The Houston Chronicle says that Arkansas state rep. Pam Adcock is trying again to change state House rules that ban a cup of water on a desk but allow a day’s worth of tobacco juice. Tobacco juice?! I was unaware that this substance was, well, a commodity of any kind. I’m imagining it as a…
Month: October 2007
There’s Always Time for One Last Kiss
Or is there? The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said tests on 33 brand-name red lipsticks reveals that over 60 percent of them had detectable lead levels of 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million and more than 1/3 exceeded the U.S. FDA’s limit on candy, meaning the lipstick that gives a gal those kissable lips could…
Blackwater, War Criminals?
The LA Times says that Blackwater, the U.S. security contractor, may soon be facing down a war crimes inquiry. The United Nations today called on the United States to hold private security contractors in Iraq accountable in instances when killings appeared unjustified. The recommendation, in a quarterly report assessing the state of human rights in…
Giuliani Not Fit To Live
So say the leaders of Palestinian terrorist groups. “If I had the occasion to meet him (Giuliani), I would hurt him,” said Ramadan Adassi, chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group in the West Bank’s Anskar refugee camp. “For the sake of the American people, Giuliani shouldn’t be elected. He is a disgusting…
There You Go Again, Jimmy
Jimmy Carter says that the United States tortures prisoners in violation of international law. From CNN: “I don’t think it. I know it,” Carter told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “Our country for the first time in my life time has abandoned the basic principle of human rights,” Carter said. “We’ve said that the Geneva Conventions do…
3 Saudi Terror Funders Designated
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) three individuals based in Saudi Arabia: Abdul Rahim Al-Talhi, Muhammad `Abdallah Salih Sughayr, and Fahd Muhammad `Abd Al-`Aziz Al-Khashiban were designated for providing support to the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), an al Qaida-affiliated terrorist group responsible for multiple bombings, kidnappings and…
SCHIP, Media, Government, Truth
The SCHIP debate is interesting because it pits certain core beliefs that conservatives and liberals allegedly hold in direct opposition to each other. Whether to hold the line on spending and entitlements or grant additional taxpayer dollars to the poor – this is bread-and-butter stuff. Throw in a few pinches of liberal guilt – "we’ve…
Dems Likely to Cave on Surveillance
The NY Times says: Two months after vowing to roll back broad new wiretapping powers won by the Bush administration, Congressional Democrats appear ready to make concessions that could extend some of the key powers granted to the National Security Agency. … A Democratic bill to be proposed Tuesday in the House would maintain for…
National Guard Shorted Benefits?
WCSH, a NBC affiliate in Portland, Maine, reports that members of the Minnesota National Guard, who had been deployed in Iraq for 22 months, are being denied GI Bill education benefits. [1st Lt. Jon] Anderson’s orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days. Had they been written for…
WW II Vets Decry Torture
Writing about a group of veterans who were responsible for interrogating Nazi prisoners of war at Fort Hunt during WW II, Petula Dvorak of the Washington Post writes: Back then, they and their commanders wrestled with the morality of bugging prisoners’ cells with listening devices. They felt bad about censoring letters. They took prisoners out for steak dinners to…