The Second American Revolution has Begun...Check Your Local Listing for Times
And what better day to start it than on Independence Day? Prissy hopes you are doing what you can in your corner of the world to shine the light of democracy into every crack and crevice where tyranny thinks it should rule.
If there is a more perfect form of government besides democracy, history hasn't seen it.
There won't be much spin mileage the neorepublicans will get with the Gitmo ruling. Guess somebody should have told John Yoo and Gonzo that most Americans are a "no can do" on torture. It offends most decent people to consider that American system of justice is no longer necessary-since now in Bushworld we can "just tell" when people are guilty. Or at least Dubya and the neocons think they can...
Rules of evidence-a trial? Who needs them? Well, anyone accused of a crime by America according to the Supreme court decision.
The Supreme court-thankfully by a 5-3 margin- doesn't believe the war on terror has left democracy, rules of the court and our laws- in the dust.
Indeed, the court let it be known that the path Bush chose to take was not within the bounds of an acceptable American response or that of any democratic society.
We think this case could only strengthen Patrick Fitzgerald's CIA Leak case-simply because the court, in the end, decided to follow what was clearly the law.
Shame on Alito, Thomas and Scalia-but certainly no surprise there. Always willing to err on the side of Team Bush and bellow loudly about it. Oddly enough, these guys got where they are because of policies created by liberals. Now it appears they would rather identify with the rich, white and vicious gang, while they already leave minority status behind them- or so they think.
Prissy would like to thank the French people for Lady Liberty. It must be quite a lovely sight to those coming into Ellis Island for the first time. Prissy has had great-grandparents come in that way...Wonder what they were thinking when they saw her.
When House of Dubya falls, the house of cards it has been built upon will tumble all at once. Our democracy can be restored in the spirit which was intended by the inheritance left to us by America's founders and those beautiful documents; the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Prissy will be dressing as the statue of Liberty for some local parades. Hope you enjoy your July 4th holiday, Dearest Readers. Please "tip one toward the States" if you are one of Prissy's international readers! We are in dire need some good will...
Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Hot Links
Oh my look at this...Via RAW Story Bush Directed Cheney To Counter War Critic
One senior government official familiar with the discussions between Bush and Cheney -- but who does not have firsthand knowledge of Bush's interview with prosecutors -- said that Bush told the vice president to "Get it out," or "Let's get this out," regarding information that administration officials believed would rebut Wilson's allegations and would discredit him.
A person with direct knowledge of Bush's interview refused to confirm that Bush used those words, but said that the first official's account was generally consistent with what Bush had told Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.
Libby, in language strikingly similar to Bush's words, testified to the federal grand jury in the leak case that Cheney had told him to "get all the facts out" that would defend the administration and discredit Wilson. Portions of Libby's grand jury testimony were an exhibit in a recent court filing by Fitzgerald.
Dana Perino, a spokesperson for the White House, declined to comment. James E. Sharpe, an attorney for President Bush, did not return a phone message left at his home on Saturday. The special prosecutor's office also declined to comment.
No comment, aye? Prissy told you this on August 6, 2005: He cannot hire a hot shot criminal defense lawyer James E. Sharp, like Dubya has..
Turncoat Joe-why would either side want him? Lieberman Says He Will Run on His Own if He Loses Primary
The Jurist Hamdan, Common Article 3 and the True Spirit of the Law of War
A plurality of the Supreme Court concluded in Hamdan that the United States is bound to accept "the bitter with the sweet." The analysis of Common Article 3 was limited to its impact on the validity of military commissions. However, the message was far more significant. By concluding that invocation of the authority of the law of war to establish a military commission included the requirement to abide by the obligations of that same law in the process for the commission, the Court endorsed a restoration of the symmetry of the law of war. Necessity cannot be invoked without accepting the constraint of humanity, which is exactly how the Bush administration has interpreted the law. By rejecting this interpretation of the law of war, the Court endorsed the pragmatic interpretation of the Geneva Conventions that ensures that no "armed conflict" falls outside the law , an interpretation that has guided U.S. military operations for decades. Common Article 3, according to the Court, is binding on the United States in the armed conflict with Al Qaeda as a matter of treaty obligation. While many experts object to the characterization of the fight against al Qaeda as an armed conflict, at least this interpretation ensures that the balance between authority and obligation so central to the law of war has been endorsed by the highest court in our land.
