Bushit’s administration has announced its intention to try six alleged al Qaeda members at Guantánamo under the Military Commissions Act. That Act forbids the admission of evidence extracted by torture, although it permits evidence obtained by cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment if it was secured before December 30, 2005. 

So, logically the administration would be forbidden from relying on evidence obtained by waterboarding, if waterboarding constitutes torture.  

Morris Iemma was battling an escalating corruption scandal last night that threatened to draw in two of his most senior ministers and to bring down one of the state's biggest Labor-controlled councils. 

Americans traditionally thought of their country as a "city upon a hill," a "light unto the world." Today only the deluded think that. Polls show that the rest of the world regards the US and Israel as the two greatest threats to peace.  

from Crikey ….. 

New Attorney-General just like the old one 

Greg Barns writes: 

Every year in mid-February, tens of millions of Americans take the Monday off in celebration of the presidency.

And while the average civics teacher will tell you that we do not appreciate our national political heritage nearly enough, the typical American is not only too respectful of the presidency on this day; he is far too enamored of the institution all year round.  

Senior federal Liberals "spilling their guts" about the Howard government's downfall is degrading, outspoken former Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett says. 

Mr Kennett said he would not watch tonight's ABC television Four Corners program, in which senior Liberals tell of the former Howard government's final weeks. 

Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday. 

The US military conducts regular focus groups in five Iraqi cities. In December, right before Christmas, the Washington Post reported what the military was finding: 

Tens of thousands of troops are fanning out across Pakistan in an effort to improve security before next week's parliamentary elections. VOA Correspondent Meredith Buel reports from Islamabad that security forces are also searching for Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan, who disappeared while traveling by road through a volatile tribal region.

Interior Ministry spokesman Jawed Iqbal Cheema says Pakistani troops are mobilizing and moving nationwide to provide security during the election. Cheema says the soldiers will not be stationed at the more than 64,000 polling stations across Pakistan.

Someone wrote and asked me, "Why are there Israeli - but not Mexican-American Dual Nationals?"  

Well, here's my take on this. I'd also like your views and opinions.  

Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani are the three stooges of the Christian right.  

from Crikey ….. 

Rudd cleaning out the messy media messengers 

Christian Kerr writes: 

“When we lift our hearts to God, we’re all equal in his sight.  We’re all equally precious...

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, the president decided to ignore the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, and authorized wiretaps without a warrant on electronic communications between people in the United States and people abroad.

Administration lawyers ginned up a legal justification and then asked communications companies for vast amounts of data.  

By polling logic, I should be your supporter - Democrat, woman, white, liberal.

But this past summer I saw a News Hour show on farmers committing suicide in Maharastra, India, which affected me deeply.  I started learning what was happening to farmers and to food and how the Clintons are connected.