Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday for the second time in seven months, though private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship repelled the attack with .................
*drumroll*
you need your disco
Stepperg
“Ladies & Gentlemen of the jury ...”
...Obama said those offended by the legal privileges given to Mohammed by virtue of getting a civilian trial rather than a military tribunal won’t find it “offensive at all when he’s convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him.”
Hu Go, Bama!
Obama quickly added that he did not mean to suggest he was prejudging the outcome of Mohammed’s trial. “I’m not going to be in that courtroom,” he said. “That’s the job of the prosecutors, the judge and the jury.”
...uh .... er… uh....
[Holder says] “I have every confidence the nation and the world will see him for the coward he is,” ... “I’m not scared of what (Mohammed) will have to say at trial — and no one else needs to be either.”
Holder says the public and the nation’s intelligence secrets can be protected during a public trial in civilian court.
“We need not cower in the face of this enemy,” Holder says. “Our institutions are strong, our infrastructure is sturdy, our resolve is firm, and our people are ready.”
For?
Srsly. Is taunting what’s really best for the people of Manhattan? Izzat that there noo Smart Diplomacy™ we back-woods redneck ideologically-stuck moe-rahns are too un-subtle to comp-re-hend, hm?
“I think this notion that we have to be fearful that these terrorists possess some special powers that prevent us from presenting evidence against them, locking them up and exacting swift justice, I think that has been a fundamental mistake,” Obama said…
“special powers” WTF’nFF R U on about?!?!?
“We are at war, and we will use every instrument of national power — civilian, military, law enforcement, intelligence, diplomatic and others — to win,” Holder says.
11/18 at 07:13 AM •
(15) Extra Credit • Pass it on...
Improper payments by the U.S. government to people, firms and contractors rose sharply to $98 billion in fiscal 2009 and President Barack Obama plans new rules to clamp down, the White House said Tuesday.
Over half the mistakes were made in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and although some of the deterioration reflected stricter measurement, it also showed the need for healthcare reform…
...higher government spending due to the recession, explained a big part of the jump in government waste....
...We don’t think there are a lot of them…
Officials tell ABC News, so far, they have found 700 mistakenly credited congressional districts…
More than 15 million taxpayers may owe the government $250 or more because of how the IRS last spring set up President Barack Obama’s tax break that was designed to help consumers spend the U.S. economy out of recession.
Individuals with more than one job and married couples in which both spouses work may have to repay the government $400, either through a smaller tax refund or a larger tax bill…
live from Planet Larry…
Head Mook: The “Conservatives” are the problem with the Republican Party....
lesser Lympian:I don’t think there is a difference anymore.
bonus Lympian quote o the ding dong day:
There is one problem with Levi. He’s too stupid to tell a lie.
Retirees and Vets Allowed to Salute Flag
Traditionally, members of the nation’s veterans service organizations render the hand-salute during the national anthem and at events involving the national flag while wearing their organization’s official head-gear. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 contained an amendment to allow un-uniformed servicemembers, military retirees, and veterans to render a hand salute during the hoisting, lowering, or passing of the U.S. flag. A later amendment further authorized hand-salutes during the national anthem by veterans and out-of-uniform military personnel. This was included in the Defense Authorization Act of 2009, which Former President Bush signed on Oct. 14, 2008.
via Chrissie
H/T 
~ ref ~
FYI, this is what it looks like when an ACTUAL oppressive, totalitarian theocracy crushes dissent.
Iran has sentenced five people to death over the unrest that followed the country’s disputed June presidential election, state television reported Tuesday.
[...]
Iran began a mass trial in August of prominent opposition figures and activists, accusing them of a range of charges from rioting to spying and plotting what authorities have called a “soft revolution” to topple the country’s Islamic rulers.
But yeah, don’t let that get you down, you were all so terribly brave in speaking out against Bush. Have a cookie.
Shit, have a Nobel Prize.
