Commentary (and rants) on national and local politics.

Dubya is no Reagan

The front page of today’s Daily News proclaims: TEAR DOWN THAT PRISON, inferring a ridiculous comparison of Bush’s speech last night and Reagan’s infamous “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” speech at the Berlin Wall.

I wondered last night whether or not the US had continued to use any of the German concentration camps once they had been liberated to house German civilians? enemy combatants? insurgents prisoners of war at the end of World War II, but everything I’ve come across suggests that conditions were so horrible at most of them that they had to be burned to the ground.

Interestingly, Abu Ghraib during Saddam’s reign was [still is] often referred to as a concentration camp, where numerous Iraqis were sent and never seen again. And yet, knowing its reputation, we thought it was a good idea for us to set up camp there and use it to detain Iraqis ourselves, many of whom were dragged from their homes in the middle of the night by their supposed liberators, the US military.

Families live in fear of midnight call by US patrols

by Daniel McGrory, The Times Online, 9 July 2003

NEVER again did families in Baghdad imagine that they need fear the midnight knock at the door. But in recent weeks there have been increasing reports of Iraqi men, women and even children being dragged from their homes at night by American patrols, or snatched off the streets and taken, hooded and manacled, to prison camps around the capital.

Children as young as 11 are claimed to be among those locked up for 24 hours a day in rooms with no light, or held in overcrowded tents in temperatures approaching 50C (122F).

On the edge of Baghdad International Airport, US military commanders have built a tent city that human rights groups are comparing to the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Remarkably, the Americans have also set up another detention camp in the grounds of the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad. Many thousands of Iraqis were taken there during the Saddam years and never seen again.

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Silence Protest or Consent?

Another valuable lesson for disaffected Americans that think voting is a waste of time: 'Queen Sonia' Is India PM-In-Waiting; Markets Crash By Terry Friel, Fri May 14, 2004 09:57 AM ET NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Italian-born Sonia Gandhi stitched up broad political support on Friday to become India's next prime minister, but investors panicked at her pivotal alliance with left-wing parties. Thousands of supporters partied in the street outside Gandhi's home, singing songs, beating drums and showering her with flower petals when she made a brief appearance, celebrating Thursday's shock election win over the ruling Hindu nationalists. "Sonia, we are…

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The Difference

Lawmakers Say New Abuse Photos Even WorseBy PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops went beyond the photos seen by most Americans, shaken lawmakers said Wednesday after viewing fresh pictures and video that they said depicted forced sex, brutality and dogs snarling at cowed prisoners. "I don't know how the hell these people got into our army," said Colorado Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell after viewing what he called a fraction of the images. Not everyone reacted the same way to the additional photos. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said he…

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The stock market's been getting pummeled over the past week - with the Dow dropping below 10,000 again - despite three months of optimistic job growth and starry-eyed predictions of a full-on economic recovery. Much as the pundits want to, though, you can't force a rebound to happen with wishful thinking, and you can't play the smoke and mirrors game when the surface numbers don't play along. Three months of admittedly impressive job gains don't even come close to offsetting the previous three years of hemorrhaging, especially when many of these new jobs are lower-paying - with inferior or non-existent…

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Fun with Merriam-Webster. con-tra-vene : The feeling that life is moving too slow and your kids are growing up too fast. sur-re-al-is-tic: Your mother telling your wife about finding the lingerie catalogs you used to hoard as a teenager, believing it's true but not really remembering it happening. stul-ti-fy: Between louderARTS and Urbana's combined 17 finals slots for 2004, there's only 14 people filling them; 8 of those have been on at least one national team, including several championships. ad-um-brate: "On the eve of the rollout of the new commercials, Mr. Kerry flew home to Massachusetts on Sunday for a…

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Politics of Video Games

Trust Omar to find the good stuff. Bloglines is the shiznit!

Not only can I monitor the blogs I read regularly from one place – a la LiveJournal’s Friends list, without the creepy “Friend me” angle – but it lets me monitor other blog-like sites I check regularly, including Wizards’ D&D pages, Craigslist-ings, Snopes.com and my new fave, XBox sites!

Speaking of, this just in:

Def Jam Redefined

Vendetta II gets a new name.

April 30, 2004 – Electronics Arts has announced that their hip-hop battle title Def Jam Vendetta II has been renamed Def Jam: Fight For NY. Featuring more than 40 personalities and artists from the hip-hop world, Def Jam: Fight For NY will include Busta Rhymes, Carmen Electra, Lil’ Kim, Ludacris, Method Man, Redman, Sean Paul, Slick Rick, Snoop Dogg, and many more who are willing to beat the stuffing out of each other.

Great! Wonder if it will include an unlockable NYPD Rap Intelligence Unit to monitor the fighting? Maybe Benjamin Brafman or Murray Richman to defend them in court? Perhaps cut scenes of Tupac being shot up in a lobby, or Jam Master Jay in a recording studio?

I can’t believe this is the same company that publishes my beloved Madden football! Looks like I’ll be switching over to ESPN NFL 2005.

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Need more evidence that George W. Bush has a pretty good shot at being [re-]elected? Last night's American Idol bottom three. Stupid people vote more than intelligent ones. Today's horoscope: Sometimes you don't realize how much you have touched people's lives, Guy. Just the little things that you do, like smiling, or telling someone a joke to cheer them up, go a long way towards creating peace on the planet. Today you could get some pleasant feedback from someone who has appreciated your generous heart. They could tell you what a difference you've made in their life. Soak up their…

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