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POPSBiden vocal, consistent Gitmo opponent " has destroyed faith in America's judgment. And it has devalued America's moral leadership in the world. Instead, this administration has focused to the point of obsession on the so-called "war on terrorism" and produced a one-size-fits-all doctrine of military preemption and regime change ill suited to the challenges we face. It has made fear the main driver of our foreign policy. It has turned a deadly serious but manageable threat -- a small number of radical groups that hate America -- into a ten-foot tall existential monster that dictates nearly every move we make. Even if you look at the world through this administration's distorted lens, you see a failed policy."
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POPSBeijing Olympics Not So "Dazzling" Last week, Bush met with several Chinese dissidents in Washington, signalling that he would take a hard line on human rights. That sparked a harsh response from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which said that Bush had "rudely interfered in China's internal affairs."
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POPSSan Francisco Fights Border Crime?
San Francisco received more SWBPI grant money in 2006 than Los Angeles County or San Diego County which do have bona fide border problems. As a result, we found that all of the SWBPI reimbursements submitted by San Francisco were not supported. In other words, San Franciso officials apparently submitted made-up data to document the expenditure of funds since it had apparently no records for "real" cases. Perhaps there are no "real" cases because the official policy of the City is not ask anyone if they are in the country illegally. According to the San Francisco Chronicle Federal officials say they will ask San Francisco to repay the $5.4 million the city has received as part of the program, but they have not determined how to go about it. This audit comes on the heels of a TV, radio and billboard public relations effort by the City to encourage illegal aliens to relocate to San Francisco where they can receive schooling, health care and other benefits.
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POPSU.S. Military Frees 10,000 Detainees in Iraq Detainees are sometimes released for political purposes. For instance, the recent amnesty law which released thousands of suspected insurgents in an effort to bring certain Sunni groups back into the government. They are also released when it is determined they held no intelligence value, or posed no threat. In Iraq, the average time of detention is just under one year. Of those now in detention, 12 are women, more than 300 are juveniles, 200 are third country nationals and about 200 are over the age of 60, the US military statement said.
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POPSThe Biggest Threat to the West Lies Within Itself, Not with Islam Simon Jenkins on threats to peace and democracy. This defeatism led the American Congress to allow its president to authorise torture and detention without trial in what Senator Robert Byrd called “the slow unravelling of the people’s liberties”. It enabled a British Home Office to curb free speech and habeas corpus. It arms police, fortifies buildings and impedes the free movement of citizens. It makes every Christian suspicious of every Muslim.
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POPSBritish Territory Used for US Torture Cont... "TIME discussed the allegation with Richard Clarke, who served as a Special Advisor to President George W. Bush on the National Security Council dealing with counter-terrorism until 2003 but is not the source for this story. "In my presence, in the White House, the possibility of using Diego Garcia for detaining high value targets was discussed," says Clarke. Clarke did not witness a final resolution of the issue, but adds, "Given everything that we know about the Administration's approach to the law on these matters, I find the report that the U.S. did use the island for detention or interrogation entirely credible."
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POPSUK House of Commons: U.S. Goverment Lied to us. Cont... "Britain's denials that its territories have been used for "extraordinary rendition" were dramatically undermined last night after the United Nations claimed that Diego Garcia has been used as a detention centre to hold US suspects. . . . The revelations raise fresh questions about the island's role in the process of extraordinary rendition -- moving suspects to interrogation centres in third-party countries where they are held outside the law -- and why the UK government was apparently unaware that its ally was operating a prison on Diego Garcia to house so-called "high-value detainees"."
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POPSChina Using Olympics As ‘Pretext’ For Crackdown: Amnesty
“Authorities have used the Olympic Games as a pretext to continue and in some respects, intensify existing policies and practices that have led to serious and widespread violations of human rights,” the report added. It listed a series of recommendations urging China to: * release all prisoners of conscience; * stop police arbitrarily detaining activists and dissenters; * impose a moratorium on the death penalty; * allow complete media freedom; and * account for those killed or detained in Tibet. “It is very disturbing that Chinese authorities have indulged in such a big crackdown on the activists,” Mark Allison, China researcher for Amnesty, told AFP. “These are people who represent many many more people in China.” Officials were also extending the use of punitive administrative detention, notably of activists and petitioners as well as beggars and peddlers, Amnesty said. In January, Beijing police launched a campaign against “illegal activ
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POPSNo remorse for teen rapist! Unbelievable and scary to be his neighbor at age 21, when he gets out.... More to the article: http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_072608WAB_lack_of_remorse_KS.69e2acb.
