Thursday, May 26, 2005

What Were Landrieu, Nelson, and Pryor Thinking?. On Tuesday I idly speculated that the newly annointed Centrist Kingmakers in the Senate, emboldened by a fawning DC media, could pose some problems for Harry Reid. But I didn't expect them to bite us in the posterior this soon.... [The Left Coaster] 9:29:38 PM     Killer Issue. Now that we know Newsweek Magazine is the source of anti-American feeling in the Arab world, the visual evidence is starting to come in. Here, courtesy of AFP, we see how the trouble got started. Obviously, upon hearing that... [BAGnewsNotes] 7:51:48 AM     The Logical Structure of the Geneva Conventions. Paul Lukasiak writes:  The key to understanding the Geneva Conventions is that they were designed to protect everyone placed under the authority of an "enemy" during wartime. Absent the findings of a competent tribunal that someone had committed war (or other) crimes, everyone had to be treated as either a POW or a "non-combatant". The granting of POW status is not a "benefit" under the conventions -- it is designed to enumerate (and thereby restrict) the rights of captured combatants (as opposed to captured non-combatants). In other words, there are rights granted to captured non-combatants that are far greater than those granted to combatants. The definitions for "POW status" deliniate whom a capturer can provide the limited rights afforded to combatant --- and the rights afforded "POWs" are the minimum rights granted under the Conventions.... [Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal] 7:49:25 AM     The Pentagon’s Credibility Problem. The Pentagon’s response to numerous allegations of Koran desecration has been that those allegations aren’t credible. Yet, until last week, the Pentagon had never investigated any of these allegations to find out if they were credible or not. What gives? This graph from an AP story this morning provides some ... [Think Progress] 7:47:25 AM     Eschaton archive note #13 . Propaganda: Arthur Silber, Doing God's Work, And How Propaganda Becomes "Truth". Perspective re Mark Kleiman on Clarence Thomas. Blowout government re Making Light post by Patrick and comment by Teresa. What'd they expect?: Iraqi Christians Don't Want American Evangelicals. [The Sideshow] 7:45:45 AM     And now, it's time for... . The Bra of the Week (Yes, I realize I seem to have a rather elastic idea of how long a "week" is.) Molly Ivins with your Quote of the Day from Senfronia Thompson in Texas: Members, I'm a Christian and a proud Christian. I read the good book and do my best to live by it. I have never read the verse where it says, 'Gay people can't marry.' I have never read the verse where it says, 'Thou shalt discriminate against those not like me.' I have never read the verse where it says, 'Let's base our public policy on hate and fear and discrimination.' Christianity to me is love and hope and faith and forgiveness-not hate and discrimination. (Via Arthur Silber.) I can't image how much alcohol Ann Coulter consumes before she opens her mouth in public, but it must be some powerful stuff. I mean, she's complaining about how few inroads the poor, helpless, conservative movement has made against the liberal media, and she says this: "It's like 1930's Germany and Bill Moyers is the Jew." (via) Justin Raimondo has a spooky article on the Franklin spy story that let's you know just how treasonous the entire foreign policy apparatus in the Bush Family Empire really is. I hate it when people argue for a draft, even when the particular formulation amuses me. But I don't think that part can fly. Now that everyone's had to admit that the prison camp guards did flush the Koran, the wingers are still in denial. (Like here, because gods forbid we should remember that most of those people aren't terrorists.) Bill Scher wasn't any happier with The Deal than I was, and says so here and here. He also has an article in The Star Tribune saying Democrats would do well to focus on Medicare . And MadKane has written a song for the occasion. Seriously, what is wrong with this guy? [The Sideshow] 7:44:18 AM     Iraq to launch huge Baghdad raids. A 40,000-strong force is to battle insurgents in Baghdad, Iraq's defence minister announces. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition] 7:41:48 AM     Voinovich Cries While Opposing John Bolton For UN Post. As our co-blogger Justin Delabar wrote earlier here the nomination of John Bolton for U.S. Ambassador to the UN will be decided real soon. And for many it's a serious... [The Moderate Voice] 1:59:39 AM     JOURNAL: Moscow, Electricity, and Chechen Guerrillas. An explosion and subsequent fire at an electricity substation (Chagino) south-east of Moscow caused a cascade of failure that swept through the city. Lights, water, the stock-exchange, subways, etc were knocked out as engineers rapidly disconnected systems to prevent equipment... [Global Guerrillas] 1:58:28 AM     Surprise! Mind Your Own Business. Iraqi Christians Don't Want American Evangelicals I suspect the Rev. Creighton Lovelace is one of the reasons. Click on Picture to Play Quicktime Video 6.35MB 4'32 Quicktime Required (free download)... [onegoodmove] 1:57:23 AM     A Revolutionary Statement. This is an interruption of your regularly scheduled programming to bring you a message from the people who started this crazy experiment. ... WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed...  [Pacific Views] 1:55:11 AM     North Carolina pastor apologizes for bigoted sign.. Earlier today, we posted about an anti-Muslim sign that had been placed in front of a Baptist church in North Carolina. The sign read: The Koran needs to be flushed! In that post, we mentioned how the church's pastor, Rev.... [Pacific Views] 1:49:40 AM     Documents Say Detainees Cited Abuse of Koran by Guards. Neil A. Lewis | Washington, DC | May 26 NYT - Newly released documents show that detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, complained repeatedly to F.B.I. agents about disrespectful handling of the Koran by military personnel and, in one case in 2002, said they had flushed a Koran down a toilet. Inmates Alleged Koran Abuse Dan Eggen and Josh White | Washington, DC | May 26 WaPo - Detainees told FBI interrogators as early as April 2002 that mistreatment of the Koran was widespread at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and many said they were severely beaten by captors there or in Afghanistan, according to FBI documents released yesterday. The Times and the WaPo need to apologize, and quick! [The Agonist] 1:48:15 AM     JOURNAL: Pakistan's Global Guerrillas. Southwestern Pakistan. Baluch tribesmen, disenfranchised from the resource wealth produced by their province (see the brief Primary Loyalties for more), staged multiple attacks nearly a week ago on the Sui natural gas purification plant and its associated pipelines. Damage to... [Global Guerrillas] 1:46:35 AM     Pilgrimage. Clinton Library: (...) [South Knox Bubba] 1:45:54 AM

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