursday that Mr. Bush acted outside his authority when he ordered Al Qaeda suspects to stand trial before these specially organized military commissions. The ruling said that the commission process at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, could not proceed without violating US military law and provisions of the Geneva Conventions. "The commission lacks power to proceed," writes Justice John Paul Stevens for the court majority.

It also correctly describes what the decision did not do. It says:

Supreme Court ruling does not address whether Guantanámo should remain open or shut down. Instead, it focuses on the process for holding commission trials established by the president....

And,

"It bears emphasizing that Hamdan does not challenge, and we do not today address, the government's power to detain him for the duration of active hostilities," Stevens writes.

Damn!

SCOTUS told King George he is not judge, jury and President, just President.

SCOTUS told King George he does not have a "blank check" because of war authorization.

They told him his tribunal plans are illegal and they told him to work with Congress to fashion a solution.

It was a narrowly defined decision. SCOTUS did not bitch-slap King George but they told him he was wrong, and they told him to work with Congress.

This is a good day for the union.

:)

"Work with CONGRESS!!?"

Sure I'll work with congress! Tell 'em to send up anything and I'll sign it. And THEN I'll sign that paper my legal chihuahua, 'Berto, slides in front of me sayin' "I don't NEED no STINKIN' CONGRESS!!!"

3
The shrill level of bullcrap coming from the chimpy cabal just emphasises the need for checks and balances. The Congressheeple are not willing to deny him any of his fascist agenda, thank God there is a way around chimpies madness.

The constant Constitutional violations, military aggression willfully violating long standing laws meant to protect people from tyranny shows the real need to replace the entire cabal and try to bring peacefull negotiation back into play in the world arena.

hoo-ra!

:)

"DO NOT KEEP SILENT when your own ideas and values are being attacked. ...If a dictatorship ever comes to this country, it will be by the default of those who keep silent. We are still free enough to speak. Do we have time? No one can tell." -- Ayn Rand, Philosophy: Who Needs It

=
"As soon as people drop the reins on government, government will leash the people." -- James Bovard

=
"He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own." -- Aesop

=
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." -- Tacitus, Roman senator and historian (A.D. c.56-c.115)

===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

Why does the Wall Street Journal hate America?

:)

NANCY PELOSI WHACKS JACK MURTHA

(MONONGAHELA, June 29) – Washington County Commissioner and Pennsylvania 12th district Republican Congressional nominee Diana Irey – responding to a statement by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in which Pelosi says the Supreme Court’s decision in the Guantanamo Bay case “reaffirms the rule of law” – today released the following statement:

“A little while ago, Nancy Pelosi released a statement to the press regarding today’s Supreme Court decision on military commissions trying detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Here’s what she said:

“Today’s Supreme Court decision reaffirms the American ideal that all are entitled to the basic guarantees of our justice system. This is a triumph for the rule of law.

“The rights of due process are among our most cherished liberties, and today’s decision is … a reminder of our responsibility to protect both the American people and our Constitutional rights. We cannot allow the values on which our country was founded to become a casualty in the war on terrorism.”

“I welcome Ms. Pelosi to the Irey Campaign Team, and hereby deputize her as a Colonel in the Irey Army – because in releasing that statement, she rebukes Jack Murtha for his reckless condemnation of U.S. Marines at Haditha and his unilateral decision to deprive them of THEIR rights of due process.

“Jack Murtha declared on May 17 that our Marines had ‘killed innocent civilians in cold blood’ – before the first Marine was charged, before the first court-martial was convened, before the first soldier was convicted. When he did that, he deprived our own soldiers of the very rights to due process that Nancy Pelosi extols.

“It’s an odd world, indeed, when Democrat leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Jack Murtha care more about making sure that people trying to kill us have rights to due process under the American legal system than they care about making sure that those very same rights apply to those courageous men and women sitting in the sands of Iraq, doing their best to defend us.

“I knew our campaign against Jack Murtha was making progress, but even I didn’t expect to have the top Democrat in the House joining our team so soon.”

Wheres the liberal bloggers when we really need them?

IRAN: WOMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY STONING

Tehran, 29 June (AKI) - A court in the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia has sentenced a Kurdish woman, Malak Ghorbany, found guilty of committing adultery to death by stoning - a sentence rarely carried out in recent years. The court also sentenced the woman's brother Abu Bakr Ghorbai and husband Mohammad Daneshfar to six years in jail for killing her lover. Stoning death sentences decreased after international pressure on former reformist president Mohammad Khatami contributed to the end of such rulings in the late 1990s. The punishment was however never scrapped from the penal code of the Islamic Republic.

The Committee for the defence of human rights of Iranian Kurdistan has issued a statement to save the life of Malak Ghorbani.

