Seat of the Revolution

Planet Magrathea review:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie is an abomination. Whereas the radio show, TV show, books and computer game are all recognisably variations on a theme, this is something new and almost entirely unrelated. It's not even a good film if viewed as an original work: the characters are unsympathetic, the cast exhibit no chemistry, the direction is pedestrian, the pace plodding, the special effects overpowering (lots and lots of special effects, none of them funny mind you) and above all the script is amazingly, mindbogglingly awful. Oh, and they have taken most of the jokes out.

This is a terrible, terrible film and it makes me want to weep.

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Hourly summaries of Detroit Police Dispatch are now available in mp3 format!

The DETROIT Dispatch link shows the last 10 hourly summaries in mp3. The podcast should be ready for testing in a matter of days.

Leave a comment for questions or suggestions.
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Perhpas an actual 911 call: http://blogdex.net/route.asp?id=11597686
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Interrogation Techniques Approved by Lieutenant General Sanchez Included Intimidation by Dogs, Stress Positions, Sensory Deprivation

March 29, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@aclu.org

ACLU Obtains September 2003 Memo Central to Abu Ghraib Story

NEW YORK -- A memo signed by Lieutenant General Ricardo A. Sanchez authorizing 29 interrogation techniques, including 12 which far exceeded limits established by the Army%u2019s own Field Manual, was made public for the first time by the American Civil Liberties Union today.

"General Sanchez authorized interrogation techniques that were in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions and the Army%u2019s own standards," said ACLU attorney Amrit Singh. "He and other high-ranking officials who bear responsibility for the widespread abuse of detainees must be held accountable."

The ACLU has a lawsuit pending against Sanchez alleging direct responsibility for the torture and abuse of detainees in U.S. military custody. The existence of the memo and excerpts of it were previously published in The Washington Post, but it is being reprinted in full here for the first time.

The Defense Department initially refused to release the September Sanchez memo on national security grounds. After the ACLU filed legal papers specifically challenging the withholding of the memo on those grounds, the Defense Department reconsidered its position and released the document to the ACLU late in the afternoon on Friday, March 25, 2005. At the same time, the Defense Department released a previously leaked October 12, 2003 Sanchez memo that superseded the September Sanchez memo.

In a letter sent yesterday to Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case, the ACLU said that the Department of Defense (DOD) "has demonstrated a singular disregard for this Court%u2019s repeated orders and has continued to engage in a pattern of delay." DOD has asked four times for extensions in turning over documents.

The Sanchez memo dated September 14, 2003, specifically allows for interrogation techniques involving the use of military dogs specifically to "Exploit(s) Arab fear of dogs%u2026," isolation, and stress positions.

The September Sanchez memo is posted online at http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17851&c=206.

The October Sanchez memo is posted on line at http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17849&c=206.

More than 30,000 pages of other released documents are posted online at http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia.

Earlier this month, the ACLU and Human Rights First filed a lawsuit charging Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with direct responsibility for the torture and abuse of detainees in U.S. military custody. The action was the first federal court lawsuit to name a top U.S. official in the ongoing torture scandal in Iraq and Afghanistan; many of the charges are based on documents obtained through the FOIA lawsuit. The ACLU has also filed separate lawsuits naming Brig. Gen. Karpinski, Col. Thomas Pappas and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. Details about the Rumsfeld lawsuit are online at www.aclu.org/rumsfeld.

The FOIA lawsuit is being handled by Lawrence Lustberg and Megan Lewis of the New Jersey-based law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, P.C. Other attorneys in the case are Singh, Jameel Jaffer, and Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU; Arthur N. Eisenberg and Beth Haroules of the NYCLU; and Barbara Olshansky and Jeff Fogel of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

(via ACLU )

New Report Examines Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families

A new report, "Caught in the Net: the Impact of Drug Policies on Women & Families," highlights the sky-rocketing incarceration rates of women in the United States. The report also features stories of women minimally, peripherally or unknowingly caught up in drug activity who are found "guilty by association" with their husbands and boyfriends involved in the drug trade.

The number of women serving time in state prison facilities for drug-related offenses has increased 888 percent since 1986 according to the Sentencing Project, and U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics show that more than one million women are currently in prison, in jail, or on parole or probation.

