Saturday, February 09, 2002

Diluting the Geneva Convention That is the New York Times' view of the common sense decision of the president concerning the detainees at Guantanamo. As with just about every Liberal proposal, the Times would like us to apply an interpretation that would go way beyond humantitarian treatment and basically prohibit us from prosecuting the war on terror.

This war is a kind of hybrid between law enforcement and war, but the Times has this obsession with putting square pegs in round holes for the sake of a foolish consistency.

The Monster in the Dock
Columnist Bill Keller covers the International Criminal Tribunal glowingly and somehow turns it into an attack on the Bush administration. He doesn't mention the concerns that the Milosevic prosecution may founder for lack of evidence, or the fact that even Osama bin Laden couldn't get a death sentence in this court. But, as with everything international, it's got to be better than anything a single nation could do, right?

Thursday, February 07, 2002

Yahoo! News - Taliban to Get Geneva Protections

The AP had to go to Guantanamo to get this story? That was Ari Fleischer announcing it, and I think he was in Washington, D.C.?
Can someone tell me what this decision means? What benefits do the Geneva conventions confer on these people that we weren't already giving them? The only thing mentioned so far is that if they were pow's, they would only have to give their name, rank, serial no. and date of birth. It seems to me that the Geneva Conventions only benefit people who are captured by armies who otherwise would have no qualms about using torture. Since we don't do that anyway, and the people we capture generally get better treatment than they had on their own side, what's the big deal?

Wednesday, February 06, 2002

IOC Has Slight Problem With the U.S.
Glenn Reynolds calls the IOC "weenies." I think they're just typical European aristocrats. They want us to hold thier coats while they pee on our shoes. They extort bribes from city after city and country after country and then act shocked, shocked, mind you, when it all blows up. And we're going along with this why? Oh, yes, because of world peace and brotherhood. Money has nothing to do with it.
Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

Monday, February 04, 2002

Fur may fly in hearings on lynx hairs

Oops, it was STATE biologists involved in the Lynx hairs caper. Sorry, USF&WS.

How come the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service aren't liable for malpractice, when, say, they give bogus opinions that destroy peoples' lives? I guess, if you're not above planting fake evidence of a threatened species in an area where it doesn't really live, wiping out a few farmers doesn't worry you too much.

Fritz Hollings exercises the prerogatives of geezerhood. Nobody takes old farts too seriously, so they can be as outrageous as they feel like. Hollings is definitely past his prime.

Sheila Jackson Leigh, that shy, retiring Democrat Congressperson we all remember from the Clinton impeachment hearings, apparently has a full-blown case of Potomac poisoning.

Yahoo! News - Researchers Discover Explosive Silicon
Microsoft will incorporate in next update of Windows.

Competition in the Save the Earth Biz

politechbot.com: Center for Genetics and Society urges senators to ban cloning

"If the Good Lord had wanted us to be cloned, he would have made us twins!"

Actually, if the Good Lord doesn't want us to create clones, he won't give them souls. I don't know what good passing a law is going to do.