So-long to the fifth

I guess this place will be more political while the numbnuts 'in-charge' keep this crap up.

The Supreme Court has said that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses against their will for private development.

I am far to disturbed to write in length about this currently...you can find this case by looking at Kelo et al v. City of New London, 04-108.

Flagamerica Burning

I'm going to try not turning this into yet another political blog...still....my extrapolation...so....yeah.

Alright...some fool wants to set a flag on fire. Not my choice of demonstration, but fine. Now, Congressional nitwits want to make such an act against the law. An online pal sums it up as such: "If burning the symbol of a country in which you are free enough to legally burn it is hypocritical ......... then banning the burning of it must be twice as hypocritical." Direct and to the point!

This does not seem to fall into the same category as burning of a draft card. It was not considered protected speech, but an illegal behavior violating the Selective Service rules (United States v. O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367 in 1968).

And what about old and torn flags? The correct way to dispose of it -- is in a ceremony where it gets set on fire. And that is the problem with this bill -- it is worded so that the 'intent' is subjective to those who are charging the crime.

People gave their life for the freedoms we have...and if for no other reason...it should be respected! For those that want to read it, here is the bill:

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 1974

To provide for protection of the flag of the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 28, 2005

Mr. BOUCHER (for himself and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for protection of the flag of the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Flag Protection Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES.

(a) In General- Section 700 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

`Sec. 700. Protection of the flag of the United States

`(a) Actions Promoting Violence- Any person who destroys or damages a flag of the United States with intent to provoke imminent violence or a breach of the peace, and in circumstances reasonably likely to produce imminent violence or a breach of the peace, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

`(b) Damaging a Flag Belonging to the United States- Any person who steals or knowingly converts to his or her use, or to the use of another, a flag of the United States belonging to the United States and intentionally destroys or damages that flag shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

`(c) Damaging a Flag of Another on Federal Land- Any person who, within any lands reserved for the use of the United States, or under the exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction thereof, steals or knowingly converts to his or her use, or to the use of another, a flag of the United States belonging to another person and intentionally destroys or damages that flag shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

`(d) Construction- Nothing in this section shall be construed as indicating an intent on the part of Congress to deprive any State, territory, possession, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of jurisdiction over any offense over which it would have jurisdiction in the absence of this section.

`(e) Definition- As used in this section, the term `flag of the United States' means any flag of the United States, or any part thereof, made of any substance, of any size, in a form that is commonly displayed as a flag and would be taken to be a flag by the reasonable observer.'.

(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections for chapter 33 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking out the item relating to section 700 and inserting in lieu thereof the following new item:

`700. Protection of the flag of the United States.'.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of the Congress that the States should enact prohibitions similar to the provisions of this Act in an order to provide the maximum protection to the flag of the United States.

Gitmo

I had wonderful and sparkling plans to post some more philosophy, but this torture crap just keeps floating back up to the surface. So after gathering all the facts, this is what I have come up with:

The Geneva Conventions reference the Strasbourg Court, specifically in regards to it's torture clause. It states that torture is defined as severe pain or suffering, which means there exist levels of pain and suffering which are not severe enough to be called torture -- such as sensory deprivation. (this is what the current reports of 'torture' refer to)

The five sensory deprivation techniques:

In 1978 in the European Court of Human Rights trial "Ireland v. the United Kingdom" the facts were not in dispute and the court published the following in their judgment:

These methods, sometimes termed "disorientation" or "sensory deprivation" techniques, were not used in any cases other than the fourteen so indicated above. It emerges from the Commission's establishment of the facts that the techniques consisted of:

(a) wall-standing: forcing the detainees to remain for periods of some hours in a "stress position", described by those who underwent it as being "spreadeagled against the wall, with their fingers put high above the head against the wall, the legs spread apart and the feet back, causing them to stand on their toes with the weight of the body mainly on the fingers";

(b) hooding: putting a black or navy colored bag over the detainees' heads and, at least initially, keeping it there all the time except during interrogation;

(c) subjection to noise: pending their interrogations, holding the detainees in a room where there was a continuous loud and hissing noise;

(d) deprivation of sleep: pending their interrogations, depriving the detainees of sleep;

(e) deprivation of food and drink: subjecting the detainees to a reduced diet during their stay at the center and pending interrogations.

