I decided to join the crowd and support national Opt-Out day tomorrow: I will refuse to go through the full body scanner at the airport. Unfortunately I am not flying anywhere, so no one will see my refusal but it’s the principle of the thing goll durnit. And the images those scanners provide? Of course they are laughing at you, and no matter what the official position is, some of those images will work their way out.
Why do we put up with these restrictions on our lives and personal rights? I thought the new Republicans and Tea Party members voted in were all for individual rights, keeping the government out of our business and lowering the overhead of government; why aren’t they all screaming about the increased security at airports?
What’s that you say, “I feel so much safer flying” – look at all of the other things you don’t really care about. In 2008 almost 14,000 people were killed by drunk drivers in the US. Medical errors in hospital settings cause between 50,000 and 100,000 deaths every year. How many people have been killed in terrorist attacks in the US? You are more apt to die every time you get in your car then when you get on an airplane.
How many hours are wasted? I get to the airport at least an hour earlier than I used to, just in case the lines at the security checkpoint are long. This Thanksgiving holiday weekend it’s estimated that 26,000,000 people will be flying; at an hour apiece that is a heck of a lot of time wasted just because of security procedures. Are you safer because if them? Every story I read says that none of the terrorists, from the 9/11 guys to the shoe bomber to the guy with explosives in his underwear, would have been detected by the x-ray or full body scanners in use. Not able to take that bottle of water, shampoo or infant formula on the plane because it’s over 3 ounces? What the heck is up with that?
Our local paper is filled with editorials against the security procedures. One columnist has a 14 year old daughter that has cancer and has been in a wheel chair for years. Every time they fly she goes through a full body pat down, no matter how much he protests. Older people with metal hip and knee replacements suffer the same indignities. How many kids diapers have been probed for safety?
If this has happened to only one kid it's not worth it.
If the intent of the terrorists is to disrupt our society I would say they have done a pretty good job. The last threat – bombs in printer cartridges – probably would not have even exploded, but the increase in searches because of it has been tremendous. I have stopped flying for ‘nearby’ trips; under 1000 miles or so – I’d rather drive, even if it is more dangerous. We go to San Diego and San Francisco periodically, and I’d rather take a day each way to drive, it seems like the six hour drive to San Diego would take about the same amount of time as wasting in the airport, travel to from and the hour flight.
I would have no problem flying if they gave up those security checks altogether. Take away the lines and the scanners and the searches and just let me go. Follow the European model and just have some good profilers asking questions, and stop being invasive. There are lots of articles on the web and on TV about how the Israelis do it, with less wasted time. In the US we empty airports if there is a ‘suspicious package’ while in Europe they just clear a small space and put the thing in a box. Come on, how far do we have to go? If our security agencies just keep getting more paranoid perhaps it’s time for congress to just say enough is enough, and let us go about our lives.
A while back I decided to stop posting all the political and heavy stuff here and instead just try to be entertaining, but every once in a while I slip, sorry about that. Today is one of those slip days. I read about this in a post by the Bloggess, and felt bad enough that I have to repeat most of her information.
Back in March ago we read a news article on a gay high school student that wanted to attend her senior prom, bringing her girlfriend as her date. It was originally reported in this newspaper article. The school district refused to let her attend, and canceled the prom. Eventually the Civil Liberties Union went to court where a judge told the district they were wrong. The judge did not order the school district to hold the prom, as supposedly the parents would put an even on and invite the girls.
Well, it ends up that the prom was held last week and the two girls attended, but found out they were sent to an alternate prom with only seven other students, while the rest of the school attended the real prom elsewhere. This was reported in an Advocate article. The story was repeated in the Huffington Post and in another story about the fake prom.
I was talking with B about this over dinner, and her immediate question was 'down South?'. Sorry to day she was right, it's in Mississippi. Sorry for those who live there, but I still picture the movie Easy Rider whenever I think of the South. And that’s after eight months living in Memphis and traveling around a bit, so to me, yes, the South. But from other stories it seems this kind of stuff happens all over. The military 'don't ask don't tell' policy is also a bunch of crap, continued by the same small minded mentalities at higher levels and in Congress.