1213

Yes, indeed, james. In 1213 Ghengis Khan overran China. Now there was somebody who played by the rules. Looks like George XLIII is trying to emulate him, does it not?

FDA has declared that all drug companies are now immune to lawsuits

This "Final Rule," which may as well be called a "Final Solution" for drug consumers, claims that consumers can no longer sue drug companies for the harm caused by any FDA-approved drug, even if the drug's manufacturer intentionally misled the FDA by hiding or fabricating clinical trial data.
-------------
when corporations ruled the earth

Brain tease 1213 = XP

How

capt

i don't know DB, ghengis khan was at least up front about his motives and said exactly what he was going to do and why. hmmm, i guess he did play by the rules since he made the rules. i hate all the sneaky pretend motives for the neocon actions. if they had blatantly said "we need that oil and we're going to get it" they might be worthy of some respect. of course we can't even be certain that getting the oil is the motive. it has been suggested that limiting the oil to keep prices up is the true motive.
i realize you probably weren't even referring to the middle east but rather to the checks and balances as mr. corn puts it. that, i fear, is all merely distraction to somewhat pacify the masses into believing that bushco are not really being allowed to run rampant over whoever might be in the way of their "protecting us from terror".

and it takes me so long to type a post that i start out meaning to say one thing and by the time i am done it has become something else.
-----------
1213=XP
hmmm. i don't give up yet so don't give it away please.

well it was simple enough to figure out what 1213XP is, but that is probably not what you want so i still don't give up.

Re Supreme Court ruling,

All this does is make the "secret" tribunals "double secret." And if the congress doesn't lend a hand, "secret to the infinitive" tribunals. What do you expect for nothing? Rubber bisquits?

Bush vows to pursue detainee war trials

WASHINGTON - After a Supreme Court decision overruling war crimes trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees, President Bush suggested Thursday he would seek Congress' approval to proceed with trying terrorism suspects before military tribunals.

"To the extent that there is latitude to work with the Congress to determine whether or not the military tribunals will be an avenue in which to give people their day in court, we will do so," he said. "The American people need to know that the ruling, as I understand it, won't cause killers to be put out on the street."

Bush said little more, saying he had received only a "drive-by briefing" on the ruling just out earlier Thursday morning.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Bush does not care one lick for the constitution or the law. The SCOTUS does not side with him so he will just ignore them and conference with his cronies.

capt

Uhm...perhaps the most important website ever!

You be the "decider"!

Civilians, insurgents, Al Queda, et al.

They have no constitutional rights in the U.S. unless they are U.S. citizens. The constitution was written for U.S. citizens, not foreigners. To pretend otherwise is sheer idiocy. The Supreme Court is wrong, soon to be rectified by Congress. To declare the executive has no right to declare those captured, on the battlefield and not subject to the Geneva Convention, worthy of a trial as any U.S. citizen deserves is absurd on its' face. When Al Queda becomes a signee to the Geneva Convention, then maybe most of you on this site will have a valid argument. Until then, your logic is nothing more than convoluted.

#79
Capt,
What's Bush going to say? If he can't throw the detainees in jail for life and if he can't call them the enemy then he has to explain the detention and abuse these men have undergone. Telling me they are really bad people means nothing. I want proof. I want to hear about the evidence and I want to see the evidence. That's how it works in a democracy. Bush needs to take a civics class along with his ethics class.

This is totally off the subject, but I think Ned Lamont is going to kick Lieberman's butt. I can't wait to get some progressives in the Congress.

I would like to extend a special and heartwarming thanks to a dear friend of the family, Mr. George W. "I am truly not concerned about him (me)" Bush.

Yes, Mr. George "I don't know where bin laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." Bush. Thank you for your loyalty.

Don't you mean "Liberals?" Or are you afraid of that word, Judy?

I can't wait to come to this site and view your comments when the House and Senate vote to give the President authority to either release those captured or have them face a military tribunal/commission. All of your so called hero's will grant the President the authority. Very few, if any, will vote to give terrorists the same rights as a U.S. citizen. Would you?
I'm sorry, I forgot who I was asking.

#81
What defines an enemy combatant?

An enemy combatabt fighting against our soldiers. How would you define it? Would you give enemy combatents due process? Do you think the enemy would give our soldiers the same?

capt, i am thru spinning my wheels and admit that i need a hint. but since a hint would only give it way that wouldn't really be fair would it? in short: i give up.

The reason that Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson had influence abroad, and the United States in their time had it, was because they moved this country here at home, because they stood for something here in the United States, for expanding the benefits of our society to our own people, and the people around the world looked to us as a symbol of hope.
______________

I'ma Librullllll!!!!

