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June 29, 2006
power
U.S. taxpayers will have to pay for a power plant that Israel bombed on June 27.
The plant, built by Enron, cost 150 million dollars and took five years to build. It was completed in 2004 and was meant to free the Gaza Strip from dependence upon Israeli electricity.
The U.S. government insures the plant against "political violence" to the tune of 48 million dollars. When Israeli F-16 jets destroyed the plant, the U.S. government became responsible for the paying the insurance claim.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 29 June, 2006; p A5; 'Airstrike destruction of power plant will cost U.S.'
U.S. taxpayers currently subsidize Israel with over three billion dollars per year in aid.
Posted by williamfrick at 12:02 PM | Comments (1)
June 27, 2006
a modest proposal
Boston writer Joan Vennochi suggests that the United States should institute a military draft of its young people.
"Either this war is worth every citizen's effort, or it's not worth any solider's life."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 27 June, 2006; p B6; 'Starting a draft would end the war'
Posted by williamfrick at 9:32 AM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2006
Our real philosophers . . .
Comic Books, those real arbiters of what is noble and honorable in our culture, are weighing in on the Bush government’s “war on terror.”
There’s no judgment rendered yet. Marvel Comics has another ten issues or so to sort it all out - in a series of comics titled 'Civil War'.
Our superheroes are passionate and divided about the direction post of 9-11 America.
Here’s to hoping that they figure it out for the rest of us.
Seattle Times; 25 June 2006; p K2; 'Superheros choose sides in a war on terror'
Posted by williamfrick at 9:14 AM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2006
if truth be told . . .
For those who have an interest, a Salon.com writer named Gary Kamiya has written an encompassing and thoughtful review of New York Times writer Ron Suskind's new book "The One Percent Doctrine." A review that is, in fact, a concise history of the Bush administration, post 9-11.
One interesting fact from Suskind's book:
The CIA consensus was that "Osama bin Laden's message [to the American people just before the 2004 elections] was clearly designed to assist the President's reelection ... On that score, any number of NSC principals could tell you something so dizzying that not even they will touch it: that Bush's ratings track with bin Laden's ratings in the Arab world." When Bush speaks, bin Laden's popularity soars -- and vice versa.
Salon.com; 23 June 2006; 'License to lie'
Read the full transcript of Osama bin Ladin's message to the US in October, 2004
Posted by williamfrick at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2006
This explains a lot . . .
In one of those "a-ha" moments that happen every now and then - and help explain the world we currently live in - the staff recently came across an interesting claim by celebrity talker, Ann Coulter.
In the mid-1990s Coulter claims she had a job working for a Republican senator, and that in this job she helped to write the USA's immigration laws.
"I toughened up the provision on removing criminal aliens from the United States."
Ann Coulter, The Guardian, 11 June 2006; 'Lethally Blonde'
KIW's legal department notes that the (infamous) 1996 Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IRAIRA) contained provisions that, while confusing and poorly-drafted, sought to deport green card holders for minor criminal convictions (i.e. shoplifting) that occurred decades prior to the enactment of the law. Much of the 1996 law has been overruled by courts and by later legislation.
The Act is widely considered to be overeachingly mean-spirited, and is responsible for burdening federal courts with immigration-related litigation.
Posted by williamfrick at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2006
truly un-American activities
More and more, secret evidence is being admitted against defendants in U.S. Courts. - Evidence that the defendants aren't allowed to see, or hear or effectively challenge.
"In point of fact, the public doesn't have a right to know a large variety of information maintained by the government, particularly its investigators, its intelligence services, and that presumption doesn't change just because someone is charged with a crime."
United States Federal Prosecutor Andrew McCarthy
Compare Mr. McCarthy's words with this clear and tested paragraph:
"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."
U.S. Constitution: Sixth Amendment - Rights of Accused in Criminal Prosecutions
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 14 June 2008; p A8; 'Courtroom secrecy is growing in the U.S. - Terrorism prosecutions going too far, some fear'
Posted by williamfrick at 3:16 PM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2006
Desmond Dekker
Most of the staff here just loved that great song 'The Israelites', written by Mr. Desmond Dekker.
Mr. Dekker died receintly in London.
As a child in Fort Worth, Texas during the hot and sunny summer of 1969, one staffer in particular was inspired by Mr. Dekker's celebration of people who woke up every morning and had the same thing for breakfast "so that ev-very-mouth-can-be-fed."
We should take our nobility where we find it.
Have a listen: The Israelites - Desmond Dekker and the Aces.mp3
Seattle Post-Intelligencer; 27 May, 2006; p A11; 'Desmond Dekker: 1941-2006 - Reggae singer introduced Jamaican music to the world
Posted by williamfrick at 9:54 AM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2006
Montenegro lends a hand
Perhaps it's an effort to match the USA’s recent worldwide exhibition of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s dead head.
The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexei II, welcomed the right hand of John the Baptist at a ceremony on Wednesday at the Church of Christ the Savior in central Moscow.
The hand will remain at the Moscow church for about a week. Then it will be taken on a tour of Russia and several other of the former Soviet Republics. In July the hand will return to Montenegro.
Patriarch Alexei is calling on Christians to pray before the hand.
KIW wishes the hand all the best.
The Guardian; 10 June, 2006; Hand of John the Baptist in Russia
Posted by williamfrick at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)