So, now we find the United States telling a British court that the US can kidnap Britons if it wants to, which is not a very smart way of treating your allies. The point the Americans made was that this goes back to bounty hunters in the 1860s; that, in fact, is true. The point that was left out is that this practice was laid to rest for a good century, that it was revived (and defended) in the context of the drug war (...again...), and that it has typically applied to regions not in the effective control of any government with which one could negotiate. However, the taking it to this level - acting in direct violation of treaty against a citizen of a sovereign nation (an ally, even!) - because you don't like how long the extradition process is taking exemplifies the perversion of American government: anything which stands in the way of absolute power must be ignored, or, if that's impossible, overridden. (Link courtesy
technoshaman here, who got it from
mdlbear.) ETA: As noted in comments, Britons kidnapping American sailors for impression into British naval service was one of the key provocations leading to the War of 1812. It appears reasonable to assert that this would be an Act of War.
Meanwhile, in its ever-zealous pursuit of the surveillance state, back in 2004, the Bush Administration issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, requiring all Federal employees and contractors to either sign forms permitting unlimited government investigation or be fired; it's a complete wavier of any shred of privacy or right to privacy protections. 28 NASA JPL scientists have refused in a bloc and have missed deadline, so are waiting to be fired; a legal battle is ongoing.
Also, the House just voted 405-6 to establish the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Commission" (under HR 1955) which will investigate Americans and the Internet. The bill will also establish a Homeland Security Centre of Excellence for the Prevention Of etc. etc. etc.. Normally this wouldn't really bother me except as a waste of money - some middlin'-cost junketism more than anything else - but these times aren't normal, and there is no power or act that cannot be transformed into a horror and betrayal of fundamental principles, so in that context, it looks like the new House Un-American Activites Committee. But maybe it'll just be another junket.
For a moment of what should be comic relief but sadly isn't, here's Pat Robertson saying that God is using Interstate Highway 35 to purge America of "abortion clinics, gay bars, strip joints, and porn shops" through a series of "purity sieges." Video at the link. And another one of the same sort: Mike Huckabee talks to God on his cell phone, who tells him to "take care of... marriage," which is code for h8in' on the queers in his circles, along with several other agenda items. This was at the 2004 Republican Governors Association Dinner and he got a big round of applause. It was meant in fun - kinda. The part about actually talking to Jehovah on the cellphone is in fun, the policies and God's Backing (tm) and talking to Mr. Bush aren't. YouTube yanked the original video (unfortunately) linked to in this limited commentary, but fortunately, YouTube membership is kind of quick, so there's another copy here - at least, for the moment.
Back on the complacency of the press, we have Shrillblog, which
elfs pointed out a couple of posts ago. It doesn't update as often as I'd like but it's got some amusement value going for it. They aren't fond of it either.
And finally, a few weeks ago, when I was talking about who was "next" to be kicked out of the GBLT population, I was guessing it was probably the Bs, if anybody; one of Sullivan's readers is all about the bi-males-are-really-just-gays-not-dealing-yet memeage, which, I'm told, is a very old meme going back to the 1980s. Sullivan is casually supportive, or so I get the impression. So maybe they'll try to wedge the bi boys out next. Oh, and the reader's not that fond of the dykes either. Not really a representative sample - tho' the Human Rights Campain poll they're talking about formally ditched the Ts in the terminology, so I guess that's official.
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Meanwhile, in its ever-zealous pursuit of the surveillance state, back in 2004, the Bush Administration issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, requiring all Federal employees and contractors to either sign forms permitting unlimited government investigation or be fired; it's a complete wavier of any shred of privacy or right to privacy protections. 28 NASA JPL scientists have refused in a bloc and have missed deadline, so are waiting to be fired; a legal battle is ongoing.
Also, the House just voted 405-6 to establish the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Commission" (under HR 1955) which will investigate Americans and the Internet. The bill will also establish a Homeland Security Centre of Excellence for the Prevention Of etc. etc. etc.. Normally this wouldn't really bother me except as a waste of money - some middlin'-cost junketism more than anything else - but these times aren't normal, and there is no power or act that cannot be transformed into a horror and betrayal of fundamental principles, so in that context, it looks like the new House Un-American Activites Committee. But maybe it'll just be another junket.
For a moment of what should be comic relief but sadly isn't, here's Pat Robertson saying that God is using Interstate Highway 35 to purge America of "abortion clinics, gay bars, strip joints, and porn shops" through a series of "purity sieges." Video at the link. And another one of the same sort: Mike Huckabee talks to God on his cell phone, who tells him to "take care of... marriage," which is code for h8in' on the queers in his circles, along with several other agenda items. This was at the 2004 Republican Governors Association Dinner and he got a big round of applause. It was meant in fun - kinda. The part about actually talking to Jehovah on the cellphone is in fun, the policies and God's Backing (tm) and talking to Mr. Bush aren't. YouTube yanked the original video (unfortunately) linked to in this limited commentary, but fortunately, YouTube membership is kind of quick, so there's another copy here - at least, for the moment.
Back on the complacency of the press, we have Shrillblog, which
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And finally, a few weeks ago, when I was talking about who was "next" to be kicked out of the GBL