I guess "Cruel and Unusual" was far too vague.

[wednes]

I was really hoping that marijuana would be legalized before government sponsored torture and warantless searches.
But no....

The way this vote was conducted and snuck through is the highest level of shady. Do people still not realize that aside from torture being inherently wrong, that US soldiers will now be tortured if they are captured? I thought it was against UN rules to torture people...are we risking losing their support yet again? I have no desire to live in a fascist country, espeically one that is totally dishonest about their fascism.

I started reading the news today and saw that it had also been approved that any student who attends a US public school can be patted down, strip searched, or have bags and lockers searched without a warrant or even suspicion. Aside from the obvious problem of giving teachers the right to "strip search" minors, this is just gross. When I was in high school people were still arguing whether or not random drug testing for sports was okay. Now we're searching any old student for any old thing for any old reason. And if you think honest students shouldn't have anything to hide, just ask the West Memphis Three.
I find this especially infuriating because kids could grow up and have the "I went through it and I turned out fine" attitude to such blatant disregard for privacy and basic freedom.


As for me, I have a meeting with the life coach today, followed by EMDR and then a nice nap.
Hazel's first draft WILL be done by the time I leave town Friday evening. Mark my words.
For now, methinks I shall have a turkey bacon and avocad bagel sandwich, just like Hazel has in chapter six.

Comments

[itches]

'that US soldiers will now be tortured if they are captured'

Because they never were before now. Not ever.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I am not aware of any country that makes it thier current military policy to torture US soldiers. That is usually the action of a despot or extremist/fringe group (unless I'm incredibly naive on this topic--which is entirely possible). Even so, the fact that someone else might do something reprehensible is no reason for us to do it.

[itches]

Doesn't the US always end up in a war with a despot or extremist/fringe group?

[lostsatellite.livejournal.com]

is there a way of looking up the individual votes for the Judiciary Committee?...if memory serves, both of Wisconsin's Senators are on it, and while I'm pretty sure both would have voted against it (especially Russ Feingold), I'd like to make sure...

of course, now that it will go to the House, I'm sure that my Representative will give it a rubber stamp...and unfortunately, it does not look likely that he will get ousted this November...

[wednes.livejournal.com]

The article made it sound as if the individual votes are unavailible on purpose. I didn't think they could do that. I really am floored that such a think would pass.

[groovesinorbit]

*sigh* Just fucking depressing. At least on the strip search thing, it isn't law yet. It just passed the house to help some jackass from KY get re-elected. The Senate probably won't be as quick to jump on it. Well, we can hope, anyway.

And yeah, on the torture thing. Even if allowing torture didn't open the door for other countries to feel free to torture our people, it doesn't work as an interrogation method. This has been proven since the freaking Inquisition, people! It's just a way for these creeps (the interrogators and our beloved administration) to get their rocks off.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I suppose it's possible that some people really do think torturing our enemies will make us safer. I just think anyone that misinformed and short sighted shouldn't be making those kind of decisions.

[groovesinorbit]

*nods* If we could just figure out a way to get the misinformed and short sighted out of office (since elections don't seem to work anymore ...).

[stranger-tales.livejournal.com]

To hell with the West Memphis Three. Not because I necessarily believe they're guilty of the crimes which they've been convicted. Frankly I don't care whether they did it or not. See, I've lived around these people all my life. Those three, their families, the psycho stepdad of one of the victims. I know where they live and breathe. And I know that regardless of this particular crime, the world's a better place with that poser and his two inbred buddies sitting behind bars. If anyone who'd ever put on one of those FREE THE WEST MEMPHIS THREE t-shirts spent five minutes in Robin Hood Hills with any of the crackers who reside there, they'd want the whole goddamn bunch of them packed into a gas chamber.

But have a documentary air on HBO then a few musicians who back your cause and you end up with the biggest martyrs since Jesus Christ.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Admittedly, I only know of this case from the various media hoo-ha and some internet reading. I don't doubt that they come from a long line of ignorant white trash. But thankfully for our prison system, being ignorant, a poseur, or an asshole is not punishable by hard time.

The character of the people involved is less relevant than the fact that they were convicted of a crime they didn't committ simply because they were unlikable and their PD's were ignorant buffoons. Such things aren't supposed to happen in the US; that's what we tell the rest of the world, anyway.

