Evans recently visited Afghanistan over a ten-day period along with a group of CodePink activists, and she was clear in a recent AlterNet article about what she saw -- a humanitarian crisis: "The United States has spent a quarter of a trillion dollars in eight years of military action: what have we achieved? Most of the country is in worse condition, the bordering countries are less stable and death fills the air. According to the United Nations, Afghanistan is ranked 181 out of 182 countries for human development indices. Life expectancy has fallen to 43 years since the U.S. invasion. Forty percent of the population is unemployed, and 42 percent live on less than $1 a day."
( Ah, Sweet Mystery. Why would sending thousands of single young men armed to the teeth and more into a place - awash with addictive drugs - where they don't speak the language or respect the local culture cause problems ? )
MMU: Bush Administration Reviews Its Afghanistan Policy, Exposing Points of Contention, 23 Sept 2008
http://mobygroup.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=450&Itemid=58
Four months before President Bush leaves office, his top civilian and military aides are conducting four major new reviews of the war strategy and overall mission in Afghanistan, which have exposed internal fissures over American troop levels, how billions of aid dollars are spent, and how to cope with a deteriorating security situation in neighboring Pakistan.
The most ambitious of the assessments, run by the White House, begins in earnest this week with a series of high-level meetings, administration officials said. Officials have been directed to produce detailed recommendations within two weeks for Mr. Bush and senior advisers on a broad range of security, counterterrorism, political and development issues. Many of the dozen aides interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity because the reviews are continuing.
Some of the issues being studied, including proposed increases in American troop levels in Afghanistan, have set off internal debate and could have far-reaching consequences for the next administration.
Last week, Gen. David D. McKiernan, the top American commander in Afghanistan, said he needed as many as 15,000 combat and support troops beyond the 8,000 additional troops that Mr. Bush had recently approved for deployment early next year. The general's announcement came after he sent his request to the Pentagon; it has not yet been acted on.
It was only last December that the administration concluded its last major reassessment of Afghanistan policy. The administration recently announced a series of changes, including plans to double the size of the Afghan Army, restructure the American military command there and put more intelligence analysts on the ground to help hunt down militants from the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
As the Bush administration enters its twilight months, many senior national security policy officials and military commanders say there is a new urgency to put the mission in Afghanistan on the right path. Among the reasons are the standard updates required of military strategy in a time of war. But officials acknowledge there are aspects of legacy-building, an effort to make sure the next president, whoever he is, cannot accuse the Bush administration of leaving Afghan policy in disarray.
"We'll look at whatever adjustments need to be made to put it on a proper footing for long-term success," said Gordon D. Johndroe, a White House spokesman.
( You'd swear there was an echo around here someplace. )
Coal waste
Landfills
Most often coal waste is disposed of in landfills or "surface impoundments," which are lined with compacted clay soil, a plastic sheet, or both. As rain filters through the toxic ash pits year after year, the toxic metals are leached out and pushed downward by gravity towards the lining and the soil below. An EPA study found that all liners eventually degrade, crack or tear, meaning that all landfills eventually leak and release their toxins into the local environment.[7][8] In a best case scenario, the EPA study determined that a 10-acre landfill would leak 0.2 to 10 gallons per day, or between 730 and 36,500 gallons over a ten-year period, an amount guaranteed to infiltrate the drinking water supply.[7
In October 2009, Appalachian Voices released an analysis of monitoring data from coal waste ponds at 13 coal plants in North Carolina. The study revealed that all of them are contaminating ground water with toxic pollutants, in some cases with over 350 times the allowable levels according to state standards. The contaminants include the toxic metals arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and lead, which can cause cancer and neurological disorders. The study was based on data submitted by Duke Energy and Progress Energy to state regulators. The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is attempting to confirm the results before determining whether current state law can mandate corrective action.[
( No hurry, people. It's only drinking water supply. )
MOLLY'S BLOG
TREAT IMMIGRANTS FAIRLY:
The following item from the Jobs With Justice Coalition is for our American readers as it is an appeal to the US Congress that those of us out here in the colonies cannot participate in. If the quality of a society can be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members then American society has had a failing grade for some time now, and there are, unfortunately, those who want to perpetuate this state of affairs. There are, however, other Americans who see justice and compassion as part of their national heritage, and the following appeal is from one such group.
Tell Congress: Treat Immigrants Fairly in Health Reform:
First our political leaders said health care reform would cover everyone. Now we hear that Congress is considering barring legal immigrants from health reforms that would enable low and moderate income families to secure affordable coverage.
As the House of Representatives moves to finalize its health reform legislation this week, immigrants continue to be left out. As it stands now, most recent legal immigrants are forced to wait 5 years to use Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP, even though they pay the same taxes as citizens to support these programs.
BLOGGING:
HERE AT MOLLY'S BLOG:
It is about time for one of my 'interum reports'. Molly is very pleased that her readership has increased by about 50% in the last few months, for no reason that I can particularly identify. It says to me that my efforts are at least a little bit worthwhile, even if I know that about 160 people a day dropping by to read these examples of great literature is not exactly a "great public influence". All that being said here are a few comments and announcements.First of all I'd like the readers to be aware of 'Molly's Suggestions Box' (see our link on the main page). This is your forum to comment on Molly's Blog ie what we should cover, what we are missing and what you would like to see in the future. Please feel free to put your general comments there. I am also trying to revive 'Molly's Polls', though I am often at a loss as to what questions to ask. Once more feel free to give your suggestions in Molly's Suggestion Box.
