Despite being fully integrated economically the media seems to ignore stuff north of the 49th parallel. I live a few hundred miles south and get the CBC on TV. I warn you that this report is disturbing.
Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.
Also, officials may share copies of the laptop’s contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The policies . . . are truly alarming,” said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government’s border search practices. He said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches, as well as prohibit profiling on race, religion or national origin.
DHS officials said that the newly disclosed policies — which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens — are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter.
This is one of the few instances I agree with Senator Feingold (he has often promoted saving 10 cents in this year’s military budget, to cost an extra dollar in the next, hoping to cancel the program over the increased cost. The man has tried to kill many times JVC in Utah, the country’s only major source of rocket fuel).
Whistler Air and Perimeter Bus Lines Ltd. Appear to be among the biggest beneficiaries as stranded tourists and commuters seek alternatives after Tuesday’s massive rock fall on British Columbia’s Sea to Sky Highway.
The B.C. Ministry of Transportation says 16,000 vehicles use the Sea to Sky to travel between Vancouver and Squamish at this time of year.
But after a section of the road, located 20 kilometres south of Squamish was buried under a mountain of rock on Tuesday, many of those vehicle drivers are looking at other options, including air transportation and alternative routes.
Next, the non-gun carrying Canadians have no violent crime, right? When no one has guns, there are still knives. This is horrible. If you go to Google News Canada, this is the top story.
A quiet, easy-going carnival worker who was heading home to Winnipeg has been identified as the victim of an unthinkably horrific and random slaying on a Greyhound bus.
Friends said Tim McLean, 22, was the young man who was stabbed repeatedly and then decapitated by a man sitting next to him, who then carved up his body in front of terrified passengers.
William Caron, 23, of Winnipeg, said that contrary to some reports, McLean was not asleep when the attack happened.
…..
Passengers gave a much more graphic account of events.
“We heard this blood-curdling scream and turned around, and the guy was standing up, stabbing this guy repeatedly, like 40 or 50 times,” Garnet Caton said from a hotel in Brandon, Man., where he and other passengers had been taken to rest.
“There was no rage or anything. He was like a robot, stabbing the guy.”
Caton said the bus stopped immediately, just west of Portage La Prairie on Wednesday night, and everyone scrambled to get out while the attacker started methodically carving up the victim’s body, not paying attention to anyone else.
There have been several media reports that the man was seen to consume some of the victim’s flesh.
Caton and the driver shut the bus door from the outside while they waited for police to arrive.
“We put our bodies up against the door, waiting for him to come out … and he went back and brought the head to the front and pretty much displayed it … and dropped it on the ground in front of us,” Caton said.
“All very calmly. He was wearing sunglasses. It was no big deal to him.”
I hope this brutal attack makes the US press, to void the impression that everything is great north of the border. Every country has its’ psychopaths. They aren’t the norm, and Canada has them too. .
This song has been covered by many groups. The Village People sued to keep their version not-free, so the Pet Shop Boys do an equally good version. Lots of Commie symbolism.
As a westerner this song has meaning that wasn’t intended by the authors. It is Horace Greeley. I wrote in my 2002 journey when I saw a western sunset, I knew I was back in the west. If you have seen a Western sunset, you understand. My promised land is the West.
Now almost a week and a half into June, the weather is acting like winter or early spring. A vigorous area of low pressure has been bringing showers, thunderstorms and strong winds to the region.
But even stranger is the snow. Numerous winter warnings and advisories are up for the possibility of heavy mountain snow. Up to a foot of snow is possible in the Washington Cascades, with snow levels as low as 2,000′. Look for snow at all the passes, but heaviest amounts will fall above 3,500′. Snow can also be expected in the mountains of northeast Washington, north Idaho and the Blues in northeast Oregon. In those areas, snow will fall above 4,000-5,000′. Meanwhile, very strong winds will continue in eastern Washington and Oregon.
Luckily, this should be short-lived. The low pressure system responsible for all this June “fun” exits by the middle of the week, leaving most of Wednesday and Thursday with partly cloudy skies and warming temperatures.
