"I know that Congress has low approval ratings. I don't approve of Congress because we haven't done anything to end, we haven't been effective in ending the war in Iraq."Here is what CNN reports:
"I know that Congress has low approval ratings. I don't approve of Congress because we haven't done anything."
...we are, more accurately, engaged in what can be considered a fourth war, against the spread of the ideology of radical Islamism. In this war, the battlefields are the many cities, towns and villages where extremists seek to impose their absolutist view of sharia-based rule.What is being done to win this "war". The answer, not much. We seem to be winning the "war on terror" militarily but there is no end in sight as long as we continue to breed more terrorists with our war "strategy". Satloff suggest trying to win friends in the muslim world is the wrong strategy.
Rather than expend effort on winning Muslim friendship for America, our engagement with Muslim publics -- what we call "public diplomacy" -- should focus on identifying, nurturing and supporting anti-Islamist Muslims, from secular liberals to pious believers, who fear the encroachment of radical Islamists and are willing to make a stand.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be many other options. It's a fight between secularists and religious, some call them radical religious islamists. It's difficult enough to try to change the minds of the religious right in the USA and it will be no different trying to do the same in muslim nations.This strategy would involve overt and covert ways to assist anti-Islamist political parties, nongovernmental organizations, trade unions, media outlets, women's groups, educational institutions and youth movements as they compete with the radicals. It calls for marshaling government resources -- our embassies, aid bureaucracies, international broadcasting units and intelligence agencies, as well as our commercial, educational and civic relationships -- to give anti-Islamists the moral, political, financial, technological and material support they need.
"He refused to not only put his hand on his heart during the pledge of allegiance, but refused to say the pledge...how in the hell can a man like this expect to be our next Commander-in-Chief? "They were not saying the pledge but rather listening to the National Anthem. Now it may be correct protocol to place ones hand over ones heart during the playing of the National Anthem, but I've been to a ton of sports events and rarely ever see anyone do that. It's bad enough that you have to listen to that strained tune. Now "God Save the Queen"....there's an anthem.
Scientific evidence supports the view that the earth’s climate is changing. A broad array of organizations (federal, state, local, multilateral, faith-based, private and nongovernmental) is working to address climate change. Despite this extensive activity, the public health effects of climate change remain largely unaddressed. CDC considers climate change a serious public health concern.Some of the impacts on health that we will see might include: direct effects of heat, air-polution related effects, increased allergies, water and food-born diseases, vector and zoonotic diseases, food and water scarcity, mental health problems and impacts on chronic diseases. Dr. Gerberding was ready to provide Congress with specifics on each of those problems but Pres. Bush said no.
The fence was described on the Minuteman Web site as 14 feet high, with security cameras and sensors, topped with razor wire and flanked by ditches to stop vehicles. Simcox referred to it as an "Israeli-style" fence, similar to the barrier Israel has erected to keep Palestinians from crossing from the West Bank.The Minutemen are raising donations to build the fence? How much have they raised? Where is the money going? Certainly not to an Israeli style security fence in Cochise County, AZ.
The most surprising finding was that being overweight but not obese was associated only with excess mortality from diabetes and kidney disease -- not from cancer or heart disease. Moreover, the researchers found an apparent protective effect against all other causes of death, such as tuberculosis, emphysema, pneumonia, Alzheimer's disease and injuries. An association between excess weight and nearly 16,000 deaths from diabetes and kidney disease was overshadowed by a reduction of as many as 133,000 deaths from all other deaths unrelated to cancer or heart disease. Even moderately obese people appeared less likely to die of those causes.Overweight is defined as those with a body mass index of between 25 and 30. Over BMI 30 and you are obese and that is not good.
(b) Prohibited Actions- The treatment or techniques of interrogation prohibited under subsection (a) include, but are not limited to, the following:I'm sure Bush can find many other intensive techniques to use other than the ones listed above.
(1) Forcing an individual to be naked, perform sexual acts, or pose in a sexual manner.
(2) Placing a hood or sack over the head of an individual, or using or placing duct tape over the eyes of an individual.
(3) Applying a beating, electric shock, burns, or other forms of physical pain to an individual.
(4) Subjecting an individual to the procedure known as `waterboarding'.