-T

Emmerson, I love the word liberal. And yes, I could have phrased it that way too; I can't wait until we get some true liberal candidates. I am very very proud to be a liberal.

#86
Under international law the men at GITMO have the right to a trial. If the Congress frames a way to a fair trial for each that is fine with me. If they have used violence against the US troops and against the people of Afghanistan then they deserve to be put in jail. If they were picked up because somebody could collect bounty money then I'd like them to be allowed to returned to their families and their lives.

Somebody needs to figure out a solution and it shouldn't be the Bush administration. They created the mess.

sorry...the best site ever keeps poping up!

LIBRULLLLLL

yeah, that's the ticket!

-T

Yeah....liberal. That's me. What of it?

Jeanne, I agree.

"Generally speaking, anyone physically in the U.S. will be treated as a citizen, with all rights guaranteed a citizen. There are some exceptions to this general rule. For example, while entering the United States (and physically in the United States), a foreign national can be detained and expelled. In some cases, detention is for an unlimited amount of time, and some illegal immigrants have been held for years on end."

Refer to Question 25 Here.

The protections in the Constitution are not limited to U.S. citizens.

International law does not grant those who are not citizens of the U.S. the same rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the constitution. They are, and hopefully forever, two separate things. Try being arrested in Turkey with heroin and arguing you are a U.S. citizen. Good luck. You are in Turkey, found with drugs on your person, Turkish laws prevail. Not international law.

emmerson, your chest thumping is growing tiresome.

I don't know of any so I'll ask the question Jeanne...

On what planet are those who screw up so royally the ones looked to when people decide to try and correct the situation?

Maybe CHERON, perhaps?

Are WE becoming Planet Cheron?

i thought they were rebels fighting against occupation/oppressors.
what if aliens invaded the u.s. under the guise of 'freeing us from tyranny' or some other nonsense and every bullet they fired or even left laying around was made of a poison that seeped into the earth and our bodies thus leaving us destitute for ages to come? and all this after destroying our electrical and water systems? and lets say that these aliens didn't differentiate between our fighters and non-fighters. what would YOU do emmerson?
do you expect the iraqis not to fight? of course they are enemy combatants. the american forces are also enemy combatants.

Who knows more about the law, emmerson or eight supreme court justices? (I believe Chief Justice Roberts recused himself.)

"Has the Enterprise returned to the course set for it by my orders?"

"Negative; the Enterprise is now moving in a circular pattern."

"And at warp 10, we're going nowhere mighty fast!"

- Kirk, Spock and Scotty

"Try being arrested in Turkey with heroin and arguing you are a U.S. citizen. Good luck. You are in Turkey, found with drugs on your person, Turkish laws prevail. Not international law."

Your hypothetical defeats your own argument...

NEXT!

Not chest thumping, just pointing out that the SC decision was wrong on its' face no matter if Pat Buchannon or Dennis Kucinich was President. FDR did it, Lincoln did it, yet this SC suddenly decides they trump the President? Won't happen, and I again can't wait to see how the so called "progressives" vote to reel this "illegal" administration in. Funny, GITMO is still operating today. The ruling changed nothing, other than the only way out. Do you think those in GITMO will will ever be brought to the U.S. for trial based on the current ruling? They just received a rot in hell pass courtesy of the SC unless they are cleared and returned to their country.

Hajji, I followed your link for Librullll. Wow, what a speech, I had not read that before. It's all so true for today's times. When a conservative calls me a liberal, I take it as a compliment.

there is no correlation between an american caught with heroin in turkey and an iraqi captured while fighting against an occupation in his own country and then dragged to GITMO.

Liberal is derived from the french word "liber" which means "free". I hate those freedom-loving liberals. But I love Mr. George W. "It's just a God-damned piece of paper (US Constitution)" Bush.

I am in favor of closing GITMO and returning all of them to Iraq or Afghanistan to face interrogation or charges. I say build 450 Kon-Tiki rafts and set them out to sea.

#99
I stand corrected.

"International law does not grant those who are not citizens of the U.S. the same rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the constitution."

To a certain extent, this is true. It is not "International law" (setting aside the problem of defining "international law") that defines the Gitmo prisoner's rights, it is US law.

According to SCOTUS in Hamdan, the UCMJ requires the administration to follow the "laws of war" in providing military trials and procedures. Currently, the Geneva Convention is a duly ratified treaty to which the US is a signer. Accordingly, the UCMJ reference to the "laws of war" includes the Geneva Convention unless and until the US abrogates that treaty.

