I'm going to make an observation about the prison industrial
complex (PIC).
First off, on the AFROAM-L email list, I used to write that the
people moaning and complaining about the PIC were focusing on the
wrong thing. The existence of the PIC could go away in years if the
Black people, primarily men, would stop doing the crimes that landed
their behinds in jail. If that were done, there would be no money to
be made in the PIC.
Having written that, I find it interesting that Illinois
Congress-criters seem to be upset about the possibility of having
GITMO detainees jailed there and complaining that an economy should
not be created because of the existence of prisons, when many rural
governments are trying to do just that. They are trying to expand the
local economy by building prisons and then getting other areas to send
their prisoners to them.
I see no LEGAL reason why Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should be tried in a U.S. court of law. To me it doesn't make sense what so ever. Mohammed is not an American citizen nor is he a legal U.S. resident. If he were in the country when he planned the attacks, then I can understand why he would be tried in the U.S.
But right now, his status is an enemy combatant, which is not a legal definition. It seems to me to be a loop hole created by the Bush administration because congress, which it has been doing for decades, has abdicated it's Constitutional authority.*
If a war cannot be fought against an entity other than a government, then congress should have added terrorist groups to the definition and then declared war against terrorist groups. Or, congress should have created another definition for the military action and the "legalize" that is involved. One glaring definition would define if "enemy combatants" are to be tried in military court, U.S. federal court, or something else.
But, I'm not a lawyer so what do I know?
* I'm one of those people who thinks congress sometimes writes laws poorly, with intent, so that people will challenge some laws and leave it up to the courts to figure out.
A man who is happily married has to know. Do players these days use stacks of gift cards to get their mack on?
Stacks of $25 and $50 gift cards she thought were "gifts".OK. Sure.Lipscomb was pursuing Dixon romantically and lavishing her with gifts, sometimes anonymously, Weiner said. Lipscomb attached himself to Dixon's group of friends and even followed her to Boston, Weiner said. The stacks of $50 and $25 gift cards that he gave her in 2005 and 2006 were no different from furs and designer clothes that she accepted from him, the lawyer said.
Weiner said that another batch of gift cards she is charged with misusing, donated in December 2005 by Turner, had arrived at Dixon's office in a blank envelope. She assumed that they were also a gift from Lipscomb, to be used as she saw fit, her lawyer said.
Maine Finds a Health Care Fix Elusive
Maine’s history is a cautionary tale for national health reform. The state could never figure out how to slow the spiraling increase in medical costs, hobbling its efforts to offer more people insurance coverage. Many on Capitol Hill have criticized national reform legislation for similarly doing little to tame costs.
To Ms. Snowe, Maine’s past shows that change, while needed, should be incremental because mistakes are common. This is among the reasons she opposes an immediate public insurance option. “I mentioned to the president that people can’t digest everything at once,” she said in an interview.
To conservatives, Maine proves that government efforts to strictly regulate the nation’s health insurance market are doomed. Many of the reform proposals circulating on Capitol Hill have already been tried in Maine.
“These reforms are very well-intentioned, but in reality they have yet to produce the promised results or even be financially sustainable,” said Tarren R. Bragdon, chief executive of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative research organization in Portland.
A state does some of the same things that congress wants to do, and the costs still rise, yet congress says these are the things that will bring down costs?
Boy sees man beat up his mother.
Girl sees father beat up her mother.
Boy and girl get together years later. Boy beats up girl 8 or 9 times. The last time was "the last time" only because there were witnesses of the boy biting the girl.
At least the cycle didn't involve death; this time.
A man in the military says he is opposed to a certain military action and it is known to his upper command. What upper command would send the man to serve duty in the action to which he is opposed?
That is the situation with the Ft. Hood terrorist. How does sending a man to duty in an area to which he is opposed, a "P.C." action?
Some media have been doing stories of the military sending people back into service although the people claim or have documented they are suffering from PTSD. If that history with the military didn't exist, I would more strongly consider the "P.C." angle of this, but since the military has been sending people off to fight who should not fight, the "P.C." angle is discounted, to me.
YMMV.
Please pray for the families of the victims of terrorism.
[ UPDATE ]
Let me give you the relative time line of events on that Thursday.
I need to know how the Fort Hood terrorist assassin was only able to do it because of political correctness. That's what I keep hearing but I don't understand how that is the case.
If the media is to be believed, the terrorist assassin had conflicts with other military people concerning his terrorist beliefs. But, so far, it appears those people didn't report his views.
If the media is to be believed, the terrorist assassin told the army that he wanted to get out and didn't believe in the war. But, it appears his attempts to exit the army were turned down.
If the media is to be believed, he posted terrorist assassin beliefs on a board under his own name. [ UPDATE ] And, if the media is to believed, it was brought to the attention of LAW ENFORCEMENT officials.
Where is p.c. is this?
If it is accurate that 3 SOLDIERS were involved,...this is terrorism.
[ UPDATE ]
Let me shut up about this.
First there was one, then three, now it's back to one. Two people were released.
First he was dead now he's alive?
The media is in their report everything to beat the crowd mode, so I'm going to sit back and wait for it to calm down. Meanwhile, I'll pray for the families.
In yesterday's voting, independents voted for Republicans 2 to 1.
Not much time, so short and sweet:
Dede Scozzafava left the NY special election after polls showed Scoaazfava falling behind the other 2 candidates. Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman has been pushed by Republicans and conservatives outside of the district and state. My question is, although the district is a Republican district, does Hoffman better represent the district than Scozzafava? If so, so be it. If not, that's a damn shame.
Hmmm... does Owens represent better than both?
Anyway, my point is, national conservative Republicans like to complain about so-called RINOs but if those RINOs represent their districts then what's the problem?
If a Representative or Senator had 10 people to read equal pages of the bill, they would each read 190+ pages. Didn't some Representative say there is no way they could read long bills?
Does it take 1900+ pages to "reform health care"?
Do you think it is likely there are things not related to "reforming health care" in the bill?
Do you think it is likely that there are conflicting provisions in the bill?
Do you think it is likely the legal mumbo jumbo was written in a way to be intentionally obtuse?
There is no damn way this is a good bill.
Reporting from Los Angeles and Sacramento - Starting Sunday, cash-strapped California will dig deeper into the pocketbooks of wage earners -- holding back 10% more than it already does in state income taxes just as the biggest shopping season of the year kicks into gear.
Technically, it's not a tax increase, even though it may feel like one when your next paycheck arrives. As part of a bundle of budget patches adopted in the summer, the state is taking more money now in withholding, even though workers' annual tax bills won't change.
Think of it as a forced, interest-free loan: You'll be repaid any extra withholding in April. Those who would receive a refund anyway will receive a larger one, and those who owe taxes will owe less.
This is straight UP gangsta!
Who is to say the state won't issue an IOU on your refund?
I seem to remember when some Black men in Philadelphia wanted other Black men to form neighborhood patrols to help cut down criminal behavior in the neighborhoods, that some people said it was a bad idea because that was the job of the police.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Residents of Ohio's capital city are complaining that police officers are telling them to move out if they're fed up with neighborhood crime.
At least two Columbus city council members have heard the complaint.
An aide to Councilwoman Charleta Tavares says she has received more than 20 calls. Councilman Andrew Ginther says if police are making the comments, they're neither acceptable nor appropriate, though he says he believes most officers want to be helpful.
What was that they were saying again? It appears, to me, that the police are now saying they are collecting a pay check.