It’s a little long. Not Bill Whittle long. I present below a brief excerpt, and I suggest that you read the rest.
You might like it.
Americans—remember them?—should be asking themselves what it means that a woman of traditional American values can be so reviled, so relentlessly, so unscrupulously, so take-no-prisoners viciously. She doesn’t need to become president to perform an invaluable role. Why is she so popular in the heartland? Because she is us. A good-hearted ambitious American doing her best to offer her best. If they—and who are they, exactly?—hate her so much, then it has to be the case that she’s only a symbol of the hatred they feel for all the rest of us. If ordinary average Americans ever figure this part of the equation out, the ‘liberals’ are done forever. I’m thinking Sarah Palin is making that outcome more likely.
[ 56% of 1,502] Americans [ polled by the AP ] don’t want to shoulder the cost of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul themselves. They think
the richsomebody else should pay for it....
$1,591,200
Total Personal Staff members for other first ladies paid by taxpayers:
Jackie Kennedy: 1
Roseline Carter: 1
Barbara Bush: 1
Hilary Clinton: 3
Laura Bush: 1
Michele Obama: 22
Melissy in Texas
Judge Orders Lynne Stewart to Prison Immediately
Disbarred radical lawyer Lynne Stewart is going to jail - maybe for a lot longer than she thought.
A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld her conviction for smuggling messages to her jailed terrorist client, and said she deserves more than the 28 months she got because she may have lied at her trial.
no - don’t jump to conclusions
Rule 1: what is said in session stays in session.
[Unless it’s about present/future harm to someone else—then it’s damned sticky]
Nidal Malik Hasan sought to have some of his patients prosecuted for war crimes based on statements they made during psychiatric sessions with him, a captain who served on the base said Monday.
Other psychiatrists complained to superiors that Hasan’s actions violated doctor-patient confidentiality, Capt. Shannon Meehan told The Dallas Morning News. ...
ABC News, citing anonymous sources, reported that his superiors rejected the requests, and that investigators suspect this triggered the shootings....
...killed
1314 and wounded 29… remains in a San Antonio military hospital, paralyzed from the waist down by police gunfire and facing premeditated murder charges. and a noose ...one little-known consequence of the massacre is that Hasan’s colleagues must re-evaluate every case he handled. Another challenge, he said, is persuading patients to keep opening up to therapists.
11/17 at 10:38 AM •
(10) Extra Credit • Pass it on...
Sarah Palin talked tough about the father of her grandson on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that aired Monday—and
Levi JohnstonRicky Hollywood is giving it right back.Johnston watched with cameras from “The Insider” rolling as Palin was interviewed by Winfrey........
Claire in comments
lite beer?
Investigators told ABC News Hasan became a regular at Stan’s Outdoor Shooting Range in Florence, Texas, as the day of the shooting neared. He was last at the range two days before the Nov. 5 rampage, reportedly firing off more than 200 rounds.
Investigators also said Hasan frequently was seen in the company of an older man and an 18-year-old teenage boy at the Golden Coral restaurant. The parents of the teen, identified as Duane Reasoner Jr., work at Fort Hood, where Hasan is accused of killing 13 people.
The day after the shooting, Reasoner told the BBC ...
“I’m not going to condemn him for what he did, I don’t know why he did it. I will not, absolutely not, condemn him for what he had done, though.”
Well - that tells ya a lot about the guy’s Values, eh?
“The last time he was here, I remember checking his military ID at the door, and he paid his $15 cover and stayed for six or seven hours,” Matthew Jones, general manager of Starz, told the Web site of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. ...
“He preferred the blondes,” said Jenner [stripper] ..."He asked us why we were working at the strip club, if we liked the lifestyle, if we had any kids,” she said. “It was right before Halloween so he asked what our kids were dressing up as. He just wanted to know a lot about us.”
11/17 at 10:37 AM •
(6) Extra Credit • Pass it on...
