Friday, November 20, 2009

Miranda Rights for Terrorists

Miranda Rights for Terrorists
I reckon you have heard about this, by now, though the mainstream media has paid pay it scant attention.
The bible says a man is know by the company he keep, and the things he does.

A quick recap from the Houston Examiner:
The Obama Justice Department has quietly ordered FBI agents to read Miranda rights to high value detainees captured and held at U.S. detention facilities in Afghanistan, according a senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. “The administration has decided to change the focus to law enforcement. Here’s the problem. You have foreign fighters who are targeting US troops today – foreign fighters who go to another country to kill Americans. We capture them…and they’re reading them their rights – Mirandizing these foreign fighters,” says Representative Mike Rogers, who recently met with military, intelligence and law enforcement officials on a fact-finding trip to Afghanistan. ..

Miranda warnings are NOT required by international law for anyone, much less enemy combatants who do not follow the rules of war. Most countries not only do not require such warnings, but regard them as being at odds with the goal of getting at the truth. Miranda warnings are not a requirement of customary international law or international human-rights law (unlike torture, which is clearly banned by treaties like the Convention Against Torture).

You don’t get Miranda-like warnings even in many European countries. (The word Miranda refers to Miranda v. Arizona, a controversial 5-to-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1966 that for the first time mandated such warnings). Even in countries that do have similar warnings, they are generally mandated only by statute or the common law, not by the country’s constitution, and thus can be rescinded at the will of the national legislature (and thus can hardly be deemed to be a universal or inalienable “human right”). French anti-terror laws are much tougher than U.S. laws like the Patriot Act.
And captured foreign fighters are neither U.S. citizens nor on American soil at the time of their capture and interrogation, so the U.S. Constitution gives them no right to Miranda warnings, either.

You might remember a flash back from September 8, 2008, which is on Youtube if you care to watch it, where the President smirked and sneered at Sarah Palin and the whole idea that he would do something like this.

...And two months after his Inauguration, President Obama reiterated, "Now, do these folks deserve miranda rights? Do they deserve to be treated like a shoplifter down the block? Of course not."

So much for the smirk and sarcasm. I guess the joke's on us.

In fact, it was Sarah Palin who said at the GOP convention: "Al Qaida terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America, and he's worried that someone won't read them their rights."

This is extraordinarily stupid. As Obama himself once recognized, foreign terrorists do not have Miranda rights.

Now get mad at me. I am only echoing the President's message when he called the policeman's judgment into question during the infamous Hampton Wisconsin professor incident. And, when that was over, he invited the professor and policeman to the White House for a beer. Maybe he can do that with the terrorist. Oh, wait! I heard that Muslims don't beer.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

AARP puts 'political self-interests' above members

AARP puts 'political self-interests' above members
Some senior citizens are dropping their membership with the AARP following the group's decision to endorse a new government health insurance program.
So says Jim Brown and Jody Brown of OneNewsNow...
Last week the American Medical Association and the AARP both endorsed the Democrats' House healthcare bill. AARP executive vice president Nancy LeaMond says the bill "meets our priorities for protecting Medicare, providing more affordable insurance for 50 to 64-year-olds, and reforming our healthcare system."
I have read and heard about members of the AMA who are voicing strong opposition to this bill, and from what I hear, the membership of AARP are up in arms about, too.
Last week the American Medical Association and the AARP both endorsed the Democrats' House healthcare bill. AARP executive vice president Nancy LeaMond says the bill "meets our priorities for protecting Medicare, providing more affordable insurance for 50 to 64-year-olds, and reforming our healthcare system."
Stuart Barton, president of the merican Seniors Association, an alternative to the AARP, believes the AARP supports the bill because it will make money off the legislation -- not because it will improve the health and wealth of seniors.
"The AARP has received over $2 billion in grants from the federal government over the past 15 or 20 years, and most people don't know that," Barton reports...
...The ASA president is not alone in his criticism of the AARP and its endorsement of government-run healthcare insurance. According to The Washington Post, three House Republicans have accused the AARP of putting its "political self-interests" ahead of seniors. Those lawmakers point to the organization's thriving business in marketing branded Medigap policies -- the demand for which is expected to increase as a result of Democratic proposals to slash reimbursements for Medicare Advantage...
This on the heels of the White House gag order on other insurance companies that were attempting to get the information to the public.
The report also notes that Republicans on Capitol Hill question the high salaries of some top AARP executives, who would not be subject to limits on insurance executives' pay included in the Senate Finance Committee's healthcare reform package. "AARP is lobbying for a government-run healthcare bill that will pad their own executives' pockets at the expense of its own members and other vulnerable seniors," a House Republican spokesman told the Post.
I have really lost respect for the AMA and AAPA in recent years, and our government is marching to a different drummer. Increasingly, the politico, bureaucracy, and executives are following the money and leaving "we the people" to pick up the crumbs. But is leading to "unintended consequences". Arrogance and greed make restless bed partners, and the bed bugs are hungry...

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Russia to launch Iran's Bushehr power plant

I believe this accelerates Isreal's time line to attack Iran. The window is closing fast. Israel must hit the reactor before it goes hot. Eight weeks and counting...

Russia to launch Iran's Bushehr power plant

TEHRAN, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) - Iran's ambassador to Moscow Seyed Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi said Tuesday that Russians will launch Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant soon, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Russians are not at all dubious about completing Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr, Sajjadi was quoted as saying.
"The two sides (both Russians and Iranians) have mobilized their human resources even beyond the specified plans," he told Fars news agency.

Russians intend to put Bushehr nuclear plant into operation by the end of 2009, and there are several tests which should be conducted on the plant before it can go online, he said, adding that "previous tests have been successful and there have just remained two more tests to be carried out" before the plant can start operation.