Hey remember Tunisia? They had a little revolution too...They sorta had their thunder stolen by Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Lebanon, Iran, Wisconsin.....et al. Anyways, let's check in and see how they're doing: Police were dispatched to protect brothels from stone throwing fanatics. To me this seems like a positive sign. Though the country is still extremely unstable, the article suggests that Tunisians don't really have any interest in developing any sort of theocratic fundamentalist government. The story suggests that that sort of thing is frankly at odds with the Tunisian character. Good. Let's start this day with some guarded optimism, shall we?
Trust Libya to be a killjoy though. I have to give it to them: The Libyan government is offering important concessions to the protesters including essential steps towards democracy like a fancy new flag! Maybe even a jazzy, new anthem if they're good!
Speaking of Libya, I wonder what Chavez apologist Oliver Stone would have to say about this.
And Wisconsin keeps doing its thing. On a personal note: I'd like to mention that a friend of the Girlfriend has decided to pack up her child and go join the protests (as noted, I have mixed feelings about the union demands). Have fun guys and be careful! On a political note: I think that the unions are being smart to highlight that they are perfectly willing to accept higher costs in terms of health care and pensions. It's clever to push that. It removes a good deal of ammunition from the argument that this bill is only about fixing the state budget.
Please and Thank You 101.
I doubt though, that the Civility Institute will tame the Nimby's.
Good news: Ashcroft will get his day in court to defend the use of material witness laws. And I hope he fails. He (and the Obama Justice Department I might add), assert that not only does Ashcroft enjoy absolute immunity in this case as a prosecutor but that the government can detain citizens if they suspect that they might commit possible crimes at some point in the future. The 9th Circuit has already rejected this argument:
“Some confidently assert that the government has the power to arrest and detain or restrict American citizens for months on end, in sometimes primitive conditions, not because there is evidence that they have committed a crime but merely because the government wishes to investigate them for possible wrongdoing,” Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. wrote in 2009 for a divided three-judge panel.
“We find this to be repugnant to the Constitution,” Judge Smith wrote, “and a painful reminder of some of the most ignominious chapters of our national history.”
The details of the case are that an American citizen, college football star and Religious Studies Phd candidate (conveniently, also a convert to Islam), was held for weeks in a number of states, shackled and naked with no evidence of any wrong-doing whatsoever while the government scrambled to find something, anything they could possibly pin on him.
This piece by the way, gives an important and necessary breakdown of the scale of the Islamist threat that justifies the abnegation of American civil liberties. It's terrifying! There could be literally dozens of people capable of pulling of a significant attack on the United States! Dozens!!
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted: #Blogdeath.
The protections offered society by police officers are a bargain at any price! In this single Pennsylvania state troopers case, it's cost taxpayers a mere $13 million in settlement payouts for civil lawsuits over the years, including one case in which he shot a deadly 12 year old in the back.
In other news, a local man has survived his bout with flesh eating bacteria.
I'm trying to think of songs that come over the radio that might prove utterly disastrous when paired with this technology. "Stop (In the Name of Love)" immediately comes to mind.
Yeah...I sorta thought the American being held by Pakistani authorities was a spook. Ex-special forces members usually don't get attached to embassies because of their diplomatic skills.
Huh... Song of the Day. Pretty cool. Sort of a cross between the Sonics and Radio Birdman.
The hacker collective Anonymous has set its sites on the Westboro Baptist Church. Frankly, anything bad that happens to those zealots is a net positive for humanity and the universe at large. That said, it's sadly ironic that a group the professes a love of free-speech would make a point of threatening a loathsome, hateful group for...exercising free speech, albeit of the utterly horrid variety.
Ending things on a positive note: here's a video of an otter and badger pup playing together.
You're welcome!
Aw, the friend is sick and never made it to the protests. They'll get 'em next time.
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