It referred to the above as "the five techniques" and ruled:

167. ... Although the five techniques, as applied in combination, undoubtedly amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment, although their object was the extraction of confessions, the naming of others and/or information and although they were used systematically, they did not occasion suffering of the particular intensity and cruelty implied by the word torture as so understood.

These accusations that the United States tortures its prisoners does nothing but damage our image and place the troops in greater harm. The techniques currently being used ARE in accordance with the Geneva conventions, the Strasbourg Court, and the European Court of Human Rights!

Tagged...

I've been tagged by Jenny!...WooHoo!

What 5 Things do you miss about your childhood?

But first the rules to this meme game: Remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog's name in the #5 spot; link to each of the other blogs for the desired cross pollination effect:

1. Lu's News
2. Searchin' for a Rainbow
3. Aint it Amazing?
4. Spit Noodle & Joey
5. The Ciber World of Blade

Next: select new friends to add to the pollen count. (No one is obligated to participate).

1. Di
2. Rachel
3. Fish
4. Ry-Chuss
5. Hobbes

On to the fun:

1. I miss riding my bike endlessly. "stunts" where I alone would defy death...which at times would sound closer to: "hey death! Na-nananaana-na you can't catch me". Yeah, I was either very good...or very lucky!

2. I miss camping trips with my mother and sister. Hangin out in the woods...chasin down snakes, catching animals with homeade traps, chasing bats with a stick...Mmmm good times. HA!

3. I miss my woodland adventures...where I would explore every inch of the nearby wood. To know every 'hidden' cove. Kids games in the woods -- I was KING! And then search anything else of interest.

4. I miss spending hours at the library just reading and learning about all kinds of stuff. I would just look for a book on any subject...pick it up and read it. Yeah, I know I'm a geek -- don't act surprised.

5. I miss caring why my family is not a family in the traditional sense. I would wonder what happened, or what could be done to 'fix' it.

TV Time

Hit me baby one more time....

It's neat to see the original artists perform their one-hit-wonders---but to watch them cover some of the 'new' music is hilarious!

Last week we got to see Haddaway cover "toxic" by Brittany -- but that will pale in comparison when Cameo covers a song by Bowling for Soup tonight :D

I could really get into this show!

At least I'm committed

Michael Jackson

Well...MJ has been found not guilty on all 10 counts. This comes as no surprize to me...for I have always said that there is not enough evidence to convict (even between both trials)

Yes, his lifestyle would not be considered "normal" but more is needed to make such a charge stick. I still think that his defense could have used "he is still a kid mentally" -- but now doesn't seem like they needed to.

Lighsaber spoons are cool.

Buddha says: A gift is never of little value when it is given with a sacrificial purpose.

There are times when I wonder if that holds true. I have given of myself, time, money, and love. I should not expect a return from these gifts -- yet sometimes I feel for it. I do not know if my deeds have value to others, but I believe them to have value to myself -- for they are the right thing to do.

Ok....maybe I put a little bit too much crazy powder in my protein shake today.

So....yeah

It's been so long since I've done this....I'm not sure if I remember how :eek: ;)
So much going on...there just is not enough words to describe. Memorial day has come and gone with the thought of posts long forgotten. I have been working hard to satisfy my countdown so that I may be released from this gilded cage.

At special request, I digress....back to Smallville. Where Lionel and Lex Luthor argue over the elements...Lionel tells Lex that he gave his piece to Lana, knowing that she is the key to it all. Lex disagrees. So Genevieve confronts Lana in her apartment. The two fight and Lanas inner sorceress kills her by plunging one of the stones of knowledge into Genevieve's chest. When she looks up she sees Lex standing in the doorway. About that time, Clark has a nightmare and wakes up screaming "it's coming." A meteor shower is headed Earth's way. *insert dramatic music here*

Lex comforts Lana and tells her she can't go to the police. He'll help her get a great lawyer and deal with the crisis. Later, Lionel shows up and blackmails his son. He wants the stone lana has and if he doesn't get it, he'll turn Lana in. Lois finds out that her sister is missing, so she tells the Kents that she's heading to Europe to try and find her sister. She helps Clark get ready for graduation and the two make up for all their bickering during the year in a really sweet hallmark moment. Clark tells her she should go into journalism, but she shrugs it off saying she'd end up sitting across the desk of some dorky guy.