I find it difficult to understand people, especially those that have such closed minds that they cannot accept that not everyone is just like them. Whether it is religion or sex or color or home state or favorite sports team, there will always be someone that does not think or act like you do. The world is a nicer place because of diversity, and at times I do run across things that bother me, but I feel everyone has a right to their beliefs, as long as they don't infringe on someone else. If you don't like something just turn around and walk away and stay in your safe world, don’t try to force others to think like you do - that never works out.
The big jewelry show that comes around every year is over, and they are in the process of cleaning up now. There were still armed guards down one hall this morning, guarding the last of the 'product' that hadn't been moved out yet. It was interesting coming in yesterday; whenever the police come to our facility they park on the sidewalk out near the corner - it’s about thirty feet from the curb to the steps up to our building at that point, so there is a lot of room. There were about a half dozen black and white units there, along with about fifteen unmarked cars and a half dozen big black SWAT SUVs. In addition to those there were four panda units on the sidewalk around the corner and another five on the center divider right out front. Three motorcycles were parked on the west sidewalk as well. As I walked past the parked vehicles there were SWAT guys putting on their armored vests and taking rifles out of the back of their cars. All this was in addition to the private armed security that was here, and whatever undercover guys that were roving the halls. Nothing dramatic happened, but I did walk by some SWAT guys in one hallway putting handcuffs on someone. You usually don’t read about any bad things that happen to tourists in our paper, or see stuff on the news, anything negative on air is usually about locals getting in trouble. I guess they don’t want to scare off any of the money that comes to town, after all tourists are the only reason for Vegas being here.
It’s noisy next door and overhead. My office is down in the basement, over on the side of the big downstairs hall. We usually hear noise upstairs, through the foot or so of concrete that makes up the floor/ceiling, when setting up as they tend to drop things to the floor, not while moving out because they are lifting and putting stuff into trucks. But we can hear the forklifts drive over expansion plates when they are heavily loaded, and when they push things around. For an event like that, which took up all of our halls and meeting rooms and had around 75,000 attendees, we usually bring in 500 or so temp workers. That is in addition to all the people hired by the event management such as the security guards and ticket takers and all, as well as models in the booths, so a big show can provide a few weeks of work for quite a crowd, in addition to the food and drink suppliers and construction people and electricians. Now that we are headed into the summer the number of big shows drops dramatically. There are still a lot of smaller things in the meeting rooms and in the convention tower next door, but no show will take more than one of the halls until the fancy clothing show comes at the beginning of September. Our food and beverage department has been busy for weeks, with the show opening last Saturday they didn’t even get a weekend off; there are only eight full time people there, so most of them will be taking a few days off now to recuperate. July is our slowest month, with August next then December, so those are the only times that management would like us to take vacations.
Here in Nevada our legislature is wrapping up their session. According to our state constitution the legislature only meets once every two years, which gives them less time to mess things up. This year our governor has vetoed more bills than any other governor, and the legislature has overridden his vetoes a record number of times as well. There are a lot of bad laws and restrictions that have been passed, but there is one that I am happy to say was passed after being vetoed; that is our state domestic partner bill. This bill provides unmarried couples with some legal rights regarding community property and the responsibility of debts. It also provides them with rights regarding hospital visitation and the like. This puts us a little ahead of California, but unfortunately back in 2002 (before we lived here) a constitutional amendment was passed that defines marriage as being only between a man and a woman. I’m glad our legislature was able to overcome the governor’s objections and move this along. Personally I don’t see why people like to put restrictions on others, geez, come on, how can it hurt your marriage or your ‘god’ if two girls are living next door. One of the main arguments for passing this was protection for the elderly, when an older couple, both surviving spouses, lives together but don’t want to get married again, who then legally have no standing in medical decisions for each other or an interest in shared property. This brings to mind a video made in response to California’s recent voting:
I’m listening to that New Zealand radio station, Zed FM again. I have read about drinking in Australia, but from everything I hear over in NZ it seems that getting drunk is a national pastime, even more so than here in Vegas. They usually have some interesting things on their web site, but I just noticed a listing on ten tips for what to do when you wake up the morning after and don’t remember what you did. Here are ten tips on how to reconstruct the previous evening's bender...