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POPSFalun Gong Targeted Ahead Of Beijing Olympics authorities have instead been using the Olympics as a pretext to escalate persecutions of religious and political dissidents. Chinese authorities fear that Falun Gong, along with Tibetans, Uighurs, and other dissidents, may use the international media presence during the games to draw attention to their causes. "It is now imperative that the international community leverage real pressure and stop these deplorable actions, lest the legacy of the 2008 Olympics be hundreds of Beijing residents languishing in labor camps," Zhang said. The apparent animosity towards Falun Gong on the part of the Beijing Olympics organizer is hardly new. In 2004, the head of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee, Liu Qi, was found liable in a U.S. federal court for his role in the torture of Falun Gong practitioners while he was serving as mayor of Beijing.
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POPSActivists charged for exposing whale meat scandal "Instead of prosecuting peaceful protesters and those who exposed crimes within the whaling program, the government of Japan should revoke all Southern Ocean whaling permits, release the activists and order an immediate and independent investigation into the embezzlement scandal." Gerd Leipold, Executive Director, Greenpeace International
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POPS3,800 Piece LEGO Star Wars Death Star
Theis includes 25 heroes, villains, droids & creatures, 6 of which are new and exclusive to this set (Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper outfit, Han Solo in Stormtrooper outfit, Assassin Droid, Interrogation Droid, Death Star Droid and 2 Death Star Troopers). It also includes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker in Jedi Knight garbs, Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, Emperor Palpatine, 2 Stormtroopers, 2 Emperor’s Royal Guards, R2-Q5, and a mouse droid! It features Movie-authentic Death Star environments which includes the Superlaser control room and target monitor, Imperial conference chamber, TIE Advanced hangar bay with moving launch rack, Emperor’s throne room, droid maintenance room, detention block, trash compactor, and much more. You can rescue Leia from the detention block cell, escape through a secret hatch to the trash compactor below or re-enact the final duel between Luke and Vader in the Emperor’s Throne Room.
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POPSRape: 'They looted my body like I was dead' "They kicked my breasts, which are still badly swollen. They took me to a graveyard and raped me again. When I was trying to stop them, they took a hot wire and burned my hand. They looted my body like I was dead. They took my ID card and all my money."
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POPSOne Jew Terrorist is not more important than 10,000 Kidnapped Palestinian They really do think they are superior. Anyone else in the world pulling this crap, it is called what it in fact is - racial supremacy. No matter who does it, it is extremely sick and twisted. No matter how many adherents to such ideology, it is delusion at best - grossly criminal at worst. They do it shamelessly as if they do not even include the word in their decadent vocabulary. Humanity does not get much more evil than the crimes of Israel. The Nazis were some pretty fucked up folks, but Israel one-ups the Nazis in sheer cruelty and fanaticism.
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POPSOn Suing The Enemy “It bears repeating that our opinion does not address the content of the law that governs petitioners’ detention. That is a matter yet to be determined.” Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who is nothing if not plain-spoken, was his usual clear and precise self on this occasion, “The game of bait-and-switch that today’s opinion plays upon the Nation’s Commander in Chief will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.” And not just Americans, if Mr. Justice Scalia proves as prescient as he is plain. Already prisoners at Guantanamo who have had to be released have returned to attacking American troops and/or civilian targets, and had to be recaptured. Having again entered the maw of the American judicial system, who knows if they will ever face justice? That question, too, remains Yet To Be Determined.
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POPS"Institutionally racist" MET is sued by leading Muslim police chief for racial discrimination!! Ghaffur is the latest senior ethnic minority officer to decide to sue the Met for discrimination. Dizaei, who is a commander in the Met, received a payout in his case, while the case of Shabir Hussain is still being heard. Personal, I believe the reason for the discrimination is due to his opposing the Labour government in its repressive Bush inspired 42 day detention period that is tearing the Labour party apart and will do for Brown. Another legacy of Bush's 9/11.