Another nice thing about this opinion is that it repudiates the claim that Mr. Bush can act without constraint in areas of national security:

"The more I read and think about this opinion, the greater a death blow I think it deals -- at least on the legal front -- to the administration's Yoo theory of unlimited executive power. Not only Justice Kennedy in his concurrence, but also the Court's opinion itself, cited Justice Jackson's 3-prong Youngstown test to re-affirm the proposition that the President's constitutional powers must give way to duly enacted Congressional laws.

"More importantly,the Opinion repeatedly places great emphasis on what it calls "the powers granted jointly to the President and Congress in time of war" (See, for instance, Op. at p. 27; emphasis added in all citations). And in a direct repudiation of the administration's claim that Congress is without power to limit or regulate the war powers granted by the Constitution to the President, the Court explained (Op. at p. 29, fn. 23):

""Whether or not the President has independent power, absent congressional authorization, to convene military commissions, he may not disregard limitations that Congress has, in proper exercise of its own war powers, placed on his powers. See Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U. S. 579, 637 (1952) (Jackson, J., concurring).

"Whether intended or not, that paragraph, by itself, dispenses with the central misconception -- the myth -- most frequently relied upon by Bush followers in defending the administration's violations of FISA. Specifically, they assert that cases which, pre-FISA, held that the President has inherent authority to eavesdrop mean that Congress cannot regulate that power."

More here.

Emmerson...

I am in favor of closing GITMO and returning all of them to Iraq or Afghanistan to face interrogation or charges. I say build 450 Kon-Tiki rafts and set them out to sea.

Dude, really, you DO realise that with the Gulfstream, they most likely float to the Eastern Florida shore... Worst case scenario...BAHAMAS, BABY!!!

You're really not too bright, R'ya?

Funny, GITMO is still operating today.

what's NOT funny, emmerson, is that you see nothing wrong with that. as long as your side is winning in the all important left v. right, then you don't care what your side gets up to, right?

I was being "fececes" about the Kon-Tiki. I wouldn't give terrorists the worthiness of the braveness of Thor Hyerdahl. They are all cowards.

GITMO exists because the U.S. is treating the enemy far better than the treatment they would receive in their own countries. The U.S. values them for what they might know. Their host countries would likely put them to death.

Who knows more about the law, emmerson or eight supreme court justices?
emmerson? no
emmerson - law school = emmerson
emmerson + 0 = troll?
emmerson's authoritative source is powerline

113 terrorists are cowards. huh?

Franklin's Gulfstream Chart

Emmerson,
You wrote:
An enemy combatabt fighting against our soldiers. How would you define it? Would you give enemy combatents due process? Do you think the enemy would give our soldiers the same?
-------------
Would you give enemy combatents due process?
Yes I would. That's the only way the system will work. If Bush is going to spread Democracy he has to practice it.

Ever heard of the Dred Scott decision? The SC can be a Supreme bunch of Cjesters when they want to be. They are not God. Not that I expect you to believe in a Superme Being. But then, I somehow get the feeling that government is your God.

"the SC decision was wrong on its' face"

What is your basis for this legal conclusion? At this point, I can only respond with "No, it's not."

"FDR did it, Lincoln did it...."

Did what, exactly? You are long on conclusion and short on facts.

"I say build 450 Kon-Tiki rafts and set them out to sea."

Not unless the Republicans remove the US as a party to the Geneva Convention and repeal the McCain anti-torture law that was recently passed. (Otherwise, your proposal is either hyperbole or a call for the commission of war crimes.) In the Hamdan opinion, SCOTUS told Mr. Bush that, yes, he does have to obey the law. See my comment 110 above.

One thing Lincoln did say: "I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."

"due process" is in the U.S. Constitution. Non citizens will receive it when it is in theirs, and in their country.

"the SC decision was wrong on its' face"

What is your basis for this legal conclusion? At this point, I can only respond with "No, it's not."

"FDR did it, Lincoln did it...."

Did what, exactly? You are long on conclusion and short on facts.

"I say build 450 Kon-Tiki rafts and set them out to sea."

Not unless the Republicans remove the US as a party to the Geneva Convention and repeal the McCain anti-torture law that was recently passed. (Otherwise, your proposal is either hyperbole or a call for the commission of war crimes.) In the Hamdan opinion, SCOTUS told Mr. Bush that, yes, he does have to obey the law. See my comment 110 above.

One thing Lincoln did say: "I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."

Take a civics course. Go to law school. Learn something so you can make value judgements about the material you read on powerline.

Ever heard of the Dred Scott decision? The SC can be a Supreme bunch of Cjesters when they want to be. They are not God. Not that I expect you to believe in a Superme Being. But then, I somehow get the feeling that government is your God.
Posted by: emmerson at June 29, 2006 11:17 PM

Go with this argument. I think it's your best one so far.

Repeat after me...

I was:
being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"I was being "fececes"........