1.) Take stock of where you are and what you're wearing: Do you know where you are? Are you naked? Any distinctive stains, smells, or rips that jog your memory?
2.) Feel for aches and pains: Are your calves sore, like you ran from something? Does it feel like you've been in a fight?
3.) Search for receipts: Check your pockets, your wallet, and the area around your bed for receipts that could place you in a specific location at a specific time the night before. That includes ATM receipts, which is also a good time to make sure you didn't overdraw your account.
4.) Count your money: Assuming you know what you started with, this should tell you just how much fun you had. Finding MORE than you started with is never a good sign.
5.) Check your credit cards: Go online and retrace your steps using your credit card statement.
6.) Look at your call history: Don't just check the numbers on your call log, pay attention to the call length. Did you leave an embarrassing message when you drunk-dialed your ex, or did you spend the better part of an hour with them?
7.) Don't forget social networks: Be sure to delete any drunk-dialed Twitter comments or Facebook statuses.
8.) Gather visual evidence: While checking your phone and Internet activity, see if you took any photos or video. Also check YouTube for any hot new "drunk guy" videos that might feature YOU.
9.) Watch your roommate's reaction: Are they afraid of you, or angry with you. If they just look at you and laugh, that's just as bad.
As a last resort, you can call the people you started the night with and make sure there are no warrants out for your arrest.
I may be getting old, but I still don’t see why you would get that drunk. What fun is that? To me it is much more entertaining to drink coke and watch the drunks, taking photographs so that you have something to talk about for weeks to come.
Las Vegas is joining the rest of the country by having a slowdown in the economy. This means that people are not coming here and spending their money on frivolous things like gambling and food and hotel rooms. What’s up with that people? Forego that next car payment and come on out here and have a good time and keep us going. B has a niece that works across the street at the big casino resort hotel that used to be a pirate themed place but still has the ships out front in the moat. She works advanced reservations, was told that reservations servicing was being outsourced to India for all the MGM/Mirage properties, and cut back from a full time job to thirteen hours a week. With rumors going around about the whole place being shut down and whatever people want to come stay in the hotel being put up in the sister property next door, the one with the volcano. Oh, Merry Christmas, employees.
Along that line, our largest hospital is also not doing very well financially. Medicaid and other government health plans have severely cut back on their reimbursements, so a lot of the services that the hospital offers are being cut back or cancelled altogether. The problem we have here in Las Vegas is that if a service is not available we have to drive several hundred miles down towards Los Angeles in order to find other medical centers to get treatment. Some of the services that will be cut off include most outpatient services, including dialysis, prenatal care and cancer treatment. The story on this included an interesting comment by the hospital spokesman. He said something about wishing the people that were being turned away could find service elsewhere, as some of the treatment was very expensive, up to $10,000 per session for the meds alone. Most of them did not have insurance, and about 150 of the 400 cancer patients were not documented. This is semi-political speak for ‘illegal aliens’.
So my question today is: what are your feelings on this? Over a third of the people receiving medical services, and expensive services at that, are in this country illegally. They and the others are now being denied service because the money has run out. Is it the job of the hospital to insure that everyone is receiving the service to which they are legally entitled? Should these undocumented people be referred to the INS? Would this then make people hesitant to receive treatment? Should the US offer support to the world? Are we overextended, or is it the right thing to do?
On a related note, a recent story on PBS radio discussed a change in regulations by the state department, placing a number of countries on the list where citizens coming to visit the US do not require visas, with stays of up to three months permitted. One of these newly listed countries is South Korea. The story went on to discuss new travel companies that had sprung up, called Birthing Services, who arranged for South Koreans to travel to Guam in the eighth month of their pregnancies. The trip included hotel until they gave birth, and a drive to the local hospital, so that the child would then be a legal US citizen. Several families interviewed were saving up for this, so that when the kids got to college age they could then attend school in the US and would pay citizens tuition, not the much higher foreigner’s tuition. Based on the fourteenth amendment, written to give legal status to former slaves, stating that all persons born in the US or possessions are considered US citizens. Some people are upset that anyone can travel to the US, legally or not, and give birth to a child that is then considered a US citizen. Coming from San Diego I know there were people that crossed the border from Mexico just to give birth here. Hospitals could not deny services to a woman in labor, and there are many unpaid hospital bills all along the border because of this. So, second question: comments on this area?
