Hunger Strikers Pledge to Die in Gitmo

Good, may they be successful in their efforts.

More than 200 detainees in Guantánamo Bay are in their fifth week of a hunger strike, the Guardian has been told.

Statements from prisoners in the camp which were declassified by the US government on Wednesday reveal that the men are starving themselves in protest at the conditions in the camp and at their alleged maltreatment - including desecration of the Qur'an - by American guards.

The statements, written on August 11, have just been given to the British human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith. They show that prisoners are determined to starve them selves to death. In one, Binyam Mohammed, a former London schoolboy, said: "I do not plan to stop until I either die or we are respected.

It could be worse Mr. Mohammed, you could have your head sawed off and the decapitation broadcast throughout the world...just to give you some perspective.

Like the kling klang king of the rim ram room...

In less than 24 hours I will be landing in Vegas and partaking in a whirlwind tour of debauchery. Days will be spent alternating between the sportsbook and the pool watching games and watching ladies. I can't go wrong.




The purpose of this post is not to gloat, but to allow you to follow along with me on my odyssey of football betting in real time. The games I will post in a few moments are the games I am leaning to right now, they may change they may not, but here is a taste of the action I am looking at (lines are as of a few hours ago):

PRO

Cincy -3.5
Minnesota by 6
Denver by 5
Arizona getting 3
St. Louis giving 6 (if this game stays below a TD it is a lock that I will be taking it).
Colts giving 3 is a lead pipe lock

COLLEGE

Texas getting 1 at Ohio State
Boston College giving 27.5 to Army
Notre Dame getting 7.5 at Michigan (knee-shaker)

Over/Under

Buffalo/Texas under 38
Chiefs/Jets under 37.5 (depends on the T. Green news pregame).

Well, kids, wish me luck!

More State of LA Failure

Radio Blogger:

"MG: Well, the Red Cross, Hugh, had pre-positioned a literal vanguard of trucks with water, food, blankets and hygiene items. They're not really big into medical response items, but those are the three biggies that we saw people at the New Orleans Superdome, and the convention center, needing most accutely. And all of us in America, I think, reasonably asked ourselves, geez. You know, I watch hurricanes all the time. And I see correspondents standing among rubble and refugees and evacuaees. But I always either see that Red Cross or Salvation Army truck nearby. Why don't I see that?

HH: And the answer is?

MG: The answer is the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security, that is the state agency responsible for that state's homeland security, told the Red Cross explicitly, you cannot come.

HH: Now Major Garrett, on what day did they block the delivery? Do you know specifically?

MG: I am told by the Red Cross, immediately after the storm passed.

HH: Okay, so that would be on Monday afternoon.

MG: That would have been Monday or Tuesday. The exact time, the hour, I don't have. But clearly, they had an evacuee situation at the Superdome, and of course, people gravitated to the convention center on an ad hoc basis. They sort of invented that as another place to go, because they couldn't stand the conditions at the Superdome.

HH: Any doubt in the Red Cross' mind that they were ready to go, but they were blocked?

MG: No. Absolutely none. They are absolutely unequivocal on that point."

I haven't really heard much about this, but if the state FEMA people were keeping out the "calvary" why the hell was the state FEMA guy on TV crying about "the calvalry isn't here yet!?"

Where Bodies Are Being Counted, Michael Moore Sees Loot to be Made

I wonder if he sits around, eating buckets of chicken, just hoping for the next American death. Any death will do. School shootings? Lets make Bowling for Columbine. Michigan suicides? Lets make Roger and Me. Terrorist attack? Fahrenheit 9/11! Well, it looks like the Master of Deathploitation, the King of Cinema Chaotica, the biggest individual profiteer of American sorrow and pain is gearing up to fatten his wallet off yet another coupld thousand American lives.

Will Michael Moore turn his cameras on Katrina?

The controversial filmmaker is “seriously considering” turning the devastating storm and its aftermath into a documentary, says a source. “It has all the elements that made ‘Fahrenheit 911’ such a powerful film,” says a source. “The political outrage, the human suffering, and the incredible footage.”

As long as there is politics to play, suffering to profit from, and damn compelling footage, Michael Moore will be there to try and make millions.

On your mark... SCOTUS trading begins in earnest!

Intrade is taking your iron as the world buys up pieces of various nominees. Currently most of the action is on Edith Brown Clement and Alberto Gonzales, with Michael Luttig getting some scraps.