"We've gone from being a nation of latchkey kids to a nation of locked-up moms, where women are the invisible prisoners of drug laws, serving hard time for someone else's crime," said Lenora Lapidus, Director of the ACLU Women's Rights Project. "Family values ought to mean keeping families together. Treatment can cure drug addiction, but there's no cure for a family destroyed."

The report was co-authored by the ACLU, Break the Chains: Communities of Color and the War on Drugs, and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law.

For more information and to access the report, visit:
ACLU website link

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CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Friday said it will pay $11 million to the U.S. government to settle an investigation into the use of illegal immigrants by Wal-Mart contractors to clean Wal-Mart stores.

The government will not pursue any criminal charges against Wal-Mart or any Wal-Mart employees, the world's largest retailer said.

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A South Dakota couple makes and markets candles they say smell like Jesus.

You can find candles with just about every fragrance imaginable, from blueberry to ocean mist to hot apple pie.

Now there's a candle that lets you experience the scent of Jesus, and they've been selling out by the case.

"We see it as a ministry, " says Bob Tosterud, who together with his wife came up with the idea for the candle.

Read more

via slashdot

By Jeffrey Goldfarb and Andy Sullivan

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Data broker LexisNexis on Wednesday said that identity thieves have gained access to profiles of 32,000 U.S. citizens, prompting calls for better consumer protections after a rash of similar break-ins.

The U.S. Secret Service and the FBI said they were investigating the incident.

The announcement comes amid heightened scrutiny of data brokers and other companies that handle consumer information, after rival ChoicePoint Inc. (NYSE:CPS) said last month that thieves had gained access to at least 145,000 consumer profiles.

U.S. lawmakers plan at least two hearings over the coming week and are considering new regulations.

LexisNexis, a subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch Reed Elsevier (REL.L)(ELSN.AS), said a billing complaint by a customer of its Seisint unit in the past week led to the discovery that an identity and password had been misappropriated.

The information accessed included names, addresses, Social Security and driver's license numbers, but not credit histories, medical records or financial information.

LexisNexis, which bought Seisint last year, said it is contacting the 32,000 people affected and offering them credit monitoring and other support to detect any identity theft.

The company is also changing the way it handles passwords and other security features, said Kurt Sanford, president and CEO of the company's corporate and federal markets division.

"LexisNexis sincerely regrets these circumstances and continues to work aggressively and expeditiously to minimize the impact of this incident to consumers and our customers," Sanford said in a statement.

A spokesman declined further comment.

Seisint, based in Boca Raton, Florida, uses property records and other public data to build profiles on millions of U.S. consumers, which it sells to law-enforcement agencies and financial institutions.

A Seisint-created criminal-information database called Matrix came under fire when it provided government officials with the names of 120,000 people whose personal information supposedly fit the profile of a terrorist.

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February 28, 2005

Mr. Steven Cherry
Hamtramck, MI 48212

Thank you . . .

. . for contacting me regarding capital punishment. I appreciate
that you have taken this time to communicate your views to me on
this important issue.

I share your concerns about the ethical dilemmas and administrative inconsistencies associated with the death penalty. Recent DNA testing has shown that innocent people have been wrongly convicted under several state justice systems. This should be a serious concern for all Americans who want a fair and just criminal justice system.

Capital punishment is addressed in the Tenth Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution. That Amendment states that powers which are
not expressly delegated to the federal government by the
Constitution are reserved for the states. Because crime control is a power that is not expressly delegated to the federal government, the Supreme Court has consistently interpreted the Tenth Amendment as the law which reserves capital punishment as an authority granted primarily to state and local governments. Capital Punishment is prohibited by the Michigan Constitution. It was voted on by the citizens of the state in the 1960's and would take another vote by Michigan citizens to change the current law.

Senator Russell Feingold has introduced the Federal Death Penalty
Abolition Act (S. 402), which would eliminate the death penalty
under Federal law. However, this would not affect sentencing
under state laws. Currently, this bill is pending before the
Judiciary Committee, of which I am not a member. I assure you
that I will keep your strong views in mind should this legislation come before the Senate for consideration.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. Please do not
hesitate to do so again whenever I may be of assistance in the
future.

Sincerely,
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator

Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
John Prine

While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel.

But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

Read more