In Todays New York Times Court  Dismisses Rendition Suit
       

By ALAN FEUER
Published: July 1, 2008

A federal appeals court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Syrian-born Canadian man who had accused the United States of violating the law and his civil rights after he was detained at Kennedy Airport and sent to Syria under what he claims was an act of "extraordinary rendition."

Such is the status of the courts and justice in the United States, that Kennedy Airport is the equivalent of Guantanemo, technically speaking.

The man, Maher Arar, tried to win civil damages from United States officials in his suit, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York ruled that because he was never technically inside the United States, his claims could not be heard in the federal courts.

I don't know what precedent was used, perhaps that Tom Hanks movie "The Terminal"?

Three years ago when I interviewed Mr. McCain, he admitted that he doesn't understand economics very well. Clearly neither does Barack Obama. But one thing that separates the two is that at least Mr. McCain has the good sense to know where to turn to for first-rate advice.

How will the budget be balanced in four years?
How will McCain work with a Democratic controlled Congress?
Want to  catch a glimpse of how the Fed is going to keep inflation under control?

In Saturday's Wall Street Journal, senior economic writer Stephen Moore interviews Senator John McCain's almost certain Secretary of the Treasury nominee.  He even poses the question:

So have I been speaking with the next Treasury secretary? Almost certainly, yes, if Mr. McCain wins in November.

Now, I'm not an economist, but "Almost certainly" is a better wagering indicator than "its a 50/50 chance"  RIGHT?  

I've clipped a few of the important quotes of the article headlined Return of Dr. No.

I just finished reading a blog post that has a really interesting scenario.

Senator Obama just took another giant step toward winning the presidency. Actually, someone who considers himself a sworn enemy of Senator Obama took the step for him. Dr. Dobson of the Focus On the Family radio program (and evangelical media empire) has aired a program in which he attacks Senator Obama, the Senator's theology and his credentials as a Christian. With enemies like this Senator Obama doesn't need friends.

Over on Huffington post Frank Schaeffer says that
Dr. Dobson Has Just Handed Obama Victory , and he describes how the Dobson radio rant yesterday provided the opportunity   for Obama to align with the evangelical faction which is winning the power play versus Dobson (at the moment).

All that was missing to put the frosting on the Obama cake was for Dobson to attack him. For Obama to win all he needs to do is peel off a chunk of heretofore solid evangelical Republican votes. Dobson just handed Obama those votes.

Who are the Dominionists, and can we bury them before Dubya bombs Iran?  

Today's NY Times: Census Damage Control

So, not only can we not track food that is poisoning folks, it looks like one of the central government mandates has been "broken".

HEADLINE: Preparations for the 2010 census are a shambles.

In the election pandemonium, another agency is found "lacking"

Committees in the House have been holding hearings to vet the problems and monitor progress. But with each hearing, it becomes more obvious that prospects for a robust census are unlikely to improve considerably unless and until the next president brings in new leaders. They are needed at the Commerce Department, which includes the Census Bureau, and at the bureau itself, which — like so many federal agencies — has been mismanaged and demoralized during the Bush years.

On April 14, 2008 Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News had an interview with Barack Obama.  It came right after the Associated Press report that high-level officials including Vice President Dick Cheney and former Cabinet secretaries Colin Powell, John Ashcroft and Donald Rumsfeld, and others, met and discussed the use of waterboarding and other torture techniques on terrorism suspects.

The report Bunch wrote concluded that Obama would ask his AG to "immediately review" potential of crimes in Bush White House, and Obama's response was

What I would want to do is to have my Justice Department and my Attorney General immediately review the information that's already there and to find out are there inquiries that need to be pursued. I can't prejudge that because we don't have access to all the material right now. I think that you are right, if crimes have been committed, they should be investigated. You're also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt because I think we've got too many problems we've got to solve.  (continued below the fold)...

There is no consensus in the punditry circles of how today's testimony in front of Rep. John Conyer's Judiciary committee is going to go.

According to The Hill, Dems excited, GOP wary of McClellan's testimony

House Democrats are eagerly preparing for Friday’s testimony by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan, but Republicans seem unsure of how to handle the president’s unlikely critic.

But over at Time there is a more cynical tone, today will probably turn out to be simply summertime Congressional theatrics, Will McClellan's Testimony Hurt Bush?

Nothing says summer in the nation's capital like tell-all testimony in front of a bunch of members of Congress with time on their hands and the fall election on their minds.

In the hopeful premise that some intern reads dKos, does anybody have an Bush-shattering question they wish asked of Scott McClellan?

Our frustration with impeachment attempts continues to boil, and while certain House members grow in our esteem, it is becoming very evident a full blown coup d' congress is NOT going to happen.

However, opportunity knocks with the upcoming Scott McClellan testimony this Friday, with the bloghounds ready to chase John McCain up a tree.  

Our friend in the press McClatchy reports

WASHINGTON - A House committee subpoenaed yesterday records of the FBI's interviews with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney during the investigation into the leak of a covert CIA officer's name.

snip....

Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman, a California Democrat, asked for the transcripts late last year and renewed his request earlier this month after the committee received an unedited transcript of grand jury testimony in which former Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was quoted as saying it was "possible" that Cheney had told him to leak Plame's name.

The British reporter on this mornings lead news story sounded very alarmed.  I looked for the most recent version of events, found this story filed 8 hours ago:

AP Taliban take over villages north of Kandahar

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Hundreds of Taliban fighters invaded villages just outside Afghanistan's second-largest city Monday, forcing NATO and Afghan troops to rush in while frightened residents fled.

The Taliban assault on the outskirts of Kandahar is the latest display of prowess by the militants despite a record number of U.S. and NATO troops in the country.