The plural of "FECES" is uhm..."FECES!"

The advjective is "FECAL".

That is what you're being!

The Constitution. Read it and then tell me who is wrong. Of course, there are those of you who believe a separation of church and state is actually there and the right to an abortion. I don't expect you to read it or find it or really even try.

Emmerson, I'm just curious, do you consider yourself a Christian?

Plop! Flush!

FECAL!

""due process" is in the U.S. Constitution. Non citizens will receive it when it is in theirs, and in their country."

Did you read No. 96 above?

Fitz @ 114:

emmerson + 0 = troll?

Yes. I'm done with him/her.

""due process" is in the U.S. Constitution. Non citizens will receive it when it is in theirs, and in their country."

Did you read No. 96 above?

Fitz @ 114:

emmerson + 0 = troll?

Yes. I'm done with him/her.

My first double post (I think). My apologies.

We have a leader who bought a business degree and now claims he understands international law.

You are going to argue that the correct answer to today's supreme court decision can be found exclusively in the Constituion, and that it has nothing to do with international treaties negotiated by the president and ratified by congress, stare decisis, and more recent SJC precedence?

Bad choice.

I was being "facetious" when I said I was being "fececes." Thank you for being the only one who was smart enough to point that out. So much for "fecal" matter.

S Colbert is calling for disbanding the Supreme Court. Who's with him?

And on another happy note....
Northeast floods stir global warming debate

My religion is none of your business. Would you be shocked if I said I was Muslim? How would you know I wasn't?

Him/Her. When you can't win you dismiss without validity. Read the Constitution, I know you couldn't have in the time frame that I challenged you to, or better yet, call up Senator Byrd and have him read it to you. I bet he votes to give the President the authority to detain those in GITMO and not allow them access to the U.S. criminal justice system. You are just too much of a coward to admit it.

Governor's nonprofit foundation has paid pollster, former campaign finance chief

Gov. Jeb Bush has used his recently revived nonprofit foundation to pay a former campaign finance director and two former campaign aides.

Although Bush has said his Foundation for Florida's Future is not a way of keeping his political machine intact after he leaves office early next year, recent disclosures on the foundation's Web site show that it paid:

-Nearly $99,000 to Ann Herberger, Bush's campaign finance director during two campaign and a longtime political fund-raiser for his family.

-Nearly $70,000 to Neil Newhouse of Washington-based GOP Public Opinion Strategies group for polling last October.

-$48,000 for "management services" to a lobbying and public-affairs firm whose staff includes Mandy Clark and Mandy Fletcher. Both worked on Bush's reelection campaign and on his brother's presidential reelection campaign.

-$23,500 for "legal services" from the Washington law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs.

-$20,000 in February to GOP political strategist Adam Goodman's The Victory Group Inc

......."It's all pretty transparent, complying with the new law," Bush said. "Ann Herberger gets money when she raises money. It's kind of how she makes a living."

But when asked about the subject of the $70,000 poll, Bush said, "I'm not going to tell you."
-------------
I'm not going to tell you. That's kinda how the Bush dynasty works.

Jeanne,

Anything that happens "weather-wise", as Melanie Walters (of WOWK-TV 13...can't believe there's nothing "googlable) used to say, will "stir" the Global Warming debate.

Unfortunately the soup that occurs will be clouded by corporate and political (like there's a difference) pundits who'll argue untill their own grandchildren evolve gills that "It is all just a myth!".

Or sumpthin'...tired...gonna drink this last glass of merlot and call it what it is...a NIGHT before it becomes a MORNING!

G'nite!

p.s. Melanie was also known for saying... Temperatures will be PLUMMETING UPWARD" and "...VERY cold tonight, so you might want to bring your BRASS MONKEYS inside!" GOSH I miss weather-girls!

-T

-T

Feces...
It makes your teeth turn...

Ahhh, fuggedaboutit. I'm too tired.

Senator Byrd's ACTION re:Guantanamo
______________
Last month, in a little-noticed vote, the Senate
rejected Democratic Senator Robert Byrd's proposal to
delete funding for the US prison at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba. The amendment to the Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on
Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005 would have stripped HR
1268 of $36 million earmarked for construction of a
permanent, 220-person military prison at Guantanamo.
Opponents of the amendment said a new prison would keep
detainees from being transferred to the United States,
where terrorists might seek to free them.
__________________

Yeah...Byrd...uh huh...

G'nite!

C'mon "emmmerrrrrsunnnnn"...

You can do better...you've got a good heart...just stop trusting your BRAIN so much!

G'nite! Really!

-T

'Nite Don!

****Breaking News, Breaking News****

Bin Ladin captured and being transported to GITMO. 6-28-06.

SC decision 6-29-06.

