Good morning, everyone!

Duncan, what would you give as odds that it was authentic vs. a ploy? (or are you saying that there is a zero chance that it was authentic?

Second question: what percentage of the UK populace do you think sees it as most-likely-authentic?

Coffee!

Oceans

Makes sense, Wolfspirit. It would make more sense if the guy was real to lure him in, rather than scare him off.

Ah....the ways of the Net!

Oceans

Kerry, can you say more about what expectations you think might have to change? For the illegal migrants? For the patrons of Bush?

Thanks.

Oceans

And Jerry once called ME long-winded!

US domestic law INCLUDES those international laws that the US has by treaty subscribed to. This includes the Geneva Conventions. If US officials or Americans violates the Geneva Conventions, they have broken the law. Period. Here is the law, the War Crimes Act -- that connects Americans to the Geneva Conventions

TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 118 > § 2441

§ 2441. War crimes

(a) Offense.— Whoever, whether inside or outside the United States, commits a war crime, in any of the circumstances described in subsection (b), shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both, and if death results to the victim, shall also be subject to the penalty of death.
(b) Circumstances.— The circumstances referred to in subsection (a) are that the person committing such war crime or the victim of such war crime is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a national of the United States (as defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act).
(c) Definition.— As used in this section the term “war crime” means any conduct—
(1) defined as a grave breach in any of the international conventions signed at Geneva 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party;
(2) prohibited by Article 23, 25, 27, or 28 of the Annex to the Hague Convention IV, Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, signed 18 October 1907;
(3) which constitutes a violation of common Article 3 of the international conventions signed at Geneva, 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party and which deals with non-international armed conflict; or
(4) of a person who, in relation to an armed conflict and contrary to the provisions of the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices as amended at Geneva on 3 May 1996 (Protocol II as amended on 3 May 1996), when the United States is a party to such Protocol, willfully kills or causes serious injury to civilians.

Walker, thanks for the compliment.

No, I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular when I posted my hope for a better quality discussion.

The anger builds as these email discussions hit on sensitive subjects, and it is easy to start accusing others of being stupid, when all that is happening is disagreement over some issue. Labeling people is one form of insult. Another is denigrating their intelligence, or knowledge.

In my opinion, we are all students, all of us have a LOT to learn about the world, and we are all interested in some of the biggest problems facing our society.

And, yes, we all have our blind spots, our fears, lurking just beneath the surface, waiting to explode at the least provocation. Surely mastery lies in not succumbing to the lure of righteous anger.

If only we could see that really we are all really on the same 'side' -- the side of learning, of curiosity, of trying to make the world a better place. And if we work together, right here, we will be able to move forward -- and we will all come out ahead of where we were. We will all be energized, and not torn down by the bickering.

I see in everyone posting today the ability to make it so.


Oceans

Well said, old friend.



Oceans

Hello, everybody,

I know that some JSH folks are thinking about changing jobs. The following site may be interesting. Well paying jobs that do not require college degrees. The site is Canadian, but my guess is that the US economy and Canada's are similar.

http://www.citytowninfo.com/studies/best-careers-degree-not-required.html


You have to set up an account to get into the site -- it's easy.

Happy hunting!


Oceans

OK< the bill is dead, as of today. The motion to close debate and vote failed to receive the 60 votes necessary for cloture. Bush has thrown in the towel.

I'm afraid it was defeated for the wrong reasons, but at least there can be a respite now to beginning tackling the issue in a healthier way.

I'm sorry for all the 'illegal immigrants' who, given the welcome they receive here from their employers, must surely wonder at the weird workings of our 'democracy.'

To those who worked to defeat the bill, including my friends here, I say, I hope you roll up your sleeves and help craft a better bill for new consideration.

I know it is a complicated issue -- very complicated -- but we owe it to ourselves and to our guest workers, to do it and do it right.

Perhaps if we started by deconstructing the issues we might have a better chance.


Oceans

Well, the neocons use the Washington Post as one of their main media outlets (e.g. Charles Krauthammer, David Brooks and many 'guest' Op-Ed writers), so they will have a hard time dismissing the articles because of their appearance in the Post!



Oceans

Hello everyone!

So sorry about the migraine, Andrea

Fanta: it is the source and the depiction that counts most, plus a lot of facts to back up the suspicions.

Damnits! JJ!



Oceans

I can see it now....cruising down the highway with a weinie roast and marshmellows going!

Yes, Addington is powerful, but my sense is that he is taking orders from Cheney. Addington's job is to draft the documents and frame the legal issues so that Cheney can move forward.

Addington is the guy who brought John Yoo (who wrote the torture memos) from the Justice Department, as the second member of a three-man legal team. The third was the President's own deputy legal counsel, Tim Flanigan. Together, they are the lawyers who executed the Cheney orders. William Haynes at the DoD helped them.


Oceans

I want a medal too!!!!!

Maybe that was a hippie joke! How can burnt wood produce a gas that has energy conent, and how can a liquid fuel engine burn a gas????

Now, I COULD imagine a steam engine....

I still think it was gerbils, though.

Maybe Explorer went for a drive....

hello, everyone!

One of the abiding uncertainties in political washington has been the relationship between Cheney and Bush, on the one hand, and Cheny and the neocons on the other.

The first part is getting a lot of exposure in this last week, thanks to an extraordinary series of articles int eh Washington Post.

I am still digesting and reading it all (the series has links to many documents) and trying to connect it with what I know, so I won't try and summarize it here, other than to say that it shows a Chney dominant over Bush to an extent hardly imaginable.

Here is the link, to the four-part series. I urge everyone to check it out.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/

The news is now only going to get worse for Cheney, and indirectly for the president.

Oceans

Miguel, amigo, we have a problem with this bill.

Forget for a moment the issue of 'legality' or 'illegality' and the attempt to reconcile them via some form of amnesty. That the illegal workers should be assimilated into our society and economy one way or another WILL happen. The battle is over how, and at what cost to various segments of the foreign workers and US worker force.

Here is the latest problem: slipped into the bill by Ken Salazar is a provision that states that English is either the 'common' language of the US, or the 'national' language of the US.

We have already read several instances where odd provisions were slipped in, including the one that at some point in the near-future US companies and employers will have to submit to the Feds data on ALL their employees.

I tried to read the damn bill and gave it up. It is just too big, too full of weird provisions, too full of unsupported fears, too full of hidden agenda, and too important to be considered as it now is being doing by the Congress.

I have come to the conclusion that necessary and desirable as a GOOD immigration/foreign worker bill is, that this bill and this ramming of it through Congress (if that were to happen) is not the way to do it. It needs, I think, to be started from scratch, perhaps drafted in the first place by an impartial panel of interested parties (including representatives of the 'illegal migrants') and submitted to the Congress for its consideration and amendment.

Most importantly, it would allow all parties to cool down, and actually have dialogue on the issues involved, and to explore alternatives without feeling that their lives are going to be turned upside down by a bill that most people actually know little about but fear much.

Look at how pointless and angry the discussion here on our two migrant labor threads has been! Can you imagine how better we would all be if the discussion had been respectful, exploratory, constructive?

Oceans

Guessing....Two in front, four at the rear of the truck. One spare.

Explorer
Doesn't sound crazy to me at all. Sounds interesting. Thanks for finding and posting this.

Did you find any reference to how much mpg that are achieving over a level course? Or what speed was found to be optimum?

Oceans

I like Fallen's answer better.