meta-roj

obviously, not my america, but not my uk either.

sorry, british subjects… you may need one of these

could it be true? could the capture of the greatest threat to american security (excepting all others) have been a staged event?

Ex-Marine Says Public Version of Saddam Capture Fiction [upi, via wbwt tv, march 10, 2005]

A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated.

Ex-Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, of Lebanese descent, was quoted in the Saudi daily al-Medina Wednesday as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, and not the day after, as announced by the U.S. Army.

reminds me of rumors about kurds nabbing saddam, drugging him and leaving him in a hole for the americans to find. and something about trees out-of-season. oh, the conspiracy theories are so confusing.

but more importantly, does anyone trust the united states anymore?

video rental

just curious about the extent….

Cop Uses Taser Gun On Man Who Refused Urine Sample [wkmg, march 9, 2005]

Authorities say a police officer twice used a Taser stun device on a drug suspect who was restrained to a hospital bed because the man refused to give a urine sample to medical staff.

i’m sure this doesn’t qualify as torture in the New America, so what exactly is it?

since the news comes from the washington post, this is probably a more-lasting link.

U.S. Quits Agreement on Access to Diplomats — Paper

The United States has withdrawn from an international agreement that guarantees jailed foreigners the right to talk to consular officers, a protocol that has been used by opponents of capital punishment, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

apparently, it’s an inconvenience in our prison economy, most particularly the parts involved in the death penalty, to let foreigners charged with crimes in the united states consult with their consular officials.

on the upside, i guess this means our foreign friends can cut back on their staffing requirements here….

i spent a few minutes looking for a copy of this, but the best i found was a little ap piece…

McNamara derides ‘illegal’ nukes policies [ap via seattle post intelligencer, march 9, 2005

“A decade after the Cold War, the basic U.S. nuclear policy has not been changed,” said McNamara, 88, adding that he believed “every leader of a nuclear power should be present at a detonation.”

it will be very interesting to put that quote in context.

the road to nowhere

somehow, when i first came across this story, i didn’t have time or inclination to post about it (apparently), so i’m making up for lost time today with the news that today is court day.

so, to briefly review. despite a rich tradition of zombie writing in kentucky (“Soon, Kirkman was writing outlandish tales about zombies, androids, senior citizen mercenaries and superhero families.”), one particular high school student was arrested on terrorism charges for his zombie story, which happened to include a school or somesuch. more from the register,

clearly, the zombie threat is taken seriously in kentucky.

more news from wkyt, winchester sun and the lexington herald-leader.

in case we need a little review about the difference between fiction and reality, perhaps this recent post can shed some light.

stop landmines

and if boring old text isn’t enough for you, consider how things might feel if they came home [windows media – video].

apparently, this ad is too hot for us television. our american sensibilities just too sensitive and fragile to handle a reality-check quite like this. on the other hand, this [quicktime]

doesn’t make anyone in network tv blink.

i approve of reality checks.

[via boingboing]