(5) Subjecting an individual to threats or attack from a military working dog.
(6) Inducing hypothermia or heat injury in an individual.
(7) Conducting a mock execution of an individual.
(8) Depriving an individual of necessary food, water, or medical care.
Mukasey’s assurances on torture that won over Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer was disingenuous, according to Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.If torture continues to be used by the USA it will be thanks to Sen. Schumer and Sen. Feinstein.
“Unsaid, of course, is the fact that any such prohibition would have to be enacted over the veto of this president,” said Leahy.
Q Is it ever reasonable to restrict constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism?Of course they are talking about the freedoms of the people in Pakistan, not the freedoms of citizens of the USA. In the USA you have to give up a few freedoms in order to stay free.
MS. PERINO: In our opinion, no.
Should we reject Judge Mukasey, President Bush has said he would install an acting, caretaker attorney general who could serve for the rest of his term without the advice and consent of the Senate. To accept such an unaccountable attorney general, I believe, would be to surrender the department to the extreme ideology of Vice President Dick Cheney and his chief of staff, David Addington.We've already lived through the terms of two "unaccountable" AG's, John Ashcroft and Al Gonzales. We can make it through another 15 months with another "unaccountable" AG. Besides, there are zero assurances that Judge Mukasey will be accountable just because he says he will. Gonzales made you think he would be accountable too. He lied to Congress. By the way, how is that sopoena to bring Gonzales before the committee coming along?
Judge Mukasey’s refusal to state that waterboarding is illegal was unsatisfactory to me and many other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Congress is now considering — and I hope we will soon pass — a law that would explicitly ban the use of waterboarding and other abusive interrogation techniques. And I am confident that Judge Mukasey would enforce that law.So Sen. Ted Kennedy sponsored an anti-torture amendment in 2006 and you supported it. Now there is a similar bill in this Congress. I guess that law isn't on the books is it? Otherwise Judge Mukasey would be able to render an opinion whether waterboarding is illegal or not. There are already numerous treaties, laws and regulations concerning torture. What about those?
On Friday, he personally made clear to me that if the law were in place, the president would have no legal authority to ignore it — not even under some theory of inherent authority granted by Article II of the Constitution, as Vice President Cheney might argue.Pres. Bush has a habit of ignoring laws he doesn't like. He loves signing statements that exempt him from following laws passed by Congress. An anti-torture bill has next to zero chance of ever being passed in this Congress. And, if somehow it does get passed, I predict that Bush would veto it.
Even without the proposed law in place, Judge Mukasey would be more likely than a caretaker attorney general to find on his own that waterboarding and other techniques are illegal. Indeed, his written answers to our questions have demonstrated more openness to ending the practices we abhor than either of this president’s previous attorney general nominees have had.Whoop-de-do! Judge Mukasey will be more likely than a caretaker AG to find on his own that waterboarding is illegal. Sen. Schumer, have you heard that the Brooklyn Bridge is for sale? Remember that old Bush saying about "fool me once".....?
I understand and respect my colleagues who believe that Judge Mukasey’s view on torture should trump all other considerations. For the Senate to make a bold declaration about torture and waterboarding by rejecting him is appealing. But if we block Judge Mukasey’s nomination and then learn in six months that waterboarding has continued unabated, that victory will seem much less valuable.What if Judge Mukasey is confirmed as Ag and torture continues? Well, at least maybe we will get a "depoliticized Justice Department". A "depoliticized" government department in the Bush administration. Yes, when hell freezes over.
General Musharraf suspended the Constitution, fired the judges of the Supreme Court, closed the transmission of privately owned television news channels and curbed the broadcasts of international broadcasters. Parliamentary elections scheduled for next January have been delayed for up to a year.More here.
Despite U.S. expectations it is unlikely that Musharraf will use his new powers to step up a military offensive in the north. His first concern is political survival. More likely are a flurry of truces and shaky peace deals with the Pakistani Taliban that will leave them in place.Unlike your (our) "outrage" over Burma, there doesn't seem to be much "outrage" over Pakistan. Pakistan is our ally in the war on terror, continues to receive military aid from the USA and has about 50 nuclear weapons. Is there any reason for Americans to be outraged over Pakistan? Are you as concerned about democracy in Pakistan as your are about democracy in Burma?