No, I am not giving the finger to Heather, I am joining her in giving the finger to the grand state of California, a place I called home for over twenty five years.
PROPOSITION 8 PASSED - WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS THINKING?
I am sorry to say that the one state I thought was progressive and approved of alternate lifestyles, didn't care about how other people lived, and was a rather pleasant place to call home has shown that it is as close minded as the rest of the Republican country. How dare you tell someone else how to live? Just how does it affect your family if the people next door are married and of the same sex? You heterosexual couples have not proven to be very reliable in the child rearing department, with the divorce rate at what, a bit over fifty percent? So if you get married the chances of you getting divorced are higher than of staying married?
And my wedding ring? That's the first time in over five years it has been off of my other finger. Sorry to say that I am not pleased with this post at all.
Please, I don't care how you vote (well, I do, but vote anyway) please register and make a decision. Don't let the idiots decide for you (yes, I am one of the voting). Find where to register.
Bouncing around (yes, see the below cartoon) this morning I came across this posting by MB. It is a political observation by Craig Ferguson. I have never heard him before, he has a late night show that is on way past my bedtime. Here he discusses the campaigns, and no, he does not take any side or even mention which candidate he supports, but it is a very good commentary on the directions of the campaigns, and his closing few sentences are really to the point. So I don’t care if you are a Republican or Democrat, please take some time to listen to what he has to say. Thanks MB for the reference.
Oh, I was trying to stay away from politics; I try to direct myself towards light entertainment here, as I find there are too many places where you are directed towards bad attitudes. Unfortunately at home my wife is always listening to news on television, and leans (well, not so much lean as run in that direction) towards the television shows that support the Democrats. I try to avoid the politics, it’s sickening to me how people don’t think the same way that I do, and usually go sit at my computer in the office or find some work to do outside, which is challenging in Las Vegas in the summertime, but she usually calls me in to watch something she finds particularly interesting. Keith Obermann has a show on msnbc which is usually on when I come home, and I do stop to listen to his little editorial comments that are presented periodically.
Somebody new left a comment on my pirates post, Anna F from England came by, (Hi Anna, don't know how you got here, but thanks for coming!) so I thought in return I would go look at what she was writing. I usually do that, wander over to see what commenters have to say themselves, and add them to my ‘go back’ list if I like their style. Unfortunately my list is now so large I don’t usually have the time to visit everyone as often as I would like to. Anyway, she had a post about American politics which I really liked (go read for yourself) and as part of that post she had a clip from one of Obermann’s editorials. You might not be a Democrat, but just listen; he writes very well, puts things together, and has a tremendous presentation:
OK, enough politics for today. Sorry about that, soon back to our regular programming.
OK, let's skip Mr. McCain for now and do what everyone else is doing, pick on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. One of the best things I've read is by Jamie Lee Curtis (and I didn't even know she was a political analyst, I just thought she was sexy, but with a mind):
The scariest thing I hear about the Palin nomination was that she would appeal to voters because they would be able to relate to her and she to them. I get that. There are many places where relatability is key. I am a recovering addict alcoholic and finding another group that relates to my struggles is/was key to my sobriety. When I am at school I find myself grouping with others whose kids share the same issues, interests. People tell me all the time that the More magazine article where I showed what my real body looked like in comparison to the air brushed images most women are fed, was important and made me relatable. That too is great. The problem is I may be relatable and share some of your experiences and concerns but you don't want me as president of United States. Relatability gets you nothing in a complex financial crisis. Relatability doesn't help you understand the Gordian knot of trouble in the Middle East. Relatability doesn't help you untangle the obscenity which is our health care and insurance system and relatability doesn't train the hundreds of thousands of new teachers and repair and rebuild the smashed infrastructure and schools where they work.