[stranger-tales.livejournal.com]

If these kids had been the type who'd go on to write great literature or cure cancer or even lead happy lives putting toilet paper on the little spools, I'd say this might be an injustice. Fact is, there are now three fewer backwards breeders on the streets. When you get right down to it, the kids who died probably wouldn't have been any better.

To be honest, I'm for nuking the whole damn planet and letting the motherloving roaches have it. Regardless of intellect or achievement, ours is a species whose extinction is long overdue.

[uterdic.livejournal.com]

And I know that regardless of this particular crime, the world's a better place with that poser and his two inbred buddies sitting behind bars.

this is the exact same tactic the government is using for going to war and torturing people, and the exact same reason so many people against said government right now.

[diachrony.livejournal.com]

any student who attends a US public school can be patted down, strip searched, or have bags and lockers searched without a warrant or even suspicion.

Sounds to me like an open invitation to humiliate, abuse, and molest - including sexually ... so this can be done for no reason at all, just because the principal/teachers feel like it? Woo hoo. In my own experience, there were *always* those adults who used their positions of authority as an excuse to psychologically abuse, if not physically, the kids in their responsibility. And now we're telling them they don't even need to come up with even a lame justification for it?!

This is just revolting.

The other thing is revolting too but I can't think of anything intelligent to say about it at the moment.

::angry, disgusted face::

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm sure many if not most teachers are excellent and care about nothing but the student's education and welfare. But it only takes one fucked up one to totally destroy lives.

[nate101000.livejournal.com]

Hopefully it will get killed on the floor. McCain isn't budging on that shit, and he carries a lot of weight. I soooo wish that McCain were president instead.

Let's face it. You might soon live in a country that has granted the executive branch the authority to prosecute and seek the death penalty based on evidence supplied under torture that was never provided to the defendant.

And there seem to be a lot of people who are OK with this. I just can't figure it out.

Sadly the bill of rights doesn't seem to protect minors. When I was in school there was a lot of talk about how in public schools they couldn't search the lockers without permission, but that at private schools they coulds search anywhere in the school. But it never occurred to me that anyone would search our persons.

I think that if Sabrina were 16 and an employee of her school asked her to take clothes off, I would assume that they were trying to assault her. And if it's the police I expect them to contact me, and ask for my permission to search her. Which I can't imagine I would ever give.

Can you point me in the direction of the news story?

[nate101000.livejournal.com]

Nevermind I think I found it. Are you talking about the Bill that's coming up for a vote in the House next week?

There are a lot of strip search stories of minors in the news recently.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

It was at Yahoo news this morning.
Can't find it now. I'll let you know when I come across it again.

Like Billy Dee used to say, "Works every time."

[uterdic.livejournal.com]

I don't know what your problem is , wednes. Torture is the best way to get the exact answers the government is looking for, every time.

Re: Like Billy Dee used to say, "Works every time."

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Somebody should tell Ryan that Sayid has hacked his account.

[princezna.livejournal.com]

He's ruining our god-damned country!!!

[wednes.livejournal.com]

To be fair, I don't think Bush the man is smart enough or motivated enough to do a damn thing but stand in front of cameras trying to read the prompter. His people though (whom I guess are actually his father's people) are bad, bad men.

[pyrafire.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if this is the same Bill or whatever, but that story was from Reuters yesterday and this one is from the NYtimes today. I'm not saying that they contradict each other, because I didn't read the entire Reuter's story, but even if they are saying the same thing, the NYtimes article paints it in a little bit better light at least. The fact that McCain agreed to the new legislation makes me feel a little better.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I want to trust McCain as well, but I imagine he is under tremendous pressure on him to support the bill. I think the language is vague and basically, I don't think it's enough to reign in this adminstration and their cockamamie crap.

I want to know exactly in what ways they are "upholding the letter and spirit" of the Geneva Convention, and I get the distinct feeling that they don't want to tell me. I just don't trust the current gov't to do right by us; so I certainly don't trust them to do right by "evil" people.

[ex-jenniepan481.livejournal.com]

I expect bush to come up with these crazy ass ideas..but i never expected the house to back him on this.. This is just madness... even when we do get a new president how many years will it take to undo all this crazy shit????

And the school thing? That is just... I mean you know that is going to be abused by some sick in the head teachers. Fuck..what the hell is wrong with everyone?

[wednes.livejournal.com]

It's a baffling state of affairs to be sure. I knew we were in big trouble when the pres and congress where all the same party. The problem IMHO is that the election was tampered with. I don't beleive Bush won fairly either time.