Clark and Chloe graduate, but Lana doesn't show up. Half way through the ceremony the national guard rolls in and tells everyone a meteor shower is coming and they have to evacuate immediately. Chloe and Lois go looking for Lana, but not after another one of Choe's 'hints' about Clarks abilities...he's all like "what, and I'm not normal?" Back down on the farm, Clark tells his parents he has to be the reason the meteors are coming again...He has to do something...he just has to! Before he can, Lex talks to him about the caves. He says that his science team has found a hidden room and wants to know if Clark knows about it (knowing full well he does as he stole some of Clark's research to find the room) -- well and because Clark told him. Clark tells him he doesn't and Lex leaves knowing Clark is lying to him (poor poor Lex). Clark goes to the caves and talks to Jor-El who tells him mankind awakened the trouble by getting blood on the stones. The only way to save Smallville and himself is for Clark to get all three stones of knowledge and connect them (Oh yeah, there's a shocker!).

Clark tells his parents he has to stay behind and combine the stones. Johnathan reluctantly agrees with a touching 'I trust my son' moment and Clark heads into the barn where he finds Lana waiting for him. She gives him the stone and tells him she loves him. He replies he loves her too, and they play kissey-face for a bit, asking him to trust her, Lana turns and leaves. Lex tries to get Lana to give him the stone, but she refuses...Lex don't like that -- so he keeps calling it 'the murder weapon'.

Martha and Jonathan are about to leave the farm when Jason pulls up bloodied and upset (probably from being shot and dropped off a cliff). He pulls out a shotgun and demands to know where Clark is, like that is going to happen. Clark places the stone Lana gave him next to the one he already had in the cave. Lionel is telling Lex that he doesn't know where the third stone is, but as soon as Clark combines the other two, they both glow and so does the one that Lionel has in his coat pocket. Lionel has a seizure and drops to the floor. Lex puts the stone in his safe. Remember the noise from the season opener? Well, Clark is able to follow a piercing noise to the stone, but when he grabs it he's affected by all the kryptonite in the artifacts around it -- yup, those same artifacts that were in China :eek: and he falls helpless to the floor.

Jason holds the Kents hostage and demands to know where the stones are, Johnathan puts up quite a fight. Lex finds out Lana doesn't have the stone anymore and puts her on a helicopter to Metropolis. Chloe heads to the mansion to try and find Lana and instead finds Clark unconscious on the floor. She drags him away from the kryptonite and he super speeds away just as Lex walks in. Chloe says she's looking for Lana but Lex notices the stone is missing and demands to know who took it. Chloe feigns ignorance, but Lex sees thought the lie and drags her to the caves.

Jason is about ready to kill the Kents when the meteor shower his. The farm house is hit directly, with Jason and the Kents inside. Clark is able to save some people, but the town is hit hard and several people die. The helicopter Lana is in is hit and crashes into a field.

Clark makes it to the caves and places the final stone in place. It forms a diamond shape crystal and levitates into the air. Chloe tells Lex to be careful, and pushes him into a wall, and witnesses Clark grab the shape. Lex gets into the room just in time to watch a flash of light, and Clark disappears. He reappears in an Arctic snow field with nothing but snow and mountains in sight. Clark hurls the stone across the horizon....and it ends...just ends! Grrrrr! :mad:

Lana is alive but injured and crawls to a crater that contains a large spaceship in the same diamond shape as the now combined stones....and it starts to open.

Alrighty then...we can check Smallville right off -- WooHoo :D
In other news, the directors cut of Highlander has never before seen footage, Anakin thinks he can fly like Superman but gets his legs cut out from underhim on that. Trend Micro will accept software from 1995 to satisfy their $20 upgrade rebate. If you run out on your wedding claiming to be abducted and admit to lying about it all -- you get a two year felony charge....and the dope will still want to marry you.
In related news, if you're in the street and a car is coming at you...jumping out of the way is better than putting your arms out like your going to slow it down a little. And if you are looking for an IT professional, I can be at least one of them.

Now...look over to your right...I've added two button links....the first one is a guestmap...place your pin and sign it would you? And the other is a daily cartoon...which are funny most of the time.
Peace!