Broccoli! Broccoli! Get Yer Farm-Fresh Broccoli Right Heeeyah!
























Somehow I suspect it's just not a good vegetarian option.

Freed

Bush's illegal detention of five men has finally come to an end:

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of five Algerians held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the continued detention of a sixth in a major blow to the Bush administration's strategy to keep terror suspects locked up without charges.

In the first case of its kind, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said the government's evidence linking the five Algerians to al-Qaida was not credible as it came from a single, unidentified source. Therefore, he said, the five could not be held indefinitely as enemy combatants, and should be released immediately.

"To allow enemy combatancy to rest on so thin a reed would be inconsistent with this court's obligation," Leon told the crowded courtroom.

As a result, he said, "the court must and will grant their petitions and order their release."

Brilliant

M just gave a presentation on representations of Indians in children's literature out here at the Chula Vista Resort, and it was...

Plummeting

Lowest Dow in quite a while:

Wall Street hit levels not seen since 2003 on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging below the 8,000 mark as the fate of Detroit's Big Three automakers amid a slumping economy disheartened investors.

A cascade of selling occurred in the final minutes of the session as investors yanked money out of the market. For many, the real fear is that the recession might be even more protracted if Capitol Hill is unable to bail out the troubled auto industry.

Paying to Defend Corruption

We, the taxpayers, get to do it:

The Justice Department has agreed to pay for a private lawyer to defend former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales against allegations that he encouraged officials to inject partisan politics into the department's hiring and firing practices.

Lawyers from the Justice Department's civil division often represent department employees who're sued in connection with their official actions. However, Gonzales' attorney recently revealed in court papers that the Justice Department had approved his request to pay private attorney's fees arising from the federal lawsuit.

Dan Metcalfe, a former high-ranking veteran Justice Department official who filed the suit on behalf of eight law students, called the department's decision to pay for a private attorney rather than rely on its civil division "exceptional."

"It undoubtedly will cost the taxpayers far more," he said.

One More Criminal Gone

Good riddance:

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has lost his bid for an eighth term. AP called the race yesterday, which was Stevens' 85th birthday. He was bested by Democratic Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

Just days before the election, Stevens was convicted of lying on senate financial disclosure forms, concealing more than $250,000 in home renovations and gifts from an oil services company.

What Does the "P" Stand for, Again?

They seem to have forgotten:

The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas, even though half of the EPA's 10 regional administrators formally dissented from the decision and four others criticized the move in writing.

Backlash

It's already begun; white folks are scared:

Barack Obama’s election as America’s first black president has unleashed a wave of hate crimes across the nation, according to police and monitoring organisations.

Far from heralding a new age of tolerance, Mr Obama’s victory in the November 4 poll has highlighted the stubborn racism that lingers within some elements of American society as opponents pour their frustration into vandalism, harassment, threats and even physical attacks.

Cross burnings, black figures hung from nooses, and schoolchildren chanting “Assassinate Obama” are just some of the incidents that have been documented by police from California to Maine.

Sickening

I have no words:

LGBT civil rights groups are calling for an independent investigation into the shooting death of a transwoman who previously had been a victim of police brutality.

Duanna Johnson was found shot to death in North Memphis just before midnight on Sunday, Nov. 9. There have been no arrests.

Earlier this year, Johnson was arrested on a charge of prostitution. Johnson alleged that while in custody she was beaten and called a “faggot” and “he-she” by officers. Jail video surveillance backed up her claim and showed a police officer brutally abusing her while she was held in the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center.

The video was obtained in June by WMC television. It showed an officer hitting Johnson several times with handcuffs wrapped around his knuckles; another officer holds Johnson’s shoulders as she tries to protect herself.

After being struck repeatedly, Johnson rose up to protect herself, and was maced in response.

Suckers

Hatemongering just doesn't pay after all:

Focus on the Family is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire today. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.

Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of ministry.

Fighting the Power

Dan Rather is:

When Dan Rather filed suit against CBS 14 months ago — claiming, among other things, that his former employer had commissioned a politically biased investigation into his work on a “60 Minutes” segment about President Bush’s National Guard service — the network predicted the quick and favorable dismissal of the case, which it derided as “old news.”

So far, Mr. Rather has spent more than $2 million of his own money on the suit. And according to documents filed recently in court, he may be getting something for his money.

Using tools unavailable to him as a reporter — including the power of subpoena and the threat of punishment against witnesses who lie under oath — he has unearthed evidence that would seem to support his assertion that CBS intended its investigation, at least in part, to quell Republican criticism of the network.

Among the materials that money has shaken free for Mr. Rather are internal CBS memorandums turned over to his lawyers, showing that network executives used Republican operatives to vet the names of potential members of a panel that had been billed as independent and charged with investigating the “60 Minutes” segment.