****Breaking News, Breaking News****

Bin Ladin shot while being escorted to plane to transport him to GITMO. Again, again and again.

********New York Times********

Bush fails to bring Bin Ladin to Justice.

You liberals are so funny.

Byrd knows the Constitution. I didn't say he knew anything else, which he doesn't.

Bin Laden praises al-Zarqawi as ‘lion of jihad’
______________

CAIRO, Egypt - Osama bin Laden praised slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the “lion of holy war” in a new videotape posted on the Web on Friday.

The 19-minute message shows an old still photo of bin Laden in a split-screen next to images of al-Zarqawi taken from a previous video. A voice resembling bin Laden’s narrates a tribute to the Jordanian-born militant, who was killed in a June 7, airstrike northeast of Baghdad.

It was the fourth message put out this year by al-Qaida leader bin Laden. All have featured his voice in audiotapes. New video images of him have not appeared since October 2004.
__________

Duuude! You should show you face!

-T

When does Late Night on DavidCorn.com start?

The Supreme Court decision is only a slight bump for Hitler Bush. He is adored and worshipped by Nazi Americans. Hitler Bush is the mirror image of majority Americans. Everytime you look at Hitler Bush, you are seeing the real America, an evil nation. Hitler Bush reigns supreme in Nazi America. He is the bushgod for Nazi Americans.

He can't. He is a "pigment" in the mind of GW's lies according to those on this site. How do we know the pictures they proclaim to have of him are really him? I think this should be left to a higher authority to find out. Maybe the NYT. Put Blair on this.

Cospiracy? Or is this just the daily dose of sugar you Libs take in the morning to get you through the day. All hype, only to face the consequential let down.

Let God In

Dear Cornposters:

I believe that it is very important to let God in to our hearts and lives. We should walk toward God and not walk backwards from God. Walking backwards is abnormal. Take time to talk to God! God is not a conversationalist but He is a great listener. Talk to Him like you would talk to your own father. God loves to hear from us.

God loves us. He does not love our sinful ways but the more we talk to God and the more we let Him into our hearts and lives the less time we will have for our sinful ways. This is a major reason why we should let God enter into our hearts and lives. Less sin in our lives will be more pleasing to God.

Sincerely,

Gerald

Proud Adoptive Parents

The Republican Rubber Stamp Congress is ramping up the Waving the Flag Amendment again for the grand finale of Wedge Issue June.

Perhaps Bill Frist and his Rubber Stamp Brigade ought to have a conversation with George Bush about flag desecration. He and his Sharpie have some 'splainin' to do.

PICTURE

Why are my tax dollars paying Karl Rove?s salary for his butt to park itself in the public space of the West Wing of the White House, but work on Republican political campaigns across the country?

From the LATimes:

Perhaps more than any other administration, the White House of George W. Bush has mastered the art of mixing politics and policy and keeping track of how federal government decisions can affect even obscure local elections. Rove, with a broad portfolio and extraordinary influence, introduced a new political doctrine, effectively putting the federal bureaucracy and the bully pulpit of the White House in the service of GOP political ends.

All administrations are political, of course. But never before has the White House inserted electoral priorities into Cabinet agencies with such regularity and deliberation. Before the 2002 midterm elections, for instance, Rove or Mehlman visited with the managers of many federal agencies to share polling information and discuss how policy decisions might affect key races.

(link)

I went to a garden party... no, I'm not trying to plant that tune in your brain. I just got back from a party & had some albino whiskey. Time for Thursday night (early Friday morning) Funnies.

---+---

"What is it with Republicans and Viagra? First Bob Dole, he was doing the ads for Viagra. Now you got Rush Limbaugh. Say what you want about Bill Clinton, but the man was always there to answer the call, ladies and gentlemen"
--Jay Leno

"A powerful storm in Washington, D.C. knocked over a 100-year-old Elm tree on the White House lawn. President Bush was not hurt because he was playing in a different tree at the time"
--Conan O'Brien

"In fact, President Bush is so angry at the New York Times he said today he's not even going to pretend to read it anymore."
--Jay Leno

"And terrible rains in Washington, D.C. this week. In fact, Karl Rove's office was leaking again."
--Jay Leno

"Heavy rains caused so much flooding in Washington, D.C. today that they had to close down the National Archives where they keep the Constitution. They had to close it down. Luckily the Bush administration isn't using the Constitution anymore."
--Jay Leno

"President Bush got back tonight from his very brief trip to Europe. Boy, remember the old days when it used to take longer than two days to visit all of our allies?"
--Jay Leno

"Actually, one awkward moment in Hungary. See, I don't think President Bush really prepares for these trips. Geography is not his area. He told the people of Budapest that although he believes in Jesus, he respects their leader, Buddha, as well."
--Jay Leno