In two days, this system will hit the Great Plains and Midwest. Combined with gulf warm air there will be tornadoes. Hmm, no idea what happened in 1894, but weather happens. Imagine that.
Why not “Government Employees Cannot Participate in Partisan Political Activity”? Or how about government employees are not allowed to state who they support politically? How about government employees are NOT allowed to vote? How about UNION government employees are not allowed to vote?
Though the military is not supposed to engage in partisan political activity, these soldiers spoke out about their personal endorsements, and their opinions are likely to matter. In 2004, 73 percent of the U.S. military voted for a presidential candidate, and officials believe it may be even higher this time around.
Substitute the sub-class of government employees with members of the military and you see a First Amendment fight in the making. Somehow this reporter got the idea that military members are neutered politically. Um, no. Joining the military does NOT mean you support the ruling party, nor are you a Republican.
I’ve rewritten what follows about 20 times to be objective. The bigotry in the reporting above stands alone – though I doubt the author Martha Raddatz understands the grave insult she has made.
UPDATE (James Joyner): The piece is indeed bizarre. The thrust of the piece, as I read it, isn’t so much about the right of military people to vote but rather that she’s found a handful willing to go on record saying they are leaning toward Barack Obama because he wants to bring the troops home from Iraq.
Though the military is generally a more conservative group, soldiers like Sgt. Justin Sarbaum are just as eager for a pull-out as the Democratic candidates. Sarbaum said he wondered which presidential candidate would be able to better the U.S. relationship with rogue nations, such as Iran, so that soldiers are not sent off to another war.
As to the legal issues, uniformed military personnel operate under different rules than the civil service. The Fort Gordon, Georgia JAG has written a good synopsis:
The political activities of officers and enlisted members of the Active Army, the USAR, and the ARNG are governed by DODD 1344.10 and AR 600-20, paragraph 5-3. The Hatch Act Amendments, 5 U.S.C. §§ 7321 - 7325, and 5 C.F.R. Part 733, only apply to civilian Federal employees (including Federal technicians employed by the National Guard and USAR). The Hatch Act does not apply to military members.
The restrictions in AR 600-20 apply to soldiers on active duty, which is defined as full-time duty in the active military service of the United States without regard to duration or purpose, including active duty for training, annual training, attendance at military schools, and full-time National Guard duty. They do not apply to inactive duty for training, or to National Guard soldiers serving in state status.
[...]
Soldiers on Active Duty May:
1. Register, vote, and express their opinions on political candidates and issues, but not as representatives of the Armed Forces;
2. Attend partisan and nonpartisan political meetings or rallies as spectators, however, they may not attend: (a) in uniform, (b) during duty hours, (c) when violence is likely to result, or (d) when their activities constitute a breach of law and order;
3. Make monetary contributions to a political organization, but not to other members of the Armed Forces on active duty or employees of the Federal Government, and subject to the following:
a. 18 U.S.C. § 607 prohibits anyone “receiving any salary or compensation for services from money derived from the Treasury of the United States” to solicit a political contribution from any other such person;
b. 18 U.S.C. § 603 prohibits officers and employees of the Federal Government, and anyone “receiving salary or compensation for service from money derived from the Treasury of the United States” from making a political contribution to any other such person who is the “employer or employing authority” of the contributor;
1). This prohibits both contributions to the individual and to the individual’s campaign committee, but does not prohibit contributions to political parties;
2). In 1991, the Counsel to the President issued an opinion that this statute “may prohibit any Federal employee from contributing to the authorized campaign committee of the President;”
4. May encourage other military members to vote;
5. Serve as an election official, if such service (a) is not in uniform, (b) does not interfere with military duties, and (c) has the prior approval of the installation commander;
6. Sign a petition for legislative action or to place a candidate’s name on the ballot, but only in the soldier’s personal capacity;
7. Write a letter to the editor expressing personal views, and place bumper stickers on cars (but not large banners or posters).
