Sun - November 5, 2006

Remember Remember the Fifth of November


Just a friendly reminder that it's Guy Fawkes day.



The best line from V for Vendetta: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

edit: Thanks to Pillsbury for sending me this quote by Thomas Jefferson (that slightly predates V for Vendetta): When the people fear the government you have tyranny...when the government fears the people you have liberty.
--Thomas Jefferson --

Posted at 09:00 PM     |

Sat - December 10, 2005

Bush: Constitution? "It's just a goddamn piece of paper!"


So much for the inaugural oath(s) to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.

When it gets in the way of renewing/expanding the provisions of the Patriot Act, "it's just a goddamn piece of paper."

Classy!


Posted at 12:36 AM     |

Fri - October 7, 2005

Senate passes amendment to stop detainee torture; Bush may veto


The US Senate voted 90-9 yesterday to pass a bipartisan amendment that would establish rules for detainee interrogation and treatment.
BushCo has threatened to veto the amendment to the the $440B Pentagon budget.

So basically, he's using his veto power for the first time during his administration, and it's to help allow torture.

Yea us!

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-10-06T013545Z_01_YUE574965_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-DETAINEES-CONGRESS.xml&archived=False7

What is the evil amendment that the administration says will tie the hands of interrogators? It simply says that the standards put forth in the US Army Field Manual for interrogations are to be followed. The US Army Field Manual prohibits any inhumane or degrading treatment of anyone in US military custody:

The use of force, mental torture, threats, insults, or exposure to unpleasant and inhumane treatment of any kind is prohibited by law and is neither authorized nor. condoned by the US Government. Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear.

Senator McCain, a POW in Vietnam introduced the bill and it has the backing of retired four star general (and BushCo's former Secretary of State) Colin Powell. You'd think these guys might know what they're talking about when it comes to treatment of military prisoners/detainees.

Posted at 11:07 PM     |

Thu - October 6, 2005

Bush: God told me to invade Iraq


President George W. Bush told Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and create a Palestinian State, a new BBC series reveals.

"And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it."


Posted at 08:14 PM     |

Tue - September 20, 2005

House Republicans derail Plame Inquiries


Quick, look at that hurricane!
While the nation was distracted, three separate committees denied three separate formal requests for an inquiry into the 'outing' of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

From the Village Voice:

Votes on all three House committees this week were along strictly partisan lines. The House Select Committee on Intelligence voted 11-9 on Thursday to adversely report H. Res. 418, which would have opened a formal inquiry by Congress of the Plame affair. The House International Relations Committee voted 26-21 against the same resolution one day earlier. And the House Judiciary Committee voted 15-11 on Wednesday as well against launching an inquiry.

Posted at 08:14 PM     |

Sat - September 10, 2005

This is how we throw a 'Freedom' Walk?


...The march, sponsored by the Department of Defense, will wend its way from the Pentagon to the Mall along a route that has not been specified but will be lined with four-foot-high snow fencing to keep it closed and "sterile," said Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense...Officers are prepared to arrest anyone who joins the march or concert without a credential and refuses to leave, said Park Police Chief Dwight E. Pettiford...

Well, at least there's freedom for the press to cover the march...<er, nevermind>:

One restricted group will be the media, whose members will not be allowed to walk along the march route. Reporters and cameras are restricted to three enclosed areas along the route...


Yay us!

[Linkage]

Posted at 01:35 AM     |

Sat - August 27, 2005

Wes Clark on the administration's strategy for Iraq (or lack thereof)


Retired General and 2004 Presidential candidate Wes Clark had a nice Op/Ed piece in the Washintong Post yesterday [link].

...The growing chorus of voices demanding a pullout should seriously alarm the Bush administration, because President Bush and his team are repeating the failure of Vietnam: failing to craft a realistic and effective policy and instead simply demanding that the American people show resolve. Resolve isn't enough to mend a flawed approach -- or to save the lives of our troops. If the administration won't adopt a winning strategy, then the American people will be justified in demanding that it bring our troops home.

Posted at 01:31 AM     |

Thu - June 30, 2005

Google Maps Iraq War Casualties Map


The Iraq War Casualties Map shows a representation of the US with a figure for each soldier lost in the Iraq war. Clicking on a figure brings up information about the soldier, such as name, rank, hometown, date of death.



Posted at 03:47 PM     |

Tue - June 28, 2005

Group trying to seize Justice Souter's home to build Hotel


I love this! Justice Souter was one of the Justices that ruled in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision that city governments can take land from one private owner and give it to another if the city will gain more tax revenue or other economic benefits from the development of the property.

This group has started the ball rolling to take over property at 34 Cilley Hill Road, Towne of Weare, New Hampshire. This just happens to be Souter's address.

The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."

[via Boing Boing]

Posted at 05:53 PM     |

Fri - June 24, 2005

Alex Ross' Village Voice Cover


During last year's election season, when the Village Voice ran the painting by comic artist extrordinaire Alex Ross of Bush sucking Lady Liberty dry, it didn't really cause a lot of controversy. I imagine it was no surprise where the Voice's politics leaned, so no one was too shocked.



A couple of months ago, however, Wizard magazine did a story about Alex Ross and included the image, along with some of his other work.

Apparently the magazine is being flooded with letters of people complaining about the painting and saying the Bush shouldn't be subjected to this kind of editorial comment and that Ross and Wizard should apologize.

I was really surprised to hear that, especially coming from comic book fans. I guess comic book publishers need to start including a copy of the first amendment in their books.

Isn't the right to criticize our elected officials one of the things that our founding fathers wanted to make sure was 'hard-wired' into our country's legal system?

I'm no fan of Bush, but even if it depicted someone that I respected doing the same thing, I'd still have to admit it was a powerful and effective image.

[in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I am a big Alex Ross fanboy. As such, I'm really looking forward to Justice, the new 12 issue bimonthly series coming from DC starting in August. The whole run is to be painted by Ross. Some great preview pages are up on his site: www.alexrossart.com]

Posted at 07:20 PM     |

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