The House is set to discuss a resolution today that serves to 1) provide legal justifications for the administration's terrorist financing investigation methods 2) rebuke the New York Times and other newspapers for reporting the bank records (SWIFT) story and 2) legally mute the media from publishing any classified information.

Via the NYT:

The resolution says Congress "expects the cooperation of all news media organizations in protecting the lives of Americans and the capability of the government to identify, disrupt and capture terrorists by not disclosing classified intelligence programs." Democrats are proposing a variant that expresses support for the treasury program but omits the language about the news media.

Via The Independent, a doctor who works at Gitmo and spoke anonymously to reporters at the newspaper blames Red Cross protocols for not allowing the prompt discovery of the recent suicide victims at the facility:

He said medical personnel examined the detainees some 10 minutes after they were found and "did everything we could" to revive them. He suggested that American guards might have noticed the detainees sooner had the prison not been following International Red Cross recommendations, including how dark their cells should be at night. "If we did everything the Red Cross wanted, there would be very little that we could do to keep detainees alive short of putting them in a strait-jacket," he said.

"Every time we give them something to make their lives easier, they use it against us by trying to harm themselves." Since the deaths, the military is guarding against future suicides by only giving out bed sheets and blankets during sleeping hours and monitoring detainees in their cells every three minutes.

This is a diary with questions - not answers. Far be it for me, a Canadian with no right to vote in US elections, to determine what my neighbours to the south should do in November when they go to the polls -especially when I don't know the ins and outs of supporting individual candidates that you know far more about than I do.

Because of that, I'm looking at the broader picture.

Do you ever lay awake at nite, listening to the rain, safe in your bed, secure in your house and wonder about others who lay and listen to the rain as well?

Linton F Brooks, Bush's appointee in 2003 for Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security / Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration informed a congressional hearing on Friday that "A computer hacker stole sensitive information on 1,500 people working for the nuclear-weapons unit of the Energy Department, but neither the theft victims nor high officials were notified for nine months."

In 1999, the Associated Press ran what would later become a Pulitzer prize winning article about an incident that had occured during the Korean War, almost 50 years prior, at a place named No Gun Ri.

At the time, allegations were made via a declassified memo that soldiers had been ordered to shoot approaching refugees from South Korea. The AP's story was met with criticism by other news outlets but the Pentagon took up an investigation.

The Pentagon concluded that the No Gun Ri shootings, which lasted three days, were "an unfortunate tragedy" -- "not a deliberate killing." It suggested panicky soldiers, acting without orders, opened fire because they feared that an approaching line of families, baggage and farm animals concealed enemy troops.
link

The reality of the situation, however, is quite different from the conclusions of the Pentagon's findings.

The soldiers were following orders from the US ambassador to Seoul.

Canada's National Post [ed. note: the story has now disappeared] (see update below) reported on Friday that a new law has been passed in Iran that would require all non-Muslims to wear colour-coded "badges" to identify which religious group they belong to. But the veracity of that story is far from conclusive.

Since writing last nite about the new revelations of torture in Iraq, I find myself in a very familiar place. It's that place where no other news of the day can even begin to inspire in me the passion to write, because so much of it seems so inconsequential in comparison to this continuing inhumanity that is, for the most part, ignored on a very wide scale.

Once again I pop into BT to see what issues are up for discussion. I pop into Man Eegee's diary and, while reading it, think I might just link to it over at my blog to promote the protests against the war.

And then, I read the comments.

I pop into BT this morning to see if I can find out when the spying hearings are on and I find an endorsement by SusanHu and others of the completely offensive portrayal of the prophet Mohammed. How utterly disappointing and devastating.

Does the issue deserve discussion? Absolutely. Does that image deserve to be reprinted on a progressive, left-wing blog? Absolutely not.

Is this a free speech issue? Definitely. Are there acceptable limits on free speech? Absolutely. Free speech laws exist not only to provide people with the opportunity to voice their opinions, but also to protect those whose voices/opinions/beliefs may be marginalized to such an extent that they are then placed at risk. I'm proud to live in a country (Canada) that has hate speech laws so that those who choose to defame others to the extreme have no public voice. Let their hatred fester in their sick minds. It doesn't deserve a public forum.

I'm so glad we had this time together
Just to have a laugh and sing a song
Seems we just get started and before you know it
Comes the time we have to say "So long".

- Joseph H. ("Joe") Hamilton for the Carol Burnett Show

It's been a very long time coming but Justice John Gomery finally released his first report on the Canadian Liberal government's sponsorship scandal* (aka "AdScam") today.

His report (text) places the blame squarely on former Prime Minister Jean Chretien and his key staff members and exonerates the current PM, Paul Martin, who was Chretien's finance minister.

During the last election, Martin campaigned with a promise to investigate the corruption and to clean up the mess in Ottawa. The scandal's effects rippled throughout Canada and the Liberals were reduced to a minority government situation as a result. It's been one huge battle in the House of Commons since then for the Liberals as they've had to compromise in order to move their agenda forward.

Justice Gomery's role in the investigation was to provide recommendations based on his fact-finding mission but, since he acted solely as a commissioner, he is not able to bring criminal charges. Some involved in the scandal have already faced charges in the courts as a result of RCMP investigations.

Gomery will release the second part of his report in February, 2006 at which time PM Paul Martin is expected to call an election as he had promised earlier this year but there are rumblings today that the opposition parties will pressure the government to call one as soon as possible instead.

Early opposition reaction to the Gomery Report, which was just released this morning, has been predictable. Despite the fact that the justice found Martin free of blame, he is being attacked from all sides.

Anyone interested in watching the debate in the House today can tune into Question Period at 2pm ET as the fireworks hit the floor.

* see link for background

The Globe and Mail has extensive coverage.

Years ago while I was visiting friends of mine who had two daughters ages 7 and 9, or thereabouts, their mom got up from the kitchen table, opened up the girls' door and asked them to pipe down because they were laughing hysterically. Mom sat back down at the table and dad looked at the now closed bedroom door, raised his finger and said snidely, "Ya! Stop having fun!!". I laughed, of course. Mom wasn't too impressed with him though.

Over at the orange place, they're having a big, serious discussion about the appropriateness of celebrating Fitzmas with SnoodGuy leading the way in his "Kill the Fitzmas Talk"  diary. To that I say, "Ya! Stop having fun!!".

Geez.
 

Most of us arrived here at Booman Tribune in about the same way - as refugees at one time or the other from the Big Orange Place(tm). Some of you found a link to BT at another blog. Maybe you heard about this place from a friend, family member or co-worker. Some of you ended up here quite by accident.

It's that last bunch that interests me, so I've been collecting search terms via the SiteMeter monitor that we have on the site. (Look waaay down on the right-hand side).

It's not like I don't have anything better to do - there's much goofing off to be had when I'm not writing or reading stuff here. It's just that I am inherently snoopy, or as I prefer to call it - "curious".

What initially sparked my curiousity was when Booman let us know that some surfers (disappointed, no doubt) had visited BT after they'd typed "muff shots" into Google. (Try it. You'll see why BT appeared in the list.)

Anyway, I've found some pretty interesting things that have shown up on the site stats, causing people to visit from far and wide.