"President Bush gave the commencement address at the Merchant Marine Academy. ... While he was there a cadet, who took six years to graduate, surprised President Bush by giving him a bear hug. When asked about it, the cadet said, 'President Bush is an inspiration to everyone who takes six years to graduate.'"
--Conan O'Brein

"Congress gave itself a big raise this week and voted against the minimum wage, which is kind of ironic. I mean if anybody should getting minimum wage, it's Congress."
--Jay Leno

"The government of Afghanistan has sent a letter to the news stations and all journalists in that country ordering them to report only favorable news about the government. Now I know that sounds harsh, but you have to remember they don't have Fox News over there."
--Jay Leno

More Funnies:

If it weren't for the schizoid character of the Grand Ol Spending Party, they might be able to get somewhere with the war in Iraq. They've hitched their wagon to an out-of-control, not-fully-armored Humvee. For some reason the puppets in Iraq are spitting back, while our country is still coming to grips with its legacy in the middle east. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Little Ricky has made an ass of himself with an archeological discovery.

Congress, it seems, has discovered a soft patch of sand to stick their heads in. They've also reached a little deeper into our pockets. And while Santorum found the catapult, these other Congressmen found Jimmy Hoffa.

At first glance, I thought this said the "Phathead's head remained hard." Those are some pointy ears on that Fat head. If he knew how to read, this wouldn't be an issue.

Evidently, you gotta watch out for the green M&Ms and the blue Skittles.

With the 4th of July coming up, you might see this little get together at Emmerson's house and doesn't this little flag-waver look "Happy?"

This week it's :
Constitution - 2
Bushco - 0

Today brought a major victory for the rule of law –and a stunning defeat for the Bush Administration. Ruling 5-3 in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the Supreme Court overturned an appeals court’s determination that military detainees are not entitled to fundamental due process rights including the right to be present at their trials and the right to confront witnesses against them. The hallmark of American justice and that of most civilized nations is that everyone is entitled to a fair trial, and today’s ruling sends a strong signal to the president that his administration cannot continue to ignore the rule of law.

People For the American Way Foundation filed an amicus brief in the case.
---------------
Congratulations. Tuesday night, the Senate voted to reject the Flag Desecration Amendment by one vote. We were just one vote away from changing our Constitution to curtail rights rather than expand them.
---------------------
Another victory and renewed momentum on the reauthorization of key provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

Yesterday, a band of renegade GOP House members' effort to undermine critical portions of the Act by imposing what Congressman Lewis (D-GA) called a "modern day literacy test" was soundly defeated.
--------------
Yours,
Ralph G. Neas
President
People For the American Way

There is a way to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice: Ask conservative bloggers and right-wing talking heads, they'll tell us. eh, emmerson?

#20: Childhood? It's the first time I've seen this parody! *snork*--Back to mining NaCl, KC

Is emmerson Happy? The writing style is hard to mask. But emmerson unlike Happy tries to engage people in argument like, well, factchecker.

factchecker taunts to engage people in argument "tell me where I'm wrong"; lbh taunts, not as a means to an end, but as an end unto itself.

the trolls see it as a zero sum game - they're right, you're wrong. the regulars like to learn something from each other.

the trolls like to post/paste unattributed "articles" sometimes 'redacting' parts of the article that contradict their assertions, and almost never provinding links to the source, even when requested.

you have to wonder what emmerson read today that made him so convinced the SJC truly erred in their 5-3 decision. Instead of pointing to his source, whatever article or articles he read, he pointed to the Constitution as if that document by itelf was the docuemnt he read today which led him to the conclusion about the 'wrongly decided' nature of the SJC decision.

Oh well. Too much time spent here edjumicating trolls. Nighty-nite.

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.
Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC)

If one speaks or acts with a cruel mind, misery follows, as the cart follows the horse... If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows, as a shadow follows its source.
the Dhammapada

With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plea; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost.
William Lloyd Garrison (1805 - 1879)

STEALING MEXICO

BUSH TEAM HELPS RULING PARTY "FLORIDIZE" MEXICAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Whether the US "War on Terror" lists will find a use in Sunday's election, we cannot know. But the use of American government resources to interfere in south-of-the-border campaigns is an open secret. The GOP's International Republican Institute has run training sessions for the PAN youth wing, funded by US taxpayers through the "National Endowment for Democracy."

Foreign that is, American interference in political campaigns is a crime. That didn't stop Team Bush. However, when the theft of its citizen files was discovered, Argentina threatened to arrest ChoicePoint contractors until the company returned the tapes and Mexico's attorney general did in fact arrest the ChoicePoint data thieves to avoid his party from looking too much the stooge of its Washington patron. Whether George Bush gave back his copy, no one will say.

