Yesterday’s trip to the prison was quite tiring, and the CoDA Group was smaller than normal, because some of the guys were manning a table on the control room floor, trying to raise money from other prisoners to aid Sandy victims. I was obviously most proud of them. In our group we discussed how to manage anger. Critter greets Critter. I’m pooped, and this is today’s only article. I’m current, albeit briefly, with replies. Tomorrow appears routine.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Todays took me 4:59 (average 4:55). To do it, click here. How much better than I did you do?
Short Takes:
From MoveOn: The Hilarious Wanda Sykes Graphic That Is Lighting Up Facebook
She sure has that right!
From NY Times: In a decision that ignored a 41-year-old precedent and American obligations under international law, a United States appeals court has ruled that American civilians who are tortured by the American military cannot recover damages from the people responsible.
The 8-to-3 ruling by the full United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned an important ruling last year by a three-judge panel of the same court, which held that two Americans who say they were tortured by American military forces in Iraq could sue former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for violating their constitutional rights. That ruling relied on a landmark 1971 ruling by the Supreme Court known as Bivens, under which government officials could be held accountable for the intentional mistreatment of American citizens, even if that conduct happened in a war zone.
Not to hold Rumsfeld (and Bush and Cheney) civilly liable is just as criminal as the failure to prosecute them for war crimes. I suspect the fascist five will ignore the Constitution and uphold this ruling.
From The New Yorker: In response to a high volume of panicked phone calls from the general public, the C.I.A. has published a new informational brochure entitled “How to Tell if You’re Involved in the Petraeus Scandal.”
The C.I.A. rushed to produce the brochure after it became clear that as many as one in three Americans may have some involvement in the Petraeus affair.
Officially and on the record. I have not had an affair with either Petraeus or Allen. I promise!
Cartoon:
What is Agent Orange thinking now?
11 Responses to “Open Thread–11/14/2012”
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3;53 Am I a swan today, or just another ugly duckling?
3:33 Jerry, you're no ugly duckling! I think that honour belongs to TC today, but a very tired ugly duckling. Now will Patty come along and clip all our wings? Glad you're back Jerry! I miss you when you don't check in. Nameless is off seeing his mother.
4:06 Not quite as good as the two of you but it's not my Swan Song.
A win for Lynn!
The torture of American citizens should never be tolerated. Torture of American citizens by the US military should be prosecuted. End of discussion!
No torture should ever be tolerated.
Puzzle — 3:33 Jerry, you're no ugly duckling! I think that honour belongs to TC today, but a very tired ugly duckling. Now will Patty come along and clip all our wings?
MoveOn — Since I have never heard of Wanda Sykes, I can only imagine the GOP hissy fit that would ensue if she did send them a video. The righties would probably say something like "I told you so. Welfare queens all!"
NY Times — "The State Department said American law provides redress, including by allowing plaintiffs to sue “federal officials directly for damages under provisions of the U.S. Constitution.” . . . Foreign citizens can sue foreign officials under American law. Americans can sue foreign officials. But in the Seventh Circuit, covering Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, Americans are the only citizens who have no remedy under American law against American officials allegedly responsible for torture."
Isn't that just great . . . a foreign national has more rights than an American citizen when it comes to torture by American officials. There is no justification for this! SCOTUS will only uphold the full Court of Appeals' decision because it is tainted with cronyism and GOP dictates. To side with the the original decision would mean the Rumsfeld for sure, and possibly Baby Bush and Cheney would get their pants sued off. I still say Baby Bush and Cheney should face the ICC in The Hague for war crimes.
The New Yorker — "Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today that he expected the Petraeus scandal to wind down by early 2015 but would not commit to an official timetable." — My, my! About a year and a half of life on hold for what seems to be a lot of people. Given where Gen Allen seemed to have been headed, I'll bet this will put the kibosh on his plans in Europe, maybe even Afghanistan. Amazing when you think that as many as 110 million Americans may be involved without even knowing it. I read somewhere that the military establishment (the top echelons) are so full of political hacks courtesy of Baby Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld, that only a thorough "take no prisoners" approach house cleaning would begin to correct the situation.
Cartoon — As Chairman of the House Republicans in 1995, Boehner would have been in the thick of the shutdown. Now in 2012, as Speaker of the House, he will be in the thick of it again! And he has orchestrated some near misses inbetween to boot! Republican/Teabaggers — a pox on all their political careers and shenanigans!
My egg wasn't even in the nest.
Yep!
Amen!
🙂
Amen again!
MoveOn ~ Yes, Wanda. They would definitely elevate you to Number 1 on their hate list if you made a video like that.
NY Times ~I agree with you whole-heartedly on this, Tom.
" Not to hold Rumsfeld (and Bush and Cheney) civilly liable is just as criminal as the failure to prosecute them for war crimes. I suspect the fascist five will ignore the Constitution and uphold this ruling"
The New Yorker ~ I can honestly tell you that I have never and will never be involved with either of these Horn Dogs.
Cartoon ~ The Weeper of the House didn't cry over that. Did he?
Amen!
Thanks.
Can we be sure of that? 😉
Nope!
Oh Patty, I love that term for Boehner — The Weeper of the House!