Soldiers on Active Duty May Not:
1. Use their official authority or influence for interfering with an election, soliciting votes for a particular candidate or issue, or requiring or soliciting political contributions from others;
2. Participate in partisan political management, campaigns, or conventions;
3. Write and publish partisan political articles that solicit votes for or against a partisan political party or candidate, speak before partisan political gatherings, or participate in partisan political radio or television shows;
4. Serve in any capacity or be listed as a sponsor of a partisan political club;
5. Distribute partisan political literature or conduct a political opinion survey under the auspices of a partisan political group;
6. Use contemptuous words against the President, Vice President, Congress, the Secretaries of the military departments, Defense, or Transportation, and the Governors or legislatures of any state or territory where the soldier is on duty;
7. Engage in fund-raising activities for partisan political causes on military reservations or in Federal offices or facilities;
8. Attend partisan political events as official representatives of the Armed Forces.
See DoD Directive 1344.10, “Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces,” dated February 19, 2008 for a more detailed outlining of the regulations.
These rules are longstanding. Military personnel do, in fact, give up a significant portion of their 1st Amendment freedoms as a condition of their service. The courts have upheld these restrictions, repeatedly, as necessary for good order and discipline.
But, yes, they can express their candidate preferences in their capacity as individuals, so long as they’re not claiming to represent the military. Unfortunately, Raddatz aptly demonstrates, this doesn’t stop reporters from distorting their views as a reflection of how soldiers in general think.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Gov. Jon Huntsman has signed a bill into law that will ban wine coolers from grocery stores.
Huntsman says he doesn’t like the law, but he signed it Wednesday because it also increases the size of the standard shot of liquor from 1 ounce to 1.5 ounces.
He says that prohibiting the sale of flavored malt beverages anywhere but state liquor stores will tarnish the state’s reputation. Utah is already known for having some of the strictest liquor laws in the country.
Under the bill Huntsman signed, the fruity drinks will be sold in grocery stores until October.
I guess this means the “Mike’s Hard Lemonade” products are banned. On the other hand, I remember my night in Dry Gulch, KY, yep dry, far from UT (KY totally dry, UT lousy hours). Woot on a bigger shot glass. State legislatures pass or propose some wacky things, and I like it. And I expect things to change by the October implementation in Utah.
(Disclaimer, I’ve lived in LDS areas, and have no issue with setting my clock back 20 years - oh heck - and I don’t have to worry about Mormon missionaries (Elders) coming after me for joking about their religion.)
Guess it isn’t over until it is over, at least for the Democratic Party. WA State has Caucuses on Saturday, and a primary vote on Tuesday (you have to sign a statement saying you are only doing one, and not for the other party. Clarification, you can caucus and vote in the Primary, so long as they are the same Party, you can’t Caucus Democratic and vote in the Republican Primary, and the Minor Parties are not in the Primary). So the candidates swarm the next location.
Here are details as of tonight on planned visits by presidential candidates:
Hillary Clinton: Rally, 8 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Pier 30, 2431 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle.
Barack Obama: Rally, 11 a.m. Friday, Seattle’s KeyArena.
Mike Huckabee: Rally hosted by his wife, Janet, noon on Friday, Health Sciences Building at Northwest University, 5520 108th Ave. N.E., Kirkland.
Barack Obama: Rally hosted by his wife, Michelle, in Spokane on Friday. No further details were available.
Hilllary Clinton: Campaign organizers were searching for a venue in Tacoma for a rally on Friday.
Hmm, except for the possible Clinton visit to Tacoma, Seattle, Seattle, Seattle. There are rumors of a Spokane visits by all. Seattle is home of egregious voter fraudsystemic irregularities leading to many questionable votes being counted in 2004 (King County). Dean Logan, former Elections Director in King County, is now being taken to task in his new job in Los Angeles for significant issues in CA’s Super Tuesday voting (NB: Dean Logan is a hated figure in WA Republican politics, viewed by some as incompetent - that LA hired him is considered amazing by some - see current Drudge links). Meanwhile, the candidates descend on the next State
As the candidates digested the results of the Super Tuesday nominating contests, they began focusing Wednesday on what’s next, and their biggest immediate target, especially for the Democrats, is this state’s precinct caucuses Saturday.