I couldn't hold my own for one minute in a debate on any issue with someone like a Barack Obama or Joseph Biden and neither can Sarah Palin. When the call comes at 3AM I want a mind who was at the top of their class, who has gravitas and a real intellect. I want a leader who is a scholar who can hold the history of civilization in his head and will read and learn from the past as he charts the future. Real debates, where issues are explored, are the only way, prior to an election, to get the two candidates and their running mates to share their ideas and plans for the myriad contingencies they will/might face. This isn't a test. We don't get a re-do. This is the hardest time this generation has ever faced and people are all scared about the economy, our health care and mostly our children's futures. That is what millions of Americans and I can relate to.
Well, I'm sorry, I've tried to stay pleasant and avoid subjects that cause people to think. This wasn't designed to be a political blog but mainly just a place to share pictures that I've taken around Las Vegas because I really like it here and want people to see how nice it is. Or strange, because at times it is strange but usually I don't have a camera with me when the strange things happen.
But today I just have to join Deana and bring up something that I find important. Mainly, that our country has really gone downhill over the past eight years. We have soldiers dying in countries that we should not even be in, where we are throwing away billions of dollars in ‘reconstruction’ funds and costs that would be better spent at home on health care of food or just about anything, or not be spent by the government but left to the people. Our national debt is higher than it ever has been, I feel no safer flying (if I do, I now avoid it) and hate putting up with those petty restrictions and full body searches (no, you are not safer because of it, the 9-11 guys got their stuff in a different way).
I think our country cannot handle another four years of Bush. Yes, I feel the Republican candidate would just continue on the same path that we have been heading along. Get off your butts people and do something.
People are different. For some reason some groups of people feel that it is important for them to forbid other groups from doing things that they don't like, or from even living. This has been going on probably as long as man has been around, and will probably continue on for a long time. I don’t really understand the need for people to impose their values on others; I feel that you should just live your life as best you can and put up with or enjoy the diversity that is all around.
This attitude of us versus them is very evident when dealing with sports. For some reason sports fans feel that those people that don’t support their team are morons, which has led to riots and fighting between supporters of rival teams. I could never understand how anyone could claim that a team is ‘theirs’ just because they like it. Come on, you don’t throw the ball yourself, hire the players, offer any useful advice or do anything to make a team good or bad, so how the heck can you take credit for it winning? Or hate somebody that supports a team that your team lost to?
Religion is another big promoter of us vs. them. If you don’t believe in my God than you are nothing but a heathen that does not deserve to live. I once worked with several people in a ‘Born Again’ group in southern California. Their attitude was that it was OK to lie and cheat people that were not part of their group, because God didn’t care about them, so why should the people? That seemed fairly disgusting to me, about the only part of the Bible that I like are the instructions to treat others as you would be treated, and leave the judgments up to god. Since the California Supreme Court decided that the marriage laws were basically unfair all kinds of groups have come up with proposed constitutional changes in order to enforce the rules the way their god says they should be enforced. I understand that even candidate John McCain is in support of a law that would forbid same sex marriage. I wonder if he opposes the marriage of blacks and whites, or what other types of people he feels are inferior.
Kevin C recently posted a video that seemed fairly appropriate. I think that you could change the name of either group and it would apply reasonably well in lots of situations.
If this post offends you, well, I’m not sorry. Just go away and play with people that you feel comfortable with and leave me in my ignorance and stupidity. I usually try to get along with everyone, but recently have started getting really sick of people that try to impose their wills on others. Whether it be through religion or law or force or lying, as someone said ‘why can’t we all just get along?’
My wife was reading me parts of a magazine article, and it was a rather depressing view of what the world has become, mostly due to things done during the past seven years of a paranoid dilusional presidency.
From The New Yorker magazine, August 27, 2007 – The Human Bomb by Adam Gopnik
Gopnik discusses how America is being viewed by France.
When Sarkozy was elected president of France, in his first meeting with Condoleezza Rice, she asked 'What can I do for you?' "And he said, bluntly, 'Improve your image in the world. It's difficult when the country that is the most powerful, the most successful – that is, of necessity, the leader of our side – is one of the most unpopular countries in the world. It presents overwhelming problems for you and overwhelming problems for your allies. So do everything you can to improve the way you’re perceived – that’s what you can do for me. 'I think it’s entirely possible; the reservoir of good will has been drained somewhat, but it is far from dry."
