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POPSShare The Sacrifice Act of 2010 “Regardless of whether one favors the war or not, if it is to be fought, it ought to be paid for,” the lawmakers, all prominent Democratic allies of Obama, said in a joint statement on the “Share The Sacrifice Act of 2010.” The proposal, a heavily symbolic measure seen as having next to no chance of becoming law, would impose a war surtax on income beginning in 2011 — though it would allow the president to delay implementation by one year upon deciding the US economy is too weak to sustain such a tax shift. “The only people who've paid any price for our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan are our military families,” the lawmakers said. “We believe that if this war is to be fought, it's only fair that everyone share the burden.”
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POPS"New" Afghanistan Legalized Rape, Starvation of Women Okay "There was a review process - Karzai came under huge pressure from all over the world to amend this law, but many of the most oppressive laws remain," Rachel Reid, the Human Rights Watch representative in Kabul, told the BBC. "What matters more to Karzai is the support of fundamentalists and hardliners here in Afghanistan whose support he thinks he needs in the elections." Women's groups say its new wording still violates the principle of equality that is enshrined in their constitution. It allows a man to withhold food from his wife if she refuses his sexual demands; a woman must get her husband's permission to work; and fathers and grandfathers are given exclusive custody of children.
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POPSJustice and Guantanamo Bay
Two of the three detainees convicted of war crimes have served their sentences and today they are free men back in their home countries. But the more than 200 that remain inside the detention center have never been convicted, or in most cases even faced charges. The day after his inauguration, Mr. Obama ordered an evaluation of all the detainees to determine who should face criminal prosecution. Administration officials estimate that roughly a quarter of the remaining detainees will be recommended for trial in criminal courts. In a preliminary report submitted to Mr. Obama in July, the Detention Policy Task Force recommended the approval of evaluation criteria developed by the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice. The task force stated its preference for trials in the federal courts, but added the decision would be based in part on "evidentiary issues" and "the extent to which the forum would permit a full presentation of the accused's wrongful conduct."
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POPSResignations from the Guantanamo military commission Wolf, Major Robert Preston, and Captain John Carr were among the military lawyers assigned to prosecute the suspected terrorists held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. These three later requested reassignments because they had concerns that the proceeding were rigged to ensure no acquittals. On August 1, 2005, the Australian newspaper, "The Age", published an article based on the leaked memos from Preston and Carr. On August 3, 2005 "The Age" published another article that said Wolf had shared the concerns of the other two officers, and had also requested a transfer. Although Brigadier General Thomas Hemingway, the Legal Advisor to the Office of Military Commissions, tried to dismiss the memos as based on simple misunderstandings, an official investigation was conducted. The Chief Prosecutor to whom the memos were addressed, Colonel Fred Borch, subsequently resigned from the military.
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POPSCase Review: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld Stevens addressed the issue of whether military commissions can try conspiracy charges. He argued that military commissions are not courts of general jurisdiction, which are able to try any crime; that the court has traditionally held that offenses against the law of war are triable by military commission only when they are clearly defined as war crimes by statute or strong common law precedent (cf. Quirin). Finally, he found that there was no support in statute or court precedent for law-of-war military commissions trying charges of "conspiracy," either in the Geneva Conventions, in the earlier Hague Conventions or at the Nuremberg Trials. On June 5, 2007, Hamdan and Canadian youth Omar Khadr, had all charges against them dismissed.
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POPSEx parte Milligan It observed further that during the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, citizens may be only held without charges, not tried, and certainly not executed by military tribunals. After all, the writ of habeas corpus is not the right itself but merely the ability to issue orders demanding the right's enforcement. It is important to note the political environment of the decision. Post-war, under a Republican Congress, the Court was reluctant to hand down any decision that questioned the legitimacy of military courts. The President's ability to suspend habeas corpus independently of Congress, a central issue, was not addressed probably because it was moot with respect to the case at hand. Though President Lincoln suspended the writ nationwide on September 24, 1862, Congress ratified almost six months later, on March 3, 1863. Milligan was detained in 1864, well after Congress formally suspended the writ. That notwithstanding, military jurisdiction had been limited.
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POPSCongressman Watt Guts Bill to Audit the Fed The thirteen Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee mentioned by Dr. Paul are: Rep. John Adler, NJ (202) 225-4765 Rep. Travis Childers, MS (202) 225-4306 Rep. Steve Driehaus, OH (202) 225-2216 Rep. Alan Grayson, FL (202) 225-2176 Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, TX (202) 225-2531 Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, FL Toll Free: 1-877-956-7627 Rep. Dan Maffei, NY (202) 225-3701 Rep. Brad Miller, NC (202) 225-3032 Rep. Walt Minnick, ID (202) 225-6611 Rep. Ed Perlmutter, CO (202)-225-2645 Rep. David Scott, GA (202) 225-2939 Rep. Brad Sherman, CA (202) 225-5911 Rep. Jackie Speier, CA (202) 225-3531 And last, but certainly not least, Rep. Mel Watt. DC: Tel. (202) 225-1510, Fax (202) 225-1512 Charlotte, NC: Tel. (704) 344-9950, Fax (704) 344-9971 Greensboro, NC: Tel. (336) 275-9950, Fax (336) 379-9951
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POPSBullied To Death "Rosie leapt to her death from the kitchen window of Kemi's flat to escape from a prolonged period of physical and verbal abuse," said Roger Smart QC. "Immediately before Rosie fell, she was clearly in fear of being hurt physically. "This fear caused her to leap out of the window, as a result of which she met her death." Can was said by witnesses to have shouted insults at Miss Boxall as she lay dying. The girls had previously beaten her up during at least two incidents on 17 May last year while she did nothing to defend herself, the court heard.