After largely ignoring Washington state in recent months except to raise money, several campaigns — including those of both Democratic contenders — have hastily scheduled appearances here for the candidates and/or their aspiring First Spouses.
They also have begun shifting campaign staffers from Super Tuesday states to Washington, which has the West’s second-highest number of nominating-convention delegates.
But remember, delegates are decided by state parties, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. In Washington State:
The Republicans allocate about half of their delegates in the caucuses and half in the state’s Feb. 19 presidential primary. The Democrats, though, choose 80 of their 97 delegates through a process that begins with the caucuses, forcing their candidates into a frantic scramble to get to Washington before this weekend.
There you have it – the Parties decide how to allocate their representatives. As I think it should be. And I think that every serving Congressman and Senator should be delegates to their parties’ conventions. Plus state party officials. Too much focus now is on just the Presidential Candidate, when the Party Platform is just as important, and ignored for now.
On the Democratic side, I’d say Senator Obama has Washington (this is a Kucinich/Obama state, at least on the wet side)
UPDATE: I clarified a few items as noted. Voter fraud does not have to be a criminal conspiracy. It can be a broken system. To quote the WA Voters’ Pamphlet “the 2004 General Election revealed a number of flaws in Washington’s election system.” Most of the significant issues have since been resolved (you will always have some issues), but it took a close election to give the impetus to remove “more than 370,000 duplicate and illegal records from Washington’s voter registration rolls.”
As I’m writing this, there is no dependable land route out of the maritime Pacific Northwest (Seattle, Portland). All Interstates are closed. I-90 costs $20M/day in economic costs per day it is shut down. I-5 and I-84 are also closed. These are ALL the interstates highways serving the PNW. We are isolated. The US highways are likewise closed. The only way out is air, and Horizon Air reports all flights are fully booked. (And Vancouver BC is likewise isolated in our greatest trading partner). The Governor of Washington State has declared a State of Emergency. This isn’t a Federal Emergency.
The governor’s announcement, after briefings by municipal and county officials in Spokane Thursday, allows local governments and the state Department of Transportation to bypass normal bidding requirements so they can quickly hire private companies to help with snow removal.
Interstate 90, the state’s main east-west link, was closed at Snoqualmie Pass by deep snow and avalanche danger Wednesday. It remains closed until at least Friday morning.
With Interstate 90 closed, the Summit at Snoqualmie was forced to do the same today. The company’s Web site and snow line say to check this morning for Friday’s operating schedule.
Stevens Pass was open this afternoon but canceled night skiing when Highway 2 closed….
Crystal Mountain, which reported getting 41 inches of snow since Sunday, was open today. White Pass was open and the parking lot packed as skiers and boarders flocked to the slopes to float through 14 inches of new powder.
BTW, another storm is about to arrive. I blame Al Gore (LOL).
A Congresswoman from Indiana has died. I’ll readily admit I was not familiar with her (like another 300 members of Congress). I came across her death searching for Fort Carson on Google. She seems respectable person .
I consider the Brady Campaign to be loathsome vultures on the death of a civil rights campaigner. I had the misfortune of meeting these folks at the Brickskekller one evening and realized they were religious fanatics against guns.
Wow, some Military Members are Gay. “60 Minutes” must be scrambling for ratings in its latest “don’t ask, don’t tell” report.
A gay soldier says he disclosed his sexuality to his superiors, even offering graphic proof, and was neither discharged nor reprimanded, despite the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on homosexuality.
What, the military isn’t a lockstep organization, with groupthink?
This article quotes a single soldier, whose superiors were informed that he was self-proclaimed gay, and they decided to ignore it. Therefore the entire military “don’t ask don’t tell” is a house of cards throughout thousand of soldiers and such, huh? Just because 20 folks decided to commit a conspiracy against US law (not policy, law, a law I’d like to see changed, but a law nonetheless – so call your Congresscritter), therefore the entire military is corrupted by something. My point is that there are about 1.5 million service members, so in that number there are of course some gay ones. More than just “some.”