When people in Paris talk about ambitious kids going to study abroad, they talk about London. (Americans have little idea of the damage done by the ordeal that a routine run through immigration at JFK has become for Europeans, or by the suspicion and hostility that greet the most anodyne foreigners who come to study or teach at our scientific and educational institutions.) When people in Paris talk about manufacturing might, they talk about China; when they talk about tall buildings, they talkd about Dubai; when they talk about troubling foreign takeovers, they talk about Gazprom. To a new leadership class, it sometimes seems that America is no longer the human bomb you have to defuse but the nut you walk away from.
Its military weakness has been exposed in Iraq, its economic weakness by the rise of the euro, and its once great cultural magnetism has been diminished by post-9/11 paranoia and insularity.
Sad to see what our country looks like from the outside. And sadder still that most Americans are not aware of it, or even that they don’t care.
OK, sorry, I said that I was not going to go all political any more and try to just do nice posts, but Udge just had to go and point something out that I missed. Yea, takes one of those darn furriners to tell us red blooded Americans that we are doing something wrong.
I’ve complained about the erosion of our civil liberties for the past six years. After 9/11 this president has had the attitude and ability to restrict so many facets of our lives that it is really disgusting to me. OK, if you feel ‘safer’ living in a police state then good for you, but I thought America was the land of the free and the brave, not the restricted and scared.
The latest item of concern is Executive Order 13303. This order gives the Secretary of the Treasury the right to freeze the assets of someone believed to be (that’s believed to be, not convicted or charged or anything specific) an enemy of the state. It’s initially worded to only affect those threatening the stability of Iraq, but there is no restriction on only those threatening Iraq, which means that it can be applied to anyone. Not only does it freeze the assets, but it also makes it illegal for anyone to give any type of support to somebody so affected.
I know, you’ll say ‘well, shouldn’t we prevent people from supporting the enemy? This will not affect me’. But the first application of the Patriot Act back in 2001 was not against anyone dealing with overseas entities or threats to the security of our country; it was applied to politicians back where I lived in San Diego, thought to be accepting bribes when dealing with zoning regulations on strip clubs. Yes, there have subsequently been several convictions of bribery, but for an act that was supposed to keep terrorists from blowing things up and killing people it was really widely applied.
What does that mean? Well, if applied as was the Patriot Act, it could mean that the county commissioner down the street from me could come under investigation for how he votes at the next zoning meeting. If a Federal prosecutor becomes involved, as in the cases in San Diego that spread to Las Vegas, this order could be applied. My neighbor could have all of his bank accounts, house, cars and all assets seized. With no court order, no conviction, no indictment, no court review, no appeal. And it would be illegal if I gave him a meal or even let his wife and kids sleep in my guest room, so I could then have all of my assets seized as well. Don’t think it can happen? Well, come on, I can see the affects the patriot act had on my neighbor. And this government does not have a very good track record at restricting the application of rules as promised.
So, our white house can issue Executive Orders without congressional approval or the review of anyone. And these orders can be worded so that they apply to anybody in any situation. I have no doubt that the next step is to issue orders that make it illegal to tell anybody about the order. There are similar things out there, some part of the Patriot Act – where somebody under investigation is prevented from saying anything, or even being told they are being investigated. This has resulted in businesses being served and torn apart, and the person involved is not even permitted to talk to their lawyer about what has happened. If they do both the lawyer and client can be arrested and prosecuted. Don’t say no, it has already happened here in Las Vegas, but of course it is illegal for me to even talk about it myself.
Not happy with what YOUR government is doing? Well, do something! Tell your freekin’ Congressman that you are not happy. Yes, I know you will be ignored. But still, speak up. And most importantly, vote next time! I don’t care who you vote for (well, yes I do) but at least get off of your butt and be part of the process. Hopefully King George will not further defy the constitution and will be voted out. Yes, I can just see some big ‘attack’ just before the elections, and in order to protect our nation all elections will be put on hold and the country put under martial law. It’s not something beyond Cheney’s thoughts.