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POPSLonely Planet I'm in love with the planet I'm standing on I can't stop. I can't stop thinking of All the people I've ever loved All the people I have lost All the people I'll never know All the feelings I've never shown The world's too big and life's too short The world's too big and life's too short The world's too big and life's too short To be alone ... to be alone "If you can't change the world change yourself And if you can't change yourself ... Then change the world"
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POPSThe The "The Beat(en) Generation" And our youth, oh youth, are being seduced By the greedy hands of politics and half truths The beaten generation, the beaten generation Reared on a diet of prejudice and misinformation The beaten generation, the beaten generation Open your eyes, open your imagination We're being sedated by the gasoline fumes And hypnotised by the satellites Into believing what is good and what is right You may be worshipping the temples of mammon Or lost in the prisons of religion But can you still walk back to happiness When you've nowhere left to run? If they send in the special police To deliver us from evil and keep us from peace Then won't the words sit ill upon their tongues When they tell us justice is being done That freedom lives in the barrels of a warm gun? The beaten generation, the beaten generation Reared on a diet of prejudice and misinformation The beaten generation, the beaten generation Open your eyes, open your imagination
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POPSThe "Right" Side of Gay Would you defend the "morality" of Paris, Kim, or Carrie? Seriously. They can go about doing whatever they want, as long as it's legal, but I could never imagine rallying to defend them. But that's just me. Though I do have to wonder why people like Hannity and other so-called conservatives are so bent on defending Prejean, I haven't seen them defend Kim or Paris like this, quite the opposite for some. Which is why I ask, is it because she was on the "right side of gay"?
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POPSWe Need To Do Better For Our Military Much of the study focused on 4th Brigade, home unit to most of the violent crime suspects. 4th Brigade was compared head-to-head with 3rd Brigade, which recently returned from Iraq. The 4th Brigade, now in Afghanistan, has suffered a higher casualty rate than other units its size in two deployments, the Army found, losing lives at a rate more than eight times that of 3rd Brigade. Along with the deaths came intense combat that took a mental toll on troops, the Army found. Soldiers in 4th Brigade were more likely than other soldiers to suffer mental illness. The study also found, though, that soldiers feel their careers can be damaged by seeking mental health help and too often feel that enlisted leaders don't support troops with mental illness. Read the entire article here: http://www.gazette.com/articles/soldiers-58520-report-army.html
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POPSLa Paz celebrates Day of the Skulls Earlier this month the Church called on the faithful to stop using human skulls at special mass celebrations. The Archbishop of La Paz, Edmundo Abastoflor, urged followers of the Andean rite to "let them rest in peace". Some inside the Church even link the practice to the occult. However, some priests believe they have no other choice than to let people pray Catholic prayers to their skulls, and even allow them to go to church with them. "I receive them and not as enemies of the Catholic faith," the cemetery's Roman Catholic priest, Father Jaime Fernandez, told the BBC after giving an informal blessing to thousands of skull-carrying devotees at the cemetery's chapel. "Officially the Catholic Church does not recognise such a thing," Father Fernandez adds. But, let's be honest, in the end, who am I to stop their uncontrollable faith?"
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POPSAyn Rand on Rights of An Embryo "Observe that by ascribing rights to the unborn, i.e., the nonliving, the anti-abortionists obliterate the rights of the living: the right of young people to set the course of their own lives. The task of raising a child is a tremendous, lifelong responsibility, which no one should undertake unwittingly or unwillingly. Procreation is not a duty: human beings are not stock-farm animals. For conscientious persons, an unwanted pregnancy is a disaster; to oppose its termination is to advocate sacrifice, not for the sake of anyone’s benefit, but for the sake of misery qua misery, for the sake of forbidding happiness and fulfillment to living human beings." "By what right does anyone claim the power to dispose of the lives of others and to dictate their personal choices?" ---- This quote is precisely the way I feel about mandating people to buy health care / insurance! I agree we need reform (of some type), but not to mandating coverage with penalties.
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POPSPolitical Terrorists Adkisson made statements that because he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them into office. Adkisson stated that he had held these beliefs for about the last ten years. Adkisson's manifesto also cited the inability to find a job, and that his food stamps were being cut. His manifesto stated that he intended to keep shooting until police arrived and expected to be killed by police. Adkisson had a waist satchel with more ammunition, totaling 76 shells of #4 shot. The following books were found in Adkisson's home during a police search: # Liberalism is a Mental Disorder by radio talk show host Michael Savage # Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism by talk show host Sean Hannity # The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad, and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly In his manifesto, Adkisson also included the Democratic members of the House and Senate.
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POPSHungary's 'forgotten' war victims Back in his living-room, Arpad's three-year-old granddaughter, Jofie, brings me wooden elephants and antelopes to admire and stands quietly listening to our conversation. On the table, Arpad has arranged photographs that he took on his trips east in search of the lost Hungarians. "Maybe that one is your dad," Jofie tells him, wanting so much to be helpful and pointing to a group of men who are holding a cross on a small hill in the city of Baltsi. "That hill," says Arpad, "is made of human bones."
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POPSDrowning in Debt This is from Ross Perot's site (remember him?). One of the comments at the site that I thought was really good: "Our dollar is backed by faith, how much faith is left? Sheesh, they’re going to run out of paper, granted it’s all electronic transfer so maybe not. But man, I just don’t see how catastrophic inflation isn’t a forgone conclusion at this point."
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