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FM Bot stated there will be tough questioning inside the NATO meeting, and the first chance to meet Condi Rice face to face. There cannot be any light between our definition of human rights and what binds the United States government. Commentators in the Dutch media have lambasted statements of Condoleezza Rize, indicating adherence to U.S. laws and international obligations is quite different to International Human Rights and binding International Treaties of the Geneva Conventions.

Sometime in the future, that court transcript might end up as a "major motion picture."

Ecological collapse is already happening. Your resentment of the word doesn't change the fact that it is occurring.

Glad the jury said no, but I bet the gov't comes back on the remaining charges.

Can It Happen Here?

Al-Arian speaks at protest

Sunday, Nov. 3 - Just a day after President George W. Bush spoke at the Sun Dome, hundreds of protesters rallied at MacDill AirForce Base. They expressed concern about Bush's discussion of a possible war against Iraq at Gov. Jeb Bush's campaign rally at USF. Civil rights groups, the NAACP and keynote speaker Sami Al-Arian attended and spoke against plans for a preemptive strike.

And Jeb, reflecting good citizenship and the kind of leadership position one would expect from an American governor did the -- OOPS! -- behaved in the manner to make Dubya proud.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush even weighed into the row, demanding that Mr Arian be sacked. BBC, Thursday, 20 February, 2003

Now, there's behavior based on real American values, like "presumed innocent."

Looking back, it appears that Al-Arian's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor may have cost him his freedom.  (Emphasis added.)

Al-Arian, 44, is a Palestinian refugee who has lived in the United States since 1975 and has taught at USF since 1986. At times he has been a figure of controversy because of his views. Through an institute for Islamic studies that he established, Al-Arian has sponsored visiting scholars, one of whom later became associated with the Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group. Although Al-Arian had been investigated by the university and the FBI more than once in the past decade, no evidence that links him to terrorists has ever surfaced.

Since 1995 at least, Al-Arian has been more temperate in expressing his political views, says Roy Weatherford, president of the USF chapter of the United Faculty of Florida, the statewide local union, which is affiliated with both the AFT and the National Education Association. His teaching and research records are excellent says Weatherford, and he has never brought his political views into the classroom.

Nevertheless, Al-Arian got into some trouble when he agreed to go on a television network program called "The O'Reilly Factor" on Sept. 26. Invited to provide a perspective on Islam, instead Al-Arian faced a barrage of questions about anti-Israel comments he made in 1988 and about his connections to terrorists. The program generated calls to the university and death threats as well as admonitions from alumni and donors who said they would withdraw support if Al-Arian stayed at USF. Academic Free Speech

Finally, I ask you all to consider these words made by someone who sounds like nothing less than BooTribber diarist.

Today, the nation is being challenged. Our democratic principles are being challenged. The constitution and the bill of rights are being challenged. The irony is that the challenge is being called the "USA PATRIOT Act."

We must not confuse patriotism with zealotry. We must not mistake patriotism with nationalism.

To be patriotic is to be able to question government policy at times of crisis.

To be patriotic is to stand up for the bill of rights and the constitution at times of uncertainty and insecurity.

To be patriotic is to speak up against the powerful in defense of the weak and the voiceless.

To be patriotic is to be willing to pay the price to preserve our freedoms, our dignity, and our rights.

To be patriotic is to challenge the abuses of the PATRIOT Act.

We must ask: why should America put aside the guarantees of constitutional justice?

My fellow Americans, citizens and immigrants, human beings.

Made Sunday, September 1st, 2002. . .by Mr. Al-Arian.  

They burn our children in their wars and grow rich beyond the dreams of avarice