Friday, July 16, 2004

Iraqi PM Accused of Executing Insurgents

Paul McGeough of the Sydney Morning Herald, and Age newspapers is reporting that, according to two independent witnesses, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, personally executed six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station at the end of June, a week before the handover of power from the U.S. In addition to the witnesses, the Interior Minister was reportedly present as well as four American security men in civilian dress.


Thursday, July 15, 2004

T-Shirt Protestors Set Free

The couple who were arrested for wearing Anti-Bush T-Shirts to a Bush rally have been set free by a Charleston Judge. However, Nicole Rank, one of the persons arrested, was released from her position doing evronmental work for the U.S. govt. after her arrest without getting another assignment, though she remains employed by FEMA. The Republican Mayor of Charleston, Danny Jones, reportedly gave a number of curious comments about the arrest, alternately suggesting that the couple were arrested for their own safety, or perhaps at the direction of the Secret Service (though he also says the "Secret Service should have been called"). Even though the arrest was apparently illegal, Mayor Jones refused to apologize, suggesting that the couple wanted to get arrested. He said he'd talk to police before Senator Kerry comes to town, presumbably so no Republican protestors will get arrested.

Fairly Unbalanced

David Cole has a wonderful piece in The Nation about how Bill O'Reilly misleads his viewers with regards to the security of our nation.

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

The Freedom Flash!

Daryl Miller got mad at the airport screening process. So, to show he wasn't carrying any contraband, he dropped him pants, completely, in public. Of course, protecting travelers from unwanted exposure to flesh is a priority, and authorities promptly arrested Mr. Miller. According to airport police, "we needed to take some action on that, otherwise everybody would be dropping their pants".

Fair and Balanced Indeed

Wonkette has posted 30 emails from John Moody of Fox. Included are such insights as: "let's rock n roll with the korean train explosion. korean websites are speculating freely that it was a mistimed hit on kim. that gives us the right to quote them, and let guests etc speculate." Nice to see them set the standards for journalistic integrity so high.

American Deserters Ask for Canadian Asylum

Army privates Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey, who deserted and fled to Canada because they opposed the war in Iraq, have attended a day-long hearing by the Immigration and Refugee Board. Their lawyer is claiming that his clients' claim for asylum may be rejected purely for political reasons.

Couple Arrested for Wearing Anti-Bush T-Shirts

A Texas couple was charged with trespassing because they were wearing anti-Bush t-shirts during a speech given by the president at a Fourth of July in West Virginia. The couple, Nicole and Jeffrey Rank, had tickets to the event, but security officials insisted they leave or stand in a designated "protest zone". When they refused, police took them into custody.

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

Police States are Easy

I came across this quote from a month after the Twin Tower attacks. It's nothing new, and is in fact ancient by Internet standards. That said, we forget its message at our peril. It's even more relevent today than when first spoken.

There is no doubt that if we lived in a police state, it
would be easier to catch terrorists. If we lived in a
country where police were allowed to search your
home at any time for any reason; if we lived in a
country where the government is entitled to open
your mail, eavesdrop on your phone conversations,
or intercept your e-mail communications; if we
lived in a country where people could be held in
jail indefinitely based on what they write or think,
or based on mere suspicion that they are up to no
good, the government would probably discover more
terrorists or would-be terrorists! But that wouldn't be
a country in which we would want to live.


U.S. Senator Russ Feingold - Oct. 11, 2001

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Does He Like Ice-Cream Cake?

Happy birthday your holiness. May you have 8000 more