"Foreign suspects held in Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention"

Finally.

Brushing aside the government's arguments that the detainees were enemy combatants being held at a time of war outside the US, the court said they had "the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus".

Justice Anthony Kennedy said: "The laws and constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law."

Is he out of office yet?

I thought this was an interesting opinion piece, entitled Flagsploitation in the written article.

Warrantless Wiretapping

"Surveillance efforts will not cease when the law lapses. Administration intelligence officials said agencies would be able to continue eavesdropping on targets that have already been approved for a year after the initial authorization. But they said any new targets would have to go through the more burdensome standards in place before last August, which would require that they establish probable cause that an international target is connected to a terrorist group."
— The New York Times, February 15, 2008

Maybe I don't understand because I'm not employed by a government security agency, but why would one choose a target to eavesdrop unless there was probable cause to listen to that particular person/group out of the billions of people/groups one could wiretap? Or do our agencies need a way around the "burdensome standards" of probable cause because they arbitrarily select targets? Hmm... I think I want to listen to Bob Jones today. Why not? Rather ineffective tactics, no? If this is about terrorists, and one had a suspicion, presumably somewhat realistically based, wouldn't a judge issue a warrant even on highly circumstantial evidence? What judge wants to be the one who let the next big terrorist group into the country/successfully attack? So how hard is it, with reasonable suspicion, to get a warrant? And why the living hell would anyone select a target without reason? Unless we're listening for other reasons... In which case, there are other government agencies that don't seem to be subject to judicial review, so why aren't they handling the government's special interests?

Bottom line, if there was probable cause, this law would be superfluous. If it's a slow bureaucracy issue, fix the system.

Currently Watching Dogma (Special Edition) By Betty Aberlin, Ben Affleck, Nancy Bach, Lesley Braden, George Carlin see related

You didn't know? God's a Skee-Ball fanatic.

Alanis Morissette is God. Don't know how in ## years I missed that...

Cardinal Glick: Christ didn't come to Earth to give us the willies... He came to help us out.
***
Nun: You don't believe in God because of Alice in Wonderland?
Loki: No, "Through the Looking Glass". That poem, "The Walrus and the Carpenter" that's an indictment of organized religion. The walrus, with his girth and his good nature, he obviously represents either Buddha, or... or with his tusk, the Hindu elephant god, Lord Ganesha. That takes care of your Eastern religions. Now the carpenter, which is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ, who was raised a carpenter's son, he represents the Western religions. Now in the poem, what do they do... what do they do? They... They dupe all these oysters into following them and then proceed to shuck and devour the helpless creatures en masse. I don't know what that says to you, but to me it says that following these faiths based on mythological figures ensure the destruction of one's inner-being. Organized religion destroys who we are by inhibiting our actions... by inhibiting our decisions, out of... out of fear of some... some intangible parent figure who... who shakes a finger at us from thousands of years ago and says... and says, "Do it — Do it and I'll fuckin' spank you."
***
Serendipity: I have issues with anyone who treats faith as a burden instead of a blessing. You people don't celebrate your faith; you mourn it.
***
Rufus: White folks only want to hear the good shit: life eternal, a place in God's Heaven. But as soon as they hear they're getting this good shit from a black Jesus, they freak. And that, my friends, is called hypocrisy. A black man can steal your stereo, but he can't be your Savior.
***
Metatron: This is who you are.
Bethany: Everything I am has been a lie.
Metatron: No... knowing what you now know doesn't mean you're not who you were. You are Bethany Sloane. Nobody can take that away from you, not even God. All this means is a new definition of that identity. The incorporation of this new data into who you are. Be who you've always been. Just...be this as well...from time to time.
Bethany: I guess this means never cheating on my taxes.
Metatron: To say the least.

A few gems from an uneventful evening spent with Bob, sparkling wine, and Dogma.

Poorly Written Thoughts from the Road

I don't know if every local government between Redding and Yreka is bored and hurting for money, but they sure have a ridiculous amount of CHP camping out in the medians with radar.  I just want to know if they seriously don't have anything better to do than to slow down the flow of traffic.

In an effort to keep myself awake during my 12-hour drive after only 2 hours of sleep, I played a radio game that, among other things, involves quickly flipping through every FM radio station. I learned that in the vast wasteland from Bakersfield to Sacramento there are only 4 types of stations: country, "Christian," Spanish-language (most specifically those genres I have not fully warmed up to),  and hip-hop/rap. I suppose there are 5 if you count the full 20% that are dedicated to ear-bludgeoning renditions of every poorly written Christmas/Holiday song. Speaking of both Christmas music and hip-hop, I discovered this gem at about 3 hours into the drive. Certainly not the worst cover created.