In restoring this symmetry, the Court has rejected the proposition that an armed conflict can occur outside the scope of some legal regulation, a proposition central to the purpose of the law of armed conflict. This aspect of the opinion transcends the question of the legality of the military commission and extends to every aspect of military operations conducted against al Qaeda. It represents a categorical rejection of the proposition that individuals detained in relation to such operations are protected against inhumane treatment only as a matter of policy, and not as a matter of law. Instead, such individuals fall under the protective umbrella of the Common Article 3 humane treatment mandate. The "international" scope of the military operations associated with this fight should therefore no longer be asserted as a justification for denying the applicability of this provision to such individuals.
Many commentators are already questioning whether this aspect of the opinion will have any meaningful impact beyond the military commission. I believe it will. For the first time since 9/11, proponents of the broad and pragmatic application of the principles reflected in Common Article 3 to U.S. military operations, as a matter of law, will be armed with a potentially controlling interpretation of this law. The next time such a proponent is confronted with the question where does it say we have to comply with Common Article 3, the answer will be much more compelling than before this decision was announced.
BBC Israel rejects soldier deadline
If Israel does not meet their demands the groups "will consider the soldier's case to be closed", the statement said.
"The enemy must bear all the consequences of the future results," it concluded.
The militant groups have demanded that all Palestinian women and young prisoners be released along with 1,000 male prisoners in exchange for information about Cpl Shalit's welfare.
The BBC's Katya Adler in Gaza City says the groups did not specify what action they would take, but, she says, Israelis will worry it may mean their soldier will be killed.
Freepress flashback Journey through a land of fear July 1, 2001
The story of the Israeli occupation of Palestine is one of the most mis-told stories in the American media today. The well-funded and well-connected Israeli media portrays a beleaguered Israeli nation combating its belligerent and insatiably violent neighbours. The truth is just the opposite, as the body counts show; for every Israeli soldier who is killed by a PA sniper (and the PA, it is important to note, enjoys only limited support from the Palestinian population) ten Palestinian civilians, many children or young men, are shot dead on their own streets. Often, as we were told by international human rights observers who are gagged by compromise agreements with the Israeli government from publishing their findings abroad, blatant acts of soldier aggression or even cruelty are described as nothing more than an exchange of fire resulting in three Palestinian casualties in the media.
Israel boasts of having made the desert bloom, neglecting to mention both the history of the desert in question (it was conquered from the Palestinians in 1948; more than 400 Palestinian villages were liquidated or depopulated in the years following the second World War) or the reason that it is suddenly so productive (85% of Palestinian water resources are stolen by Israel, either used in West Bank settlements or piped directly into Israel.) Although the Palestinian fields we saw were well tended, they cannot match the production of Israeli agriculture.
No Palestinians we met were themselves violent or engaged in violent resistance against their armed oppressors; I saw a thousand armed Israelis before I saw one armed Palestinian, and he was a policeman. Most are far too busy trying to feed and shelter their families in a time of fifty percent unemployment and non-existent tourist trade to think about much political activity. But the Palestinian people are angry about what has happened to them and the way the world turns a blind eye; all expressed gratitude that Americans and Canadians were coming to see what was going on.
Muckracker Change in Venue or Date will not Alter Decision
The fact is that the government's account of how the twin towers collapsed has already been proven false. The laws of gravity alone dictate that for the twin towers to have collapsed according to the NIST "pancake theory" required at least a 30 second collapse cycle. The North Tower collapsed 11.4 seconds. The South Tower collapsed in 10 seconds. The actual collapse time of each tower disproves the government's theory. As much as the hysterical neo con mouthpieces want to label those of us not confused by the facts as conspiracy theorists, the scientific evidence remains that the twin towers could not have collapsed as the government claims.
Regardless of what you want to believe about the events of September 11, 2001, believing the government's "pancake theory" is to believe a completely false statement. In the final scientific analysis the "pancake theory" fails. As desperate as the mainstream media is to not allow Internet news sources to prove how the U.S. government played the editors at ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC, Associated Press, Reuters, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, etc. like big time fools regarding 9/11 events, the scientific facts dictate that the time is fast approaching when the editors at these media outlets will have to realize, research, and reconcile the fact that the government has yet to produce a theory on the collapse sequence of the twin towers or the phantom collapse of World Trade Center Building Seven that can be scientifically-validated through the peer evaluation process.