Molly's Blog has always tried to have a "balance" of items, both in terms of geography (local-Winnipeg/Manitoba, Canadian, American and generally international) and in terms of subject matter (labour, community, specifically anarchist, scientific, personal freedom, humour, etc). There have undoubtedly been times when I have "strayed" into concentration on one or the other of these areas. I don't think there is any general solution to this problem, though I feel that the lack of recent scientific posts is a problem. To a large degree I give priority to those who communicate directly with me by email, and I also give priority to solidarity appeals. Within these priorities there is far more that I miss than I can cover. This is no reflection on the importance of a given item; it is merely the way that certain things "come up" on a given day.
This "priority" extends to the occasional items that I translate from (usually) French or (occasionally) Spanish. I receive items from the French CNT-F regularily and the Spanish CGT sporadically. Translations take me a hell of a lot of time as I am usually consulting both online translation services and my own Larousses. This means that I end up doing far less than I would like to or that the subjects deserves. This is especially important here in Canada where my translations of matters from Québec have been far less than I would like. Unfortunately nobody else is stepping up to the plate, aside from the unfortunately limited situation where francophones translate their matters into English. That's life in Canada I guess.
Perhaps the subject matter of this blog is often a bit too varied. I am not, however, likely to narrow it in the near future. This blog is not only a method political argument. It is also meant to be fun, at least for me, and I'll be damned if I'm going to sacrifice that. Here's hoping for a good fourth year of Molly's Blog.
Top 10 Places to Get Online Radio for Free
Linux password manager that also works under Windows / OS X
http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/personal-password-manager-linux-windows-os-x.html
The United States Is a Food Wasteland
http://www.good.is/post/the-united-states-is-a-food-wasteland
The Best of GOOD: Re-Reconsidering the Lobster, the Green Job Boom, and the Most Bike-Loving Cities
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/best-of-good-lobster-green-job-boom-bike-loving-cities.php
Dr. Weil was right: Astragalus herb really helps fight the flu (influenza)
http://www.naturalnews.com/027302_astragalus_the_flu.html
Get Windows 7Microsoft's latest release is the best operating system on the market.
http://www.slate.com/id/2233294/?from=rss
Three Google Wave Searches Worth Saving
http://lifehacker.com/5383221/three-google-wave-searches-worth-saving
It's time to bring relics back to the Catholic Church
http://www.slate.com/id/2232883/?from=rss
Relics became ingrained in Catholic Church orthodoxy at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, when church authorities passed a law stating that every church should have a relic at its altar. The punishment for failing to obey: excommunication. But ever since the reforms of Vatican II in the early 1960s, relic veneration has virtually disappeared from the official landscape of Catholicism, particularly in the United States. Relics weren't actually mentioned during the three-year council, but church leaders did address the way new churches should be designed.
( Likely I'd not make a Good Catholic. There's this little problem with not understanding dodging around the 'commandment' forbidding worship of graven images : not explained properly ? Sad for a chap raised in the Church of England : and Dad loved pomp and ritual.
And the italics around 'commandment' ? Translations vary. That's definitely the Authoritarian version : and we know how Jesus' relationship - well, that's one word for it - with Pharisees was represented in the New Testament.
You don't ? Missed the execution part, did you ?
Likely I'm not so hot a 'fundamentalist' either. )
The Young Couple and the Sea
http://www.slate.com/id/2232603/entry/2232617/?from=rss
Big Brother Is Watching Your Weight
http://www.slate.com/id/2233119/?from=rss
Your tax dollars at work, penalizing fat people.
Dead Law Walking
http://www.slate.com/id/2233014/?from=rss
Why are New York cops arresting gay people on charges ruled unconstitutional 26 years ago?
In the 26 years of this law's odd posthumous career, district attorneys brought 4,750 prosecutions and judges convicted 2,550 defendants. For violating an imaginary law, these defendants paid a decidedly non-imaginary $70,000 in bail and $190,000 in court fees and fines. In the last 10 years, NYPD officers also issued 9,693 citations, forcing citizens to pay $71,000 in fees. The criminal records of these victims have never been expunged and the fees and fines have not been refunded.
The anti-cruising law isn't the only unconstitutional statute wielded against New Yorkers. A law banning loitering in public transportation facilities was struck down in 1988—and then enforced against more than 500 people over the next decade. A law that criminalized begging has been enforced more than 7,000 times after being thrown out by a federal appeals court on free speech grounds. These statutes plus the anti-cruising provision—all the subject of pending federal lawsuits—have racked up more than 20,000 arrests and citations that had absolutely no legal basis. That's 20,000 too many. The courts buried these laws long ago, and it's time for the NYPD to let them rest in peace.
COMMENTS
Assuming the law is fully unconstitutional, it is an ethical violation, sometimes a crime, sometimes a tort, and usually sanctionable to knowingly bring a frivolous lawsuit or to prosecute someone under false pretenses. Even unknowingly bringing such a suit may be sanctionable or an ethical violation.
It is also unethical and sanctionable for a prosecutor to cite a law to a court without also citing binding precedent clearly relevant to that law and the case (in this instance, this would include the 1983 decision).
Thus, prosecutors plainly have a duty not to prosecute individuals under unconstitutional laws. Prosecutors can and should be disbarred for violating this duty.
-- Tradbert
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