I was on the USS McKee (AS-41) soon after the lesbian witch hunt promoted by an earlier 60 Minutes expose in the late 80s. What, 60 Minutes against gays? Attention was focused there for a year, then it disappeared. Based on the previous 60 Minutes hit job, why does 60 Minutes hate lesbians in the military? Just asking. Just remembering.
I agree totally with the quote in the article “Our purpose in the military is not social engineering….It’s about fighting and winning the nation’s wars.”
At the last minute, Chinese officials have REVERSED course and pulled long-approved permission for the USS Kitty Hawk and accompanying vessels to conduct a port visit in Hong Kong over Thanksgiving. Instead the family members that flew there at their own expense will be without their Sailors, while the Sailors will be aboard their ships going in circles in the South China Sea. Why? China doesn’t say.
China has refused permission for a U.S. aircraft carrier and accompanying vessels to visit Hong Kong for a long-planned Thanksgiving holiday visit, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.
The USS Kitty Hawk group and its crew of 8,000 airmen and sailors had been expected in Hong Kong on Wednesday, but will now spend the holiday on the South China Sea.
Hundred of relatives of crew members of the Kitty Hawk had flown to Hong Kong to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. Hong Kong, especially its Wanchai bar district, has been a regular port of call for U.S. sailors on “R & R” (rest and recuperation) since the Vietnam War. “I miss my daddy,” said Mark Curry, 14, whose father is aboard one of the vessels. “We thought he was going to be there, but we don’t know what actually happened. I was just depressed.”
The Chinese move comes as a surprise just weeks after a visit to China by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, which he said he hoped would lead to a long-term dialogue.
There is of course lots of conjecture in the media as to why. Bush did this or that, met with the Dalai Lama, and total baloney about a Chinese submarine surfacing near a carrier last year (old news suddenly resurrected), but who knows, as “The Chinese Foreign Ministry declined immediate comment.”
The USS Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group has been refused entry into the port of Hong Kong for a scheduled visit. The reason for the refusal is unknown at this time.
Kitty Hawk Strike Group ships originally scheduled for the Nov. 21-24 port visit are: USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), USS Shiloh (CG 67), USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), USS McCampbell (DDG 85), and USS Mustin (DDG 89). The Los Angeles class nuclear fast attack submarine USS Topeka (SSN 754) was also due to enter port with the Strike Group.
The USS Kitty Hawk Strike Group is commanded by Rear Adm. Richard B. Wren and is permanently forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan. The Kitty Hawk Strike Group will be returning to Yokosuka, Japan.
The ships had just concluded an exercise with the Japanese Navy (oops, Maritime Self Defense Force). This was to be the last visit of our last non-nuclear carrier (steam turbine powered, not diesel as some reports state) to Hong Kong before decommissioning. This major snub will not be ignored by the Navy (nor by the State Department), and it will be a long time before ships of the US Fleet visit Hong Kong unless significant apologies are made, and this is a major setback to any military “dialogue” with China.
UPDATE (James Joyner): It looks look cooler heads have prevailed.
But the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday the carrier would be allowed to dock in the former British colony after all. “We have decided to allow the Kitty Hawk to stay in Hong Kong during Thanksgiving,” spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference. “It is a decision based on humanitarian considerations only.”
He did not say why the ships had been blocked in the first place, but there are issues that may have prompted Beijing’s action including U.S. plans to sell Taiwan a $940 million upgrade to its missile system and last month’s meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader who Beijing considers a traitor.
Last year a Chinese submarine surfaced uncomfortably close to the Kitty Hawk near the Japanese island of Okinawa, an incident that highlighted the potential for friction between the two powers.
Beijing’s move coincided with “airspace controls” introduced on Wednesday which the Xinhua news agency said affected the air travel plans of 7,000 people in south and east China. The controls had been ordered for “unspecified reasons.”
Style guides advise against applying the adjective “inscrutable” to Asians, for good historical reason. It’s a pity, though, as it so brilliantly describes the actions of the Chinese government.