Obviously, pretty much every lawyer/judge close to the President is being mentioned for the opening and as always, I expect the President to pick someone a little unexpected. A woman, maybe. A minority, who knows? Will he allow those quota considerations to cloud his judgement, almost certainly not. Has the left given him any credit for his appointments of minorities to cabinet level positions, of course not. They have ridiculed Condi and Colin as Uncle Tom's and other disgustingly derogatory terms so I would expect Janice Rodgers Brown to get the same treatment should she be nominated. She may be dark skinned but since she has different opinions than Eugene Kane, she just aint black enough.

Bench Memos over at NRO has some solid coverage, including a nice little essay here.

If this interpretation is correct — that the President made his decision to appoint Justice O'Connor's replacement based solely on merit and judicial philosophy in the long-term best interests of the nation — then it seems reasonable to suppose that he will make the same decision the same way the second time around. Nothing says this will point him to another white male, as the short list of the country's best available conservatives surely includes women and minorities, but it means the white males won't be categorically excluded from consideration either.

If that's so, here are a couple of new names to keep your eye on as dark horse candidates if the President tries to replicate the Roberts model: Steve Colloton, a judge on the Eighth Circuit, and Jeff Sutton, a Judge on the Sixth Circuit. Both are brilliant former Supreme Court clerks; both have long records of public service, Colloton primarily as a prosecutor and Sutton primarily as a Supreme Court and appellate advocate; both are widely respected, right to left, with plenty of supporters among Democrats of good faith; both are supported by influential home-state Republican Senators on the Judiciary Committee; both are young men in their mid-40s; and both were originally appointed by this President and thus are seen as part of the Bush judicial "family." Some controversy attended Judge Sutton's confirmation, because he is closely identified based on his work as an advocate with the Supreme Court's new federalism jurisprudence. Colloton sailed to confirmation with no problems at all. Whether their time is now or in a future Republican administration, they're worth adding to the evolving lists of credible candidates

Personally, I can't wait! Football season and SCOTUS season! Honestly it is almost too much to comprehend.

13% of Americans Think President Bush has a Weather Machine

Just kidding (the Cheney caused Katrina nutters are out there though), but only 13% of Americans think President Bush is "most responsible for the problems in New Orleans." Over 50% think Bush did an adequate job (10% great, 25% good, 21% not good, not bad). On the other hand, 42% were not at all please with the President's response (18% bad, 24% terrible).

CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 609 adults taken September 5-6 shows:

Blame Game -- 13% said George W. Bush is "most responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane"; 18% said "federal agencies"; 25% said "state and local officials"; 38% said "no one is to blame"; 6% had no opinion. -- 29% said that "top officials in the federal agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be fired"; 63% said they should not; 8% had no opinion.

MORE

Government Performance -- 10% said George W. Bush has done a "great" job in "responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding"; 25% said "good"; 21% said "neither good nor bad"; 18% said "bad"; 24% said "terrible"; 2% had no opinion. -- 8% said federal government agencies responsible for handling emergencies have done a "great" job in "responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding"; 27% said "good"; 20% said "neither good nor bad"; 20% said "bad"; 22% said "terrible"; 3% had no opinion. -- 7% said state and local officials in Louisiana have done a "great" job in "responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding"; 30% said "good"; 23% said "neither good nor bad"; 20% said "bad"; 15% said "terrible"; 5% had no opinion.

via Drudge

"Cold But Effective"

Using a technique seemingly much more effective than the proposed "force em at gunpoint" rescue strategy proposed for New Orleans (honestly, are we really going to make rescue workers into murderers?) Virginia rescue workers are using the "Magic Marker Strategy."

Instead of relying on a "Good Samaritan" policy - the fantasy in New Orleans that everyone would take care of the neighbors - the Virginia rescue workers go door to door. If people resist the plea to leave, Mr. Judkins told The Daily Press in Newport News, rescue workers give them Magic Markers and ask them to write their Social Security numbers on their body parts so they can be identified.

"It's cold, but it's effective," Mr. Judkins explained.

That simple strategy could have persuaded hundreds of people to save their own lives in New Orleans. What the city needed most was coldly effective local leaders, not a president in Washington who could feel their pain. It's the same lesson we should have learned from Sept. 11 and other disasters, yet both liberals and conservatives keep ignoring it.

It's nice to see that SOMEONE put some thought into effective rescue strategy's, and the different situations that may arise.