February 08, 2006

Specter of Asbestos Bill Haunts Victims

Since I posted last, a bill has come before the Senate as reported by Reuters.

While this bill sounds good at first glance, a second look at the small print exposes the bill for what it is -- a bail out for corporations who fear the cost of taking responsibility for the harm they have inflicted on workers and their families throughout the years. The general idea is good, but we need a bill NOT written to favor the companies who caused the problem in the first place. As the article mentions, there is a new bill before the House that might offer a better solution.

February 06, 2006

Create an E-annoyance, Go to Jail

Here's one for the law books. And how exactly will we be defining annoying?

Repeat after me: "All hail the Bill of Rights for saving our collective asses yet again!"

January 20, 2006

commentary on Alito

There's been lots and lots of chatter lately about the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, but it wasn't until this morning that I read Senator Kennedy's excellent summary of why Alito is so wrong for the job. I specifically appreciate his comparison of Alito's recent testimony against years of writings and judicial records.

December 19, 2005

bush can add 'felon' to his list of titles

Just to make it clear, the President of the United States did in fact commit a felony by ordering surveillance of US citizens without court authorization.

There are minor exceptions in the law, but they clearly do not apply in this case. They cover only the 15 days after a declaration of war by congress, a period of 72 hours prior to seeking court authorization (which was never sought), and similar exceptions that clearly are not germane.

There is no room for doubt or question about whether the President has the prerogative to order surveillance without asking the FISC -- even if the FISC is a toothless organization that never turns down requests, it is a federal crime, punishable by up to five years imprisonment, to conduct electronic surveillance against US citizens without court authorization.

The FISC may be worthless at defending civil liberties, but in its arrogant disregard for even the fig leaf of the FISC, the administration has actually crossed the line into a crystal clear felony. The government could have legally conducted such wiretaps at any time, but the President chose not to do it legally.

If this goes without prosecution (or at least an investigation), it will be a clear signal that the rule of law no longer applies to the U.S. government. The fact that this is seen as just another "rule bending" by the President shows how far we've gone down that road already.

November 14, 2005

the real face of gitmo

If you aren't outraged, you're not paying attention. Either way, read Detainees Deserve Court Trials, an outstanding opinion piece in today's Washington Post.

As the Senate prepared to vote Thursday to abolish the writ of habeas corpus, Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jon Kyl were railing about lawyers like me. Filing lawsuits on behalf of the terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Terrorists! Kyl must have said the word 30 times.

As I listened, I wished the senators could meet my client Adel. Adel is innocent. I don't mean he claims to be. I mean the military says so. It held a secret tribunal and ruled that he is not al Qaeda, not Taliban, not a terrorist.

The military people reached this conclusion, and they wrote it down on a memo, and then they classified the memo and Adel went from the hearing room back to his prison cell. He is a prisoner today, eight months later. And these facts would still be a secret but for one thing: habeas corpus.

This deserves to be read far and wide. I'm ashamed that my government is doing this in my name, and I want it stopped right now.

November 11, 2005

iraq racket

BUSH: "We have discovered the true enemy -- that overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people who want US troops to leave immediately. They are a ruthless enemy, and we will not surrender until we have defeated them."

Or at least that's how I heard it.

November 04, 2005

torture: it's what's for dinner

US PEOPLE: Torture is really really really really really bad, and we shouldn't do it.

US GOVT: OK, makes sense. We'll outlaw it from this day forward.

CHENEY: Except when the CIA wants to do it.

US GOVT: Yes, except when the CIA wants to do it.

US PEOPLE: Nooooo!

ORWELL: Oh, fer crissakes.

October 27, 2005

stupidity != security

US GOVT: We've decided to "protect" you by giving you a little dealy that broadcasts your personal and sensitive information. What do you think? Great, huh?

US PEOPLE: Nooooo! That's really stupid.

US GOVT: OK, maybe we won't. Ask your opinion, that is.

US PEOPLE: Nooooo!

ORWELL: Oh, fer crissakes.