OK, time for another political rant. I don’t know if I do too many of them or not enough, but putting up photos of E somehow seems much more enjoyable. Today’s rant comes to you courtesy of VG, who for some reason points us to this article on Cheney. Reading that, along with what is going on in the White House now really annoys me.
(or should I talk about Paris getting out of jail?) (is she out yet?)
Our local paper this morning had an editorial on Executive Privilege, there is a question as to whether or not the VP has to comply with a law about secrecy. “Dick Cheney is maintaining that the vice president's office is not an executive branch "agency" as defined by the law and is therefore exempt from the mandate.” This presidency has issued more ‘letters’ when laws are signed that exempt the President from enforcing laws passed by congress, as well as executive orders that are directly contrary to other laws.
This seems to be the most secretive of any of the administrations that I can remember. All kinds of executive actions are kept secret, and information only comes out when journalists with good attorneys use the Freedom of Information act to suck tidbits of data from assorted places, and then pull together many separate pieces to come up with some idea of what is going on. There still has not been an admission or full accounting of those overseas prisons that captured ‘terrorists’ are held in, and there is now discussion going on about closing the Guantanamo prison and transferring everybody back out to the hidden areas of Uzbekistan, or wherever the heck those place are. (well, they are secret prisons) Sounds like something Bush would do; the Supreme Court finally (for the third time) declares actions there illegal, so rather than doing the right thing come up with a way to work around the law, or ignore it altogether. Instead of opening the prison to lawyers just close it and ship everyone off to be tortured someplace else. Oh, sorry ‘we don’t do torture’; easy to say when you are the one making up the definitions.
I wish I could get away with that – defining my own words. Last president got to define ‘sex’, this one gets to define ‘torture’, along with a lot of other things. Somehow I think it’s a lot less painful to redefine sex. For the individuals involved as well as for the rest of the country.
Which somehow is unrelated (or it is) to the current topic, which is back onto our vice president being able to do any darn thing that he wants to do: for some reason I can’t say that I didn’t see this coming. It appears to be fairly standard in recent administrations for the sins of the administration to start becoming publicized in about year six of the eight year term. Since most people are reasonably sick of what has been going on the opposing party, figuring they will be the ones in power next time, start pulling out the knives and hatchets to carve up the people about to be relieved of duty. Of course, it helps when the current administration has a pile of things they want to hide. And the current group in the white house sure seems to have quite a lot of activities they are trying to hide, no matter what the laws say about that.
Now, the office of the vice president declares that it is not a part of the executive branch, and so does not have to comply with laws requiring the release of information? And it is also not an agency, so it is exempt from other laws. So I guess we now have a kind of magical little community living in one wing of the white house that is really its own independent country and can do anything it wants to do?
And this topic – a continuation of the ‘we do not torture’ line that has been the standard of this administration. To wait for the Supreme Court to tell them that enemy combatants have the same rights under our constitution that any citizen has? And that even American citizens are also protected by this same constitution, just by saying someone is a threat to the nation does not mean they can be locked up without access to a lawyer for years. That seems the most disturbing to me – that an American can be hauled off the streets, subject to this treatment that is not torture, and kept locked in solitary confinement for years and years without being able to talk to a lawyer or having any sort of judicial review just be giving them a new classification? And the press and people of this country are not up in arms about this?
I think the positions that both of these guys are taking, and things they have done, would qualify for an impeachment session. Let’s get everything out in the open, show them that they can’t redefine the laws for their own convenience. But it’s never going to happen; too many Republicans still feel they must remain loyal. And too many Americans think they are doing the right thing, heck with the constitution.
Aw, why do I have to keep complaining about stuff like this? Nothing I say changes anything. Those that agree with me keep agreeing, those that don’t keep their opinions.
And now for something completely different: this little elephant should be getting off a plane right about now, and soon be back at my house.
Looking forward to the end of the work day when I can go home and see how she is doing. I understand my sweet little E has become a terrible two and things have changed. The word ‘NO’ is now in semi-continuous use.
