listen to corbett report on @RBNlive weeknights at midnight from corbett report: Can we imagine a world without intellectual property? With the various enemies of freedom finding ever more elaborate ways to control the internet, we may have to find an answer to that question sooner than we think. Join us this week on The Corbett Report as we go in search of the freedom of the open source universe.
This stealth provision was added to the bill by the committee's chairman, Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), but has a bit of a history. It was first proposed by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey in 2008 after the Bush administration lost the Boumediene v. Bush case, in which the Supreme Court decided that federal courts would subject the administration's asserted law of war basis to hold Guantanamo detainees to searching review. An idea that may have originally been intended to bolster the Bush administration's basis for holding Guantanamo detainees is now being promoted as an authorization of a worldwide war — and could become the single biggest ceding of unchecked war authority to the executive branch in modern American history.
There was no word on when indictments would be issued in New York against the men or when they would be transferred from Guantanamo to the United States.
Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Nov. 13 that the five men would be tried in federal court for the 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. Criticism quickly followed by Republicans and others who said trying the men inside the United States would create security risks and allow the defendants legal protections that they shouldn't have.
obama popularity below 50% for first time from afp: President Barack Obama's job approval rating has dipped below 50 percent nationally for the first time, as Americans worry about the war in Afghanistan, a new poll released Wednesday found. The Quinnipiac University poll showed 48 percent of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president, compared to 42 percent who disapprove. The president also scored low marks from Americans on his handling of the situation in Afghanistan, with just 38 percent saying they approved of his approach, but a majority did say it was the "right thing" for US troops to be in the country.
the real reason only 5 detainees are coming to new york? from history commons: US Attorney General Eric Holder recently announced that five detainees would be moved from Guantanamo Bay to New York, where they would stand trial for carrying out the 9/11 attacks. However, five other detainees will continue to be tried before military commissions, which have lower standards of evidence. The five detainees coming to New York have previously indicated they intend to plead guilty, although the five to be tried before military commissions have not.
According to this McClatchy article, the five Holder says will be tried before military commissions are: Ibrahim al Qosi, who is trying to have incriminating statements he says were made under torture/coercion suppressed and wants to go home to Sudan; Omar Khadr, who is fighting the charges against him. His lawyers claim most of the evidence against him is based on statements he made under coercion; Ahmed al Darbi, who says he was tortured into confessing; Noor Uthman Mohammed, who denied many of the charges against him; and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who says he’s innocent and was also tortured into confessing.
As I pointed out earlier today, there is a lot of evidence against al-Nashiri. However, based on what I know of the Khadr case, he would stand a very good chance of acquittal, unless the bar was lowered from beyond reasonable doubt to “I guess he might have done it.” The other three to be tried before military commissions I don’t know much about.
Is it just a coincidence that the five detainees who have indicated they intend to plead guilty are going to New York, but the ones that are fighting the charges are getting military commissions?
from cbsnews: Cindy Sheehan, dressed all in black with the words "greed kills" printed on her chest, was arrested by United States Park Police today after chaining herself to a White House fence as part of a protest against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
According to organizers, 61 people in total were arrested at the protest, which was also in service of efforts to "Close Guantanamo and Bagram, Surge Spending on Housing and Jobs."
Organizers said hundreds participated in the protest, which included poetry, song, and puppet heads of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice dressed in prison stripes.
While some protesters chained themselves to the White House fence, others lay on the ground, pretending to be dead, CNN reports. Organizers requested a meeting with President Obama to discuss their beliefs.
update: cindy sheehan moving to the district of criminals from abcnews: She’s back and this time, she’s here to stay. Cindy Sheehan says she is moving to Washington. The anti-war activist was outside the White House for the second day in a row, with a bullhorn and a handful of protestors, shouting against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Guantanamo and calling for “health care not warfare.”
Sheehan became a prominent voice against the Iraq war after her son Special Casey Sheehan was killed in Iraq 2004, and spent years hounding George W. Bush. Now, she’s turned her attention to President Barack Obama, recently following him on his family vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, and now planning to move to D.C. sometime this winter. Sheehan says she sees no difference between the foreign policy of the last president and this one.
“Sometimes I look at what I think Senator McCain would be doing, and what Obama’s doing and I can’t discern any difference. And I think that Obama’s foreign policy is obviously a continuation. When you have Robert Gates. When you have McChrystal. When you have Hillary Clinton, who is supposed to be the secretary of state, but who has always been for these wars of aggression. I see is clearly a continuation, a continuation of the policy of empire,” Sheehan told ABC News.
top 5 worst 9/11 memorials from vigilant citizen: 9/11 has inspired a myriad of memorials who are scattered all across America. Some of them are of questionable taste, others contain strange occult symbolism while others simply piss people off. Here’s the five most offensive... #5 Boston Memorial, #4 Polish Plaque, #3 All-Seeing Eye Memorial, #2 Teardrop Memorial & #1 Crescent of Embrace... 9/11 was a terrible tragedy, no matter who made it happen **cough** Rumsfeld **cough cough ** False flag terror ** cough**. Sorry, I don’t usually cough while typing. Since this event was the most terrible terrorist act committed on US soil, it is simply fitting that many memorials appear in honor of those who unjustly lost their lives. Some of them are very touching, inspiring and heartfelt. Others, not so much. Some even make you wonder if they were actually built for the victims or to serve an agenda. The monuments here are controversial, insensitive and slightly offensive…a little like this article. Enjoy.
lawyers can question 9/11 suspect in writing from ap: Lawyers for a Guantanamo Bay detainee will be allowed to question — in writing — accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a federal judge has ruled. The decision is a setback for government lawyers who had sought to limit the scope of detainee lawyers' challenges to the detention and prosecution of terror suspects. In a written ruling, Judge Ricardo Urbina says lawyers for detainee Abdul Raheem Ghulam Rabbani can submit written questions about their client to Mohammed. Prosecutors say he worked for Mohammed, but Rabbani's lawyers contend he was just a menial servant, not a part of any terror network. The ruling says prosecutors may review the answers before delivering them to Rabbani's lawyers to remove any national security information.
army judge: 9/11 lawyers can't see cia 'black sites' from miami herald: A military judge says defense lawyers for an alleged Sept. 11 plotter held at Guantánamo don't need to inspect secret CIA overseas prisons to determine whether the accused al Qaeda terrorist is competent to stand trial. Judge Stephen Henley, an Army colonel, ruled Monday that the so-called black sites have likely changed enough since 2006 that an inspection would be of no use to Ramzi Bin al Shibh's Pentagon-appointed defense lawyers.
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