October 26, 2005

Iraq, revisited

Updates from my previous post, in case you're still keeping score:

• Weapons of Mass Destruction found before invasion: 0
• Weapons of Mass Destruction declared by US before invasion: LOTS
• US Cost in dollars: 200,000,000,000
• US military deaths: 2,000
• Iraqi civilians killed: 26,690
• Weapons of Mass Destruction found after invasion: 0
• Iraqis who "strongly oppose" the continuing occupation: 82%
• Americans who think the U.S. should have stayed out of Iraq: 55%
• U.S. timeline to leave Iraq: NONE

October 15, 2005

rights down the tubes

I have no response to this. A high-school kid makes a protest poster as a civics project (to illustrate our right to dissent), and he gets visited by the Secret Service after being turned in by... Wal-Mart. Made up? Laughable? Something out of 1984 or Brazil? Nope, it's the truth.

October 12, 2005

The Real King of England

You go, King Mike! Too right.

September 06, 2005

fafblog vs. feds

Once again, Fafblog sums up my thoughts better than I could do myself.

If only there existed some sort of federal agency for emergency management, perhaps under the supervision of a cabinet-level department for securing the homeland! In the absence of such powers and resources, what is a chief executive to do but bolster morale as best he can through boisterous jokes and heartily-staged photo ops?

What indeed?

July 26, 2005

'no good reason' is apparently enough

So, how does our favorite administration top the quagmire in Iraq? Start another quagmire in Iran, of course. And make sure there's a handy terrorism trigger to justify it in the American collective mind.

July 21, 2005

this just in: rights still inalienable

The House of Representatives, after deliberation and careful consideration, has decided that civil liberties just aren't that important anymore . Sigh.

July 15, 2005

this just in: torture still evil

I still can't fathom how there isn't an uproar about Guantanamo. Most people were "shocked! shocked!" to hear of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, but news that Abu Ghraib torture methods were perfected at Gitmo -- and that they're still going on -- doesn't even ripple the water.

Note also George Orwell's response to torture in WWII, which I've included below. I couldn't say it better.

Continue reading "this just in: torture still evil"

June 15, 2005

the end of NPR?

This may sound like something out of a Snopes entry, but it looks like the House is actually looking to cut all funding for NPR and PBS over the next two years.

If that angers you as much as it does me, then consider signing the MoveOn petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS.

May 10, 2005

social security update

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo has a fantastic explanation of the Bush administration's 'solution' to the Social Security 'crisis'. In short, both the 'crisis' (reduced benefits starting in 2041) and the 'solution' (reduced benefits starting in 2012) are the same.

The CBPP has kindly provided the numbers to back that up, showing that the President's plans don't even solve the solvency problem they claim to solve. Instead, they create trillions of dollars in new debt for no reason at all.

May 02, 2005

because i said so

In a depressingly unsuprising move, the State of Florida successfully sued to prevent a pregnant 13-year-old ward of the state from having an abortion on the grounds that she's too immature to make the decision. The irony of this would be hilarious if it wasn't so sickening. Fortunately Fafblog can be witty in ways that I can't. For further discussion, see Gibbon's Decline & Fall, once thought to be science fiction.

April 18, 2005

because reading is fundamental(ist)

The blogosphere is (justifiably) all a-twitter because Ross Mayfield was told that air passengers are only allowed a maximum of two books on flights starting April 14.

The problem isn't a matter of 2 (or 4) books, of course. That's just one silly example. The real issue is this note on the Transportation Security Administration site:

To ensure everyone's security the screener may determine that an item not on this chart is prohibited.

Note that there's no mention of how to challenge (or even report) a mistaken declaration, either at the time or after the fact. So, if the ahem well-trained and capable TSA staff decide that your knitting needles or eyeglass screwdriver are verboten (which they aren't), then you have no recourse but to give them up. (Chant with me, everyone: unreasonable... searches... and seizures...)

April 11, 2005

land of the free

Have we really become so paranoid? Is the official government response to a foreign visitor asking to see the President to knock him down, blow up his luggage, and charge him with resisting arrest? I know I shouldn't be surprised, but it still makes me sad.