Thursday, November 11, 2010
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Congressional Democrats are the biggest pussies
Democrats have rolled over once again! SURPRISE, SURPRISE to pass the War funding bill for Iraq and Afghanistan.
No wonder even when ex-President Bush had terrible low approval ratings Congress had even lower!
Under the Bush administration Democrats & Republicans alike FAILED in their Constitutional duty to act as a co-equal branch of government.
No wonder even when ex-President Bush had terrible low approval ratings Congress had even lower!
Under the Bush administration Democrats & Republicans alike FAILED in their Constitutional duty to act as a co-equal branch of government.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Good responses to Dick Cheney's speech
Here are two brave journalists Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow of whom I just recently learnt.
First Rachel Maddow as it is better and she's cuter!!
Or as the comics like Jon Stewart
First Rachel Maddow as it is better and she's cuter!!
Or as the comics like Jon Stewart
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| American Idealogues | ||||
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"Preventitive Detention"- we hold you in prison indefinitely
Preventitive Detention is Orwellian double-speak much like pre-crime in the Steven Spielberg movie Minority Report.
You get arrested not for breaking the law but for the possibility that you might! That includes all of us!!
Granted, Obama only wants to apply this rule to "terrorists" or anyone who supports " terrorists" and/or "terrorist organizations."
Remember the US govt can deem any organization an terrorist organization, just by fiat! and hence any individual too.
Obama is overturning centuries of western jurisprudence , the signing of the magna carta declaration in 1215 which explicitly states that no king (read executive) can imprison any person on whim . They to be produced before court and had the right against lawful detention.
Obama is not keeping faith to the US Constitution which he promised to uphold. The duty of the President of the United Sates isn't just to keep Americans safe, the most important job is to uphold the Constitution.
Here's an excellent article by blogger Glenn Greenwald a Constitutional lawyer. Here's a cut and paste from his blog and the entire entry can be read here
You get arrested not for breaking the law but for the possibility that you might! That includes all of us!!
Granted, Obama only wants to apply this rule to "terrorists" or anyone who supports " terrorists" and/or "terrorist organizations."
Remember the US govt can deem any organization an terrorist organization, just by fiat! and hence any individual too.
Obama is overturning centuries of western jurisprudence , the signing of the magna carta declaration in 1215 which explicitly states that no king (read executive) can imprison any person on whim . They to be produced before court and had the right against lawful detention.
Obama is not keeping faith to the US Constitution which he promised to uphold. The duty of the President of the United Sates isn't just to keep Americans safe, the most important job is to uphold the Constitution.
Here's an excellent article by blogger Glenn Greenwald a Constitutional lawyer. Here's a cut and paste from his blog and the entire entry can be read here
(1) What does "preventive detention" allow?
It's important to be clear about what "preventive detention" authorizes. It does not merely allow the U.S. Government to imprison people alleged to have committed Terrorist acts yet who are unable to be convicted in a civilian court proceeding. That class is merely a subset, perhaps a small subset, of who the Government can detain. Far more significant, "preventive detention" allows indefinite imprisonment not based on proven crimes or past violations of law, but of those deemed generally "dangerous" by the Government for various reasons (such as, as Obama put it yesterday, they "expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden" or "otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans"). That's what "preventive" means: imprisoning people because the Government claims they are likely to engage in violent acts in the future because they are alleged to be "combatants."
Once known, the details of the proposal could -- and likely will -- make this even more extreme by extending the "preventive detention" power beyond a handful of Guantanamo detainees to anyone, anywhere in the world, alleged to be a "combatant." After all, once you accept the rationale on which this proposal is based -- namely, that the U.S. Government must, in order to keep us safe, preventively detain "dangerous" people even when they can't prove they violated any laws -- there's no coherent reason whatsoever to limit that power to people already at Guantanamo, as opposed to indefinitely imprisoning with no trials all allegedly "dangerous" combatants, whether located in Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, Western countries and even the U.S.
This is dangerous and I'm extremely saddened what the US has become, a third world country with no respect to the rule of laws!
I'm glad I don't live there anymore. More and more Americans are voting with their feet to live overseas.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Human Rights violations by the Sri Lankan Army
The nearly 3 decade conflict in Sri Lanka appears to have come to an end. There has been huge hue and cry by hypocritical Western governments namely the US and UK (it is ok for them to violate human rights in the name of fighting terror!) but not other governments.
The LTTE is a terrorist organization as per the EU and US State Dept list of terrorists so then why are the Sri Lankans being condemened?!!