Wholesale theft is expected on Sunday in forms both subtle and brutal. How the US purloined "counterterrorism" lists will be used, we don't know. We are certain however, that the Administration did not siphon off these Latin voter files to fight a War on Terror. It appears, rather, part of the Bush Administration's and GOP's hemispheric War on Democracy along a battle line which runs from Florida to Ohio to Juarez.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Election stealing? Well I never!

capt

VA data recovered with informant's help

WASHINGTON The government has recovered stolen computer equipment that contains sensitive personal information on millions of veterans and active-duty troops, Veterans' Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson announced Thursday.

A preliminary examination indicated that the data was not accessed or duplicated since it was stolen from a VA analyst's home May 3, the FBI said.

The announcement was good news for as many as 26.5 million people whose names, birth dates and, in about 17.5 million cases, Social Security numbers may have been on the laptop computer and external hard drive, raising the fear of identity theft.

"It's great news. It's wonderful news," said Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

An unidentified informant turned the computer equipment over to U.S. Park Police on Wednesday, Park Police Chief Dwight Pettiford said. The park police turned it over to the FBI.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

This is still a good time to work proactively to prevent any ID theft. One cannot be too careful in that regard.

capt

House of shame

Congress Republicans are steering clear of Bush as they struggle to hold their seats in midterm polls

President Bush's effectiveness as a domestic president is ending not with a bang but a whimper. Five months before the midterm elections, congressional Republicans fear that association with him may alienate their constituencies and result in loss of the House of Representatives. They hold the House by only 15 seats, and suddenly even previously safe districts are at risk. Just a month ago Bush delivered a televised address on immigration, urging Congress to provide for eventual citizenship for the more than 12 million illegal immigrants in the country (the pro-business position). He convinced the Senate, but the House refused to budge from its punitive position to criminalise any assistance to them.

The White House had hoped that the killing of the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would reverse Bush's slide in popularity. Indeed there was a slight bump upward of several points. But this is a classic epiphenomenon that has already started to wither. From the vantage point of Capitol Hill, Bush's evanescent Zarqawi "recovery" has failed to cast any glow on to Republican prospects. Enforcing party discipline for a purely political Congressional vote last week endorsing Bush's policy, such as it is, in Iraq has barely quelled panic. As Bush briefly nudged up from the low to mid-30s, Republican candidates fell further behind. For Republicans, Bush has become cement shoes.

More HERE

World's first supercomputer decommissioned

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., June 29 (UPI) -- The world's first teraflop computer has been decommissioned by the U.S. government despite still being among the world's 500 fastest supercomputers.

Although young in age, the historic supercomputer -- based at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., and known as ASCI Red -- is very old by supercomputer standards.

Sandia Vice President Rick Stulen eulogized this week: "ASCI Red broke all records and most importantly ushered the world into the teraflop regime. It still holds the record for the longest continuous rating as the world's fastest computer -- four years running."

A teraflop represents a trillion mathematical operations per second.

The supercomputer first broke the teraflops barrier in December 1996 and topped the world-recognized top-500 computer speed ratings seven consecutive times.

Sandia Director Bill Camp said ASCI Red had the best reliability of any supercomputer ever built, and "was supercomputing's high-water mark in longevity, price and performance."

Sandia officials said ASCI Red was "almost mystical in scalability," and that there is "a sense of sadness and also of satisfaction (in) the passing of such a great machine."

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Technically "Teraflop" more accurately means: a trillion FLoating point OPerations per second.

capt

Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vaccuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons.

~ unknown, Popular Mechanics, March 1949

Wazzup, my homies! K to the I to the Dee-Shar on the blizzog!I walked home from the NaCl mine this morning and had time to think up some other verses to the tune of "Colonel Bogey's March".

Dubya
Our nation's worst exec
Dubya
The president from heck
Dubya
Nothing but "trubya"
He sent our soldiers
To die for
Big Oil

Dubya
He loves his macho talk
Dubya
An AWOL chickenhawk
Dubya
Nothing but "trubya"
He loots our money
To give to
His chums

Dubya
He never really won
Dubya
But Diebold put us on
Dubya
We tried to snub ya
But Elephascists
Were rigging
The votes

Cheney
He lied us into war
Cheney
A corporate fascist whore
Cheney
He's such a pain, he
Thinks he's Napoleon
Petroleum's
His goal

Rummy
He botches each attack
Rummy
Gen'rals can't tell him jack
Rummy
He's such a dummy
He broke the Army
What harm he
Has done

Limbaugh
So mean he'd kick a pup
Limbaugh
Needs pills to get it up
Limbaugh