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 Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Lawyers Seek Due Process for American Citizen Detained in Iraq. by TChris
Shawqi Ahmad Omar, an American citizen, has been detained in Iraq for more than a year. No charges have been filed, and he's had no access to a lawyer. His wife says he traveled to Iraq to seek construction contracts, while the military insists that Omar was harboring insurgents and plotting against the interests of the United States.
If Omar is placed on trial for treason, with counsel and an opportunity to confront his accusers, the truth might come out. The Bush administration has an aversion to the truth, and to due process; it prefers to hold Omar without being bothered to prove that he assisted insurgents.
Lawyers assisting Omar's wife have asked a federal court to protect Omar's rights, but the Justice Department argues that Omar has no rights. Besides, the Department contends, Omar isn't in American military custody. Rather, he's being held by the "Multi-National Force" -- the infamous "coalition of the willing." Omar's lawyers argue that the U.S. military is playing a shell game to thwart federal court jurisdiction. [TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime]
Another American citizen held without any of the benefits of the Bill of Rights. The arrest and detention of an American now is solely determined by the decisions of the Executive branch. Well, playing shell games to thwart court jurisdiction is something they have gotten good at. 10:50:49 PM 
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Nuns' Bank Account Frozen: Your Patriot Act at Work. The nuns of the Holy Name Monastery provide yet another reason we don't need to give the Government more power under the Patriot Act:
The sisters say the monastery's main bank account was frozen without explanation in November, creating financial headaches and making the Benedictine nuns hopping mad. They were told the Patriot Act was the cause.
"I think the Patriot Act is unwise, let's say, and that if it happened to us, it can happen to anybody," said Sister Jean Abbott, the monastery's business manager. "I think people need to know that nobody is safe from, in some cases, really ridiculous scrutiny."
Sen. Russ Feinglod provides a Patriot Act update in his Daily Kos diary. [TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime]
Law of unintended consequences and slipery slopes. Things like the Patriot Act make it easier for entities to abuse the rights of peole, even when the Patriot Act is not really involved. Sure, it may not be right but explain that to the nuns that had all those bounced checks. And what if it had happened to someone who was not a nun? It might still not be fixed. 10:46:52 PM
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CIA Agent Arrested After Stealing Over 1,000 Pairs Of Women's Underwear... Lori Meyer walked into her darkened McLean home one evening last month, her 8-month-old son, Samuel, in her arms, and found a strange man dashing down her stairs. As the intruder fled, Meyer ran outside, screaming, and flagged down a passing minivan.
Fairfax County police said yesterday that the man that Meyer and the driver of the minivan cornered in a cul-de-sac that night, George C. Dalmas III, 44, works at the CIA. He has now been charged with 17 burglaries in the McLean area. And in a search of his Falls Church home, police said, they found a stunning trove of cash, jewelry, antiques, license plates -- and bags filled with more than 1,000 women's undergarments.
[The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]
Have to keep an eye on this story. 10:41:35 PM
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Republican Reform Initiative...DeLay Given Seat On Subcommittee Overseeing Justice Dept.'s Handling Of Abramoff Investigation.... Indicted Rep. Tom DeLay, forced to step down as the No. 2 Republican in the House, scored a soft landing Wednesday as GOP leaders rewarded him with a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee.
DeLay, R-Texas, also claimed a seat on the subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department, which is currently investigating an influence-peddling scandal involving disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his dealings with lawmakers. The subcommittee also has responsibility over
NASA -- a top priority for DeLay, since the Johnson Space Center is located in his Houston-area district.
[The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]
Yep, the man involved in so many scandals not only gets the best committee for keeping the money flowing but also gets to oversee the ept. investigating Republicans. Yep, no scadal here. Move along. 10:36:11 PM
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"The New Yorker: Fact - Malcolm Gladwell on "power-law" problems" [Daypop Top 40]
Read this and find out why power law distributions are so very mportant today. In some things, like homelessness, only a few people actually are chronically homeless, costing millions of dollars in services. The vast majority are only hoeless for a day or two. Instead of trying to deal with the huge number, manage the small one more efficiently. Same with bad cops. Of course, you can not treat them the same why you would the majority. What works for someone who is homeless for a week or who is an honest cop, will not work for the ones at the tail end of the power law. More severe and direct means are often needed, ones that make little real sense to the left and the right, except that they solve the problem. 9:15:14 PM
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Watch Out GM, Toyota Profit Rises 34%.... Toyota posted a record quarterly profit for the end of December, an increase of 34.1 percent over the previous year, placing Japan's largest automaker within striking distance of overtaking General Motors this year for the title of world's largest automaker.
Net income for the last three months of 2005 reached 398 billion yen, ($3.4 billion), on record quarterly sales and help from the weakening of the yen, which fell to 117 yen to the dollar, from 106 yen to the dollar during the October-to-December quarter. Currency depreciation added $1.1 billion to Toyota's operating profits of $4.1 billion for the period.
[The Huffington Post | Full News Feed]
American manufacturing on the downhill side. 9:02:40 PM
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Shrill. Russ Feingold:
The President issued a call to spread freedom throughout the world, and then he admitted that he has deprived Americans of one of their most basic freedoms under the Fourth Amendment — to be free from unjustified government intrusion.
The President was blunt. He said that he had authorized the NSA[base ']Äôs domestic spying program, and he made a number of misleading arguments to defend himself. His words got rousing applause from Republicans, and even some Democrats.
The President was blunt, so I will be blunt: This program is breaking the law, and this President is breaking the law. Not only that, he is misleading the American people in his efforts to justify this program.
How is that worthy of applause? Since when do we celebrate our commander in chief for violating our most basic freedoms, and misleading the American people in the process? When did we start to stand up and cheer for breaking the law? In that moment at the State of the Union, I felt ashamed.
Congress has lost its way if we don[base ']Äôt hold this President accountable for his actions. […]
None of the President[base ']Äôs arguments explains or excuses his conduct, or the NSA[base ']Äôs domestic spying program. Not one. It is hard to believe that the President has the audacity to claim that they do. It is a strategy that really hinges on the credibility of the office of the Presidency itself. If you just insist that you didn[base ']Äôt break the law, you haven[base ']Äôt broken the law. It reminds me of what Richard Nixon said after he had left office: [base ']ÄúWell, when the president does it that means that it is not illegal.[base ']Äù But that is not how our constitutional democracy works. Making those kinds of arguments is damaging the credibility of the Presidency.
And what[base ']Äôs particularly disturbing is how many members of Congress have responded. They stood up and cheered. They stood up and cheered.
Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote: [base ']ÄúExperience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government[base ']Äôs purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.[base ']Äù
The President[base ']Äôs actions are indefensible. Freedom is an enduring principle. It is not something to celebrate in one breath, and ignore the next. Freedom is at the heart of who we are as a nation, and as a people. We cannot be a beacon of freedom for the world unless we protect our own freedoms here at home.
A-yup.
[The Poor Man Institute]
He broke the law and continues to break the law. His rationale leads to the conclusion that Congress can not tell him what to do as long as the President simply says 'Fighting a war.' Makes you wonder why KBR has a contract to build 'detention facilities' here in the United States. Guess their expertise in Gitmo will come in handy, or at least someone in this Administration thinks so. 8:58:12 PM
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