Thursday, August 01, 2002

A wonderful example of the effect of a citizen spy corps A nice article in the NYT about what it is like to live in a country where everybody spies on everybody. Tip o the hat to Strangelove. Permalink  2:42:33 AM   Google It!  What do you think?  [] comments.

A sad day for American jurisprudence U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly (who is also hearing the DOJ vs. Microsoft case) ruled today that the detainees at Guantanamo have no rights under US law, and that the US judiciary has no jurisdiction over what happens on the base. (I wonder what would happen if a spouse of a serving naval officer murdered the naval officer - the spouse couldn't be tried by military courts - would they turn the spouse over to the Cuban government for trial?) . The ruling is summarized in a WP article. The bottom line is that the executive branch is free to do what they will with the prisoners on Cuba. No judge wants to challenge a supposedly popular president in wartime, but this is very disappointing. On a less important note, it also bodes poorly for the result of the States vs. Microsoft and the DOJ remedy hearings. Permalink  2:07:34 AM   Google It!  What do you think?  [] comments.

Generals don't really understand war The WP has an article about how all the civilian hawks in the defense department are furious with the military brass for being so conservative in their approach to overthrowing Sadaam Hussein. The brass don't seem to think that it can be done swiftly and cheaply, much to the frustration of the hawks. Maybe that's the difference that experience makes -- very few of the hawks have actually served in the military. It all sounds a little familiar, like all the bright young things that Robert McNamara once brought into the Defense Department who knew better than the old generals. Permalink  1:42:51 AM   Google It!  What do you think?  [] comments.