Meanwhile, our commander in chief, standing next to Gordon Brown yesterday, makes this statement:

"The Taliban are losing the fight in southern Afghanistan," he said.

David Letterman made an observation last night, which I paraphrase.  First it was lettuce, today it is tomatoes.

Who would have thunk it that bacon was the safest thing on a BLT?

This morning we have two diaries scrolling down with regards to the Iowa floods, and there are going to be many debates about politicization of disaster.

But our common cause is holding somebody accountable, and I suggest that all eyes and ears need to be pointed at Senators Susan Collins and Joseph Leiberman, who united to quash hearings post-Katrina, the Homeland Security Committee has been AWOL in oversight.

The dkos night shift looked for a complete list of Congressman Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment of George Bush, with no luck.

Scouring ThinkProgress and TalkingPoint liveblogs, I've got 30 of them, folks seemed to be a little too excited when the C-Span moment happened, everybody missed those 5 Articles, (#2-6).

Below the fold is the list, which I'll update when morning folks fill the gap.

Many of us have made the observation that IF being a tortured prisoner is going to be McCain's major claim of experience, then the United States military is operating a leadership college in Guantanemo.

That we allowed Bush to suspend the Geneva Conventions AND the US Constitution in the prosecution of the WOT will be forever the height of hypocrisy and disputed source of ill-will for generations.

And the entire Eisenhower prophecy about the dangers of allowing the military-industrial complex so much influence on policy is John McCain's Achilles Heel.

The veep spoke to "a crowd of several hundred" in Southaven Mississippi yesterday.  According to the AP accounts:

Cheney campaigned on behalf of Southaven Mayor Greg Davis ahead of a special election Tuesday in Mississippi’s 1st District. He sought to tie Davis’s opponent, Travis Childers, to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada House Speaker Nancy Pelosiof California and other congressional Democrats.

"What we need in Washington is a strong conservative congressman from Mississippi, not another Democrat going to bat for Nancy Pelosi," Cheney said to a crowd of several hundred at the DeSoto Civic Center here.

But, in a scene bound to repeat for months, thousands of irate motorists were probably adversely affected.

Update:!  I JUST (9:07 am) found out AM radio will NOT operate anywhere near the converter box.

Everybody remembers the V-Chip, authorized/mandated by Congress, followed by something like a 6 year lapse, because the damn thing wasn't even invented yet.

Next February the Digital Age begins, and I'm here to tell folks, this is going to turn into a major scam on senior citizens.  I predict a headache for you electronic experts, as you are going to be up a ladder many times to assist the elderly, who are not going to take NO for an answer.

The sign up for the $40 FCC distributed coupons began January 1, 2008 (but their computer was off that day), so on 1/02 I requested 2 coupons, apparently the #779,018 to do so.  I am not sure if there are any more coupons/funds available, if you are interested, here is the sign-up page.

https://www.dtv2009.gov/...

Get your scoop, here is the poop:

I'll delete this in a bit, but if you look up in the pre-dawn sky, tracking west to east, you will see the Space Station pass thru the sky.

I've seen it before, was really impressed by the speed.

Anyway, I always like to give a "heads up".....

If I can type enough characters, quick enough, I might even find a link.

{update} some good links were added into the comments, so I'll leave this up while Trix's photo contribution CONTINUES to load  on my poor dial up modem !

I'm having a hard time coming up with the catchy diary title, and this one has a real fish involved, so putting the bait on my diary's hook is highly significant.....

How does the song line go?

"don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till its gone". Too many letters.  

To heck with it, "you get a line, I'll get a pole, let's go down to the fishin' hole....."

And the only thing you need to know, going into this fish tale, is that the world record bass weighs 21 pounds.  

Granddad built the main pond back in the early 1960's, he stocked it with some catfish, which pretty much disappeared in 1975, when Boo McGriff bought a 30 foot seining net, and a bunch of us teenagers got into the fish fry mood every weekend, (depending on whose folks were out of town).

Early Sunday morning is a great time to drink a cuppa and bounce a few ideas around, and the one that has emerged for me this morning can be attributed to some help from bumblebums and nycstray.

I posed the question of "who would make a good woman candidate?".  This is based on yesterday stumping my fellow peace vigil protester, Sr. Mary Ruth Coffman, OSB, who could NOT name a Hillary alternative.

Bumblebums solved my unfamiliarity problem, putting a name to a recollection: Kirsten Gillibrand, freshman rep from NY, and nycstray put up her official link.  

http://www.gillibrand.house.gov/...

So, I ask you good folks, how does she sound as a Veep choice?

America loves the underdog and loathes the idea of cheating and hypocrisy in sports.  

The spirit is elevated when a deserving individual or team overcomes the odds, especially in tight contests with last minute heroics.

That the new World Champions had not lost draft picks and paid a fine for devious video tactics, CONSERVES the label of perfection for future NFL teams.

This seems to be a good day to celebrate, and in the goodwill and sunshine, in one of the greatest upsets in the overhyped sports world, we can look to yesterday as an opportunity to CONSERVE the body politic, to take advantage of the sportsworld tilted in a more correct direction.

It is time to snatch the label of "conservative" from the fraudulent, bigoted and bumpersticker minded consuming public, and to be a "progressive conservative" is almost perfection in modern labeling.  

It is time to seal this deal.

I read rumors of the 5 boroughs of NYC trending Obama, hear about the rapid fire endorsements coming from all directions in California.

Good news comes from Georgia and Alabama, and we oughta just seal the Tennessee borders if they don't join the parade.

This is kind of an early morning announcement:

Puppies for Obama.....