Hasn't the US committed war crimes by being the cause of the millions of Iraqi deaths and now slowly increasing Afghan casualties. Aren't civilian deaths just "collateral damage" in the fight against terror? What about Israel's recent War against Gaza? Not a whiff of protest from Western governments about War Crimes, maybe only from the EU.
Read my earlier post re. Western countries have no moral authority to protest about human rights violations. It is a case of pot calling the kettle black!
Sep 11 has been a god-send for governments and especially totalitarian regimes.
The LTTE is a terrorist organization as per the EU and US State Dept list of terrorists so then why are the Sri Lankans being condemened?!!
Hasn't the US committed war crimes by being the cause of the millions of Iraqi deaths and now slowly increasing Afghan casualties. Aren't civilian deaths just "collateral damage" in the fight against terror? What about Israel's recent War against Gaza? Not a whiff of protest from Western governments about War Crimes, maybe only from the EU.
Read my earlier post re. Western countries have no moral authority to protest about human rights violations. It is a case of pot calling the kettle black!
Sep 11 has been a god-send for governments and especially totalitarian regimes.
MPs expense scandal
The MPs (Member of Parliament) -for those who don't know what this acronym stands for- in the UK where MPs have claimed as expenses large screen TVs, payment for the gardener hundreds of thousands of pounds in tax-payers money is nothing short of theft.
It has claimed the job of Speaker of the house of Commons and also recently the leader of the Liberal Democratic party.
Most governments give their representatives perks and privileges that the ordinary citizen wouldn't get all in the name of "preventing corruption".
The idea is that our public servants should get perks like choice parking spots , gold plated medical insurance while there 45 million uninsured in the US , immunity from arrest! and host of other perks because in the private sector salaries are much higher.
That might be the case but so is job stress, stress that you can be fired anytime unlike elected representatives who can't be "fired" until the next election, and even that!
No wonder in third world countries and also in developed countries (but much less so) there is so much attraction to become an elected representative.
In the 21st century, there should be more transparency. All salaries and perks, expense claims should be published in the internet and not be forced to be disclosed only as a result of freedom of information act briefs.
The tax-payers have the right to know how their taxpaying dollars or pounds are being spent.
It has claimed the job of Speaker of the house of Commons and also recently the leader of the Liberal Democratic party.
Most governments give their representatives perks and privileges that the ordinary citizen wouldn't get all in the name of "preventing corruption".
The idea is that our public servants should get perks like choice parking spots , gold plated medical insurance while there 45 million uninsured in the US , immunity from arrest! and host of other perks because in the private sector salaries are much higher.
That might be the case but so is job stress, stress that you can be fired anytime unlike elected representatives who can't be "fired" until the next election, and even that!
No wonder in third world countries and also in developed countries (but much less so) there is so much attraction to become an elected representative.
In the 21st century, there should be more transparency. All salaries and perks, expense claims should be published in the internet and not be forced to be disclosed only as a result of freedom of information act briefs.
The tax-payers have the right to know how their taxpaying dollars or pounds are being spent.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Children and choice
Parents now-a-days at least in the West give choices to their kids re. their preferences for example what food they'd like to eat, what clothes they'd like to wear or even buy and when they grow up on whom they marry.
I heard from my brother that perhaps even some parents in India are also changing with the times and instead of dictating to their kids allow them the freedom of choice, at least in certain matters.
Which is a good thing.
What beats me is that when kids are allowed choices in a lot of matters why not in religion too? Why do most parents still insist that their kids have to follow the same religious beliefs as them?
Hence a Christian parent would "indoctrinate/brain-wash" their kids in Christian teachings, a Muslim parent in Muslim teachings , a Hindu parent in ....; you get the picture.
Why not expose a kid to different religious belief systems and let the kid choose for himself/herself the same way they choose the flavor of their favorite ice-cream!
I heard from my brother that perhaps even some parents in India are also changing with the times and instead of dictating to their kids allow them the freedom of choice, at least in certain matters.
Which is a good thing.
What beats me is that when kids are allowed choices in a lot of matters why not in religion too? Why do most parents still insist that their kids have to follow the same religious beliefs as them?
Hence a Christian parent would "indoctrinate/brain-wash" their kids in Christian teachings, a Muslim parent in Muslim teachings , a Hindu parent in ....; you get the picture.
Why not expose a kid to different religious belief systems and let the kid choose for himself/herself the same way they choose the flavor of their favorite ice-cream!
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