The fact is that scientists outside the government's control have been conducting peer evaluation of the NIST scientists and their "pancake theory" for years now, and the government theory has failed to pass the test. Its failure to pass the test means that the government has yet to provide a sustainable explanation of how the twin towers collapsed.
Haifa Zangana* examines the plight of Iraq's female security detainees
Within months of the occupation of Iraq, complaints surfaced of human rights violations in prisons administered by occupation authorities. It took almost a year and published photographs of horrific incidents of torture in Abu Ghraib before the world began to heed the voices of detainees and those trying to defend them.
Today, four years into the Anglo- American occupation, tens of thousands of Iraqis are still languishing in prison without charge, no trial in sight, deprived of the right to contest the grounds of their detention before judicial authorities. For various reasons, Iraqi women, too, have been caught up in the sweep of detentions and account for a goodly percentage of detainees, not only in Abu Ghraib, but in many other prisons. In addition to suffering the same hardships as male inmates, the women endure another plight: silence. The plight is two-fold, emanating, first, from the occupation authorities' denial that there are female detainees to begin with, and second from the nature of the stigma surrounding the arrest and detention of women.
Mercury News Court: Wife entitled to husband's sexual history
The California Supreme Court ruled today that an HIV-positive woman is entitled to know her husband's sexual history to determine whether he should have known he had the virus when they were married.
The 5-2 decision in the Los Angeles County case overturned a lower-court ruling and allowed the woman, identified only as Bridget B., to request the name, address and telephone number of male sexual partners her husband was with for the five months before the couple married in July 2000.
Writing for the majority, Justice Marvin Baxter noted that state laws meant to crack down on intentional HIV transmission "are strong statements by the Legislature that the spread of HIV is a serious public health threat and that its control is of paramount importance.
This is one reason Prissy thinks we should allow gay marriage. People like this woman's husband marry for "society standards" or "their career" and end up giving innocent people death sentences. It hurts women and children the most.
Russia Pravda Osama bin Laden might be either seriously ill or dead
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid had been told, presumably by US intelligence, that bin Laden"may have died in the earthquake that they had in Pakistan . " If Mr. Reid revealed this to the public, then he must have believed with great certainty.
In fact, many world leaders and their intelligence agencies believe that Osama bin Laden is dead, and has been for quite a while...long before the 2004, about.com says
Is bin Laden dead or alive? It is very difficult for those who don’t know it for sure to give an answer. There is one thing that is evident - the Bush Administration is dishonest, wholly untrustworthy and will stoop to unknown depths to achieve their goals and hold on to political power.
One for the neocons: "When it's a question of money, everybody is of the same religion." - Voltaire
Asia Times Daily Forex Commentary
Everybody knows the story: sell the dollar on a weak US Federal Reserve and slowing US economy. The problem may be that everybody knows the story. You have probably read lots of versions of that story already Monday. Being of the skeptical bent by nature, we constantly ask ourselves where's the edge in knowing what everyone else knows. Often the consensus is right. But we still think it's useful to develop plausible scenarios that might suggest they are wrong.
They are plotting our demise-the one of our own making. Some think maybe we will rally before the end.
We will if our justice prevails, it is the only thing that can save us from ourselves.
CNN N. Korea threatens U.S. with 'nuclear war
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea would respond to a pre-emptive U.S. military attack with an "annihilating strike and a nuclear war," the state-run media said Monday, heightening anti-U.S. rhetoric amid close scrutiny of its missile program.
The Korean Central News Agency, citing an unidentified Rodong Sinmun newspaper "analyst," accused the United States of increasing military pressure on the isolated communist state and basing new spy planes on the Korean Peninsula.
Quotes of the Day
I disapprove with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.-Evelyn Beatrice Hall, paraphrasing Voltaire
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. -Wendell Phillips (1811-1844)
Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.-Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have ...a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean the character and conduct of their rulers. -John Adams
But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime. -Frederic Bastiat, The Law
Our Constitution is color-blind. The arbitrary separation of citizens, on the basis of race... is a badge of servitude wholly inconsistent with civil freedom.
-U.S. Justice John Harlan, Plessy v. Ferguson, 189
