meta-roj

the guardian (and others) are picking up an ap story about reporters being ordered to erase recordings of a speech given by supreme court justice antonin scalia.

scalia is a big fan of the constitution…

supreme court justice antonin scalia

The Constitution of the United States is extraordinary and amazing. People just don’t revere it like they used to.

he also seems to think that he is above the office. as a public official (appointed by reagan in 1986), he should be on the record.

i guess the problem is that scalia knows what happens when he is on the record – he recently ran into a bit of trouble for some things that were on the record and some people think might have influenced his perspectives on a case (or two…).

no record, no trouble, eh?

not in my america.

so, tonight i learned that the bush administration actually charged a couple of the hundreds of detainees being held at guantanamo bay. that’s nice. it’s good to see the wheels of justice turn just one more notch.

then again, the administration later said that even if they were found “not guilty” they wouldn’t be released. whoups.

in my america six year old children are not security risks

between the fish and the children, i feel a lot more comfortable with my new security overlords.

benemar benatta was taken into custody legitimately – for having false id papers. no big deal, really, except that it was september 5, 2001, and within a week, the world trade center towers would crumble.

it started as just another catch at the border, but here’s why you need to worry.

benatta was held in solitary confinement with 24 hour lights and noise to deprive him of sleep. he wasn’t permitted to speak, shower or even read. he did not have access to a lawyer.

the fbi cleared benemar benatta of any involvement with the september 11 attacks within two months. and he was kept in those same cruel and unusual [yes, i just invoked the united states constitution – that’s the 8th amendment for anyone who still thinks it might apply to them] conditions for five months after that.

at this point he was offered a deal – to plead guilty to something he did not do in exchange for his release. surprisingly enough, after 7 months of solitary confinement (and torture), and without the benefit of legal counsel, benemar benatta valued truth over personal freedom.

benemar benatta can sit at my table any day.

then he was transferred to another detention facility and assigned a public defender. now more than two years after he was arrested, all charges were dropped at the recommendation of a federal judge, but he is still in custody, and fighting deportation to algeria.

paul campos

As for Benemar Benatta, he is remarkably understanding: “I don’t blame the United States,” he says. “They’ve never had to deal with terrorists, and 3,000 people died.”

there isn’t much to be found on this story, and that’s one of the more troublesome issues. if you search for benemar benatta with google, a number of the hits have vanished. this is also quite troubling. i think we have sources enough to consider this a valid story. i think even the possibility that this is true is one of the most disturbing and important issues america faces today. rather than fighting terrorists, we have become terrorists. this government is acting like a third-world, third-rate petty dictator in the name of security.

that’s my opinion. you should form your own.

in the meantime, be careful jaywalking. you could get 7 months of torture while someone tries to get you to plead guilty to something.

paul campos in rocky mountain news.
a terrorist nation called america in indymedia (uk).
two years gone from abc news.
release from jail sought for cleared terrorism suspect. washington post [this article will self-destruct].
cleared 9-11 detainee still being held fort worth star telegram. (a shortened version of the post article).
algerian born detainee seen as victim of excess. washington post [this article will cost you].
embassy of algeria responds to article. washington post [this article will also cost you].

update: added the dec 31 washington post article to the long version. and links to it and the star-tribune articles.

i wasn’t using my civil rights anyway
(more…)

The fish that threatened national security

I was led back to the US Airways ticket counter, stocking-footed and alone, where the agents reasserted that they did not see a problem for me to have a fish on board, properly packaged in plastic fish bag and secured with a rubber band as MJ was. But the TSA supervisor was called over, and he berated me profusely. He exclaimed that in no way, under no circumstances, was a small fish allowed to pass through security, regardless of what the ticket agents said.

i’m glad we have a whole new federal department taking care of these threats. surely an investigation will reveal the lapse in security that allowed lara hayhurst to commit this vicious crime.

fortunately, steps are already being taken to ensure that in the future, both lara and her fish will be shot before the fish has a chance to grab the flight controls.

we really have sunk this far. i am embarrassed.

update (2003.12.30): metafilter has it.

professor lessig has the story. sure, it’s just one little word in the title. how much difference could that make?

it’s news in lots of places, but i picked the guardian for a link.

“What we have done is stupid. It is, I would say, an insult to the military, to the evolution of the military justice system.”

from the new york post.

in my america, we don’t need a nuclear weapons scientist employment act of 2003. they should be busy keeping us safe from the ones we already have.

wired story

in my america, there are three branches of government.