You Gotta Serve Somebody
Bob Dylan
I love this song…….

This most definitely flew under the radar today with the Detainee bill vote. I think this is a biggggggg deal. The first article I read stated there would be an additional 12,000 troops sent in. Which is it? So… now any casualties will be Nato’s fault, not Bush or Rumsfelds. Troops will be under the British command. Political bailout perhaps?

PORTOROZ, Slovenia, Sept. 28 — NATO agreed Thursday to take command of military operations across all of insurgency-hit Afghanistan next month after the United States pledged to transfer 12,000 American troops in the country to the NATO force.

Pentagon officials said the transfer of troops currently in Afghanistan’s eastern region would result in the biggest deployment of U.S. forces under foreign command since World War II.

Afghanistan is experiencing a level of violence not seen since extremist Islamic Taliban rulers were ousted in 2001.
Read full article at the Washington Postand more at Stars & Stripes

Va. Firm’s Award Linked to Abramoff
By James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 28, 2006; D03

House leaders have suspended a multimillion-dollar wireless communications license that federal prosecutors say was corruptly awarded to a Dulles telecommunications firm by Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) in exchange for gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The award of the license was one of a series of acts that Ney said he performed for Abramoff in exchange for campaign contributions, expensive meals, luxury travel and sports tickets. Ney agreed this month to plead guilty to corruption charges and is set to enter his plea Oct. 13.

The license to install antennas for cellular and wireless telephones in House office buildings was awarded in 2002 to MobileAccess, formerly known as Foxcom Wireless, which was based in Israel. The company, now based in Vienna, Va., later paid Abramoff $280,000 in lobbying fees and donated $50,000 to a charity operated by Abramoff that paid for a golf junket to Scotland for Ney.

Read full article at the Washington Post

Home > Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109th Congress - 2nd Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Vote Summary

Question: On Passage of the Bill (S. 3930 As Amended )
Vote Number: 259 Vote Date: September 28, 2006, 06:37 PM
Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Bill Passed
Measure Number: S. 3930
Measure Title: A bill to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes.
Vote Counts: YEAs 65
NAYs 34
Not Voting 1

Grouped By Vote Position YEAs —65
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Carper (D-DE)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

NAYs —34
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Wyden (D-OR)

Not Voting - 1
Snowe (R-ME)

ON DETAINEE LEGAL RIGHTS

The Definition of ‘Unlawful Enemy Combatant’

The bill expands the definition of unlawful enemy combatants to include people who have “purposefully and materially supported hostilities” and people who have been declared enemy combatants under Combat Status Review Tribunals, “or another competent tribunal established under the authority of the President or the Secretary of Defense.” Under this new language, people in the United States who are not American citizens could be declared unlawful enemy combatants and held indefinitely without trial.

Habeas Corpus

The bill prohibits detainees held by the United States from filing lawsuits challenging their detention, known as habeas corpus pleadings. This wipes out both pending and future lawsuits, and it would apply to people picked up anywhere in the world, including the United States.

The provision is significant. Habeas corpus is an ancient protection that stems from English common law, and its use dates back to as early as the 12th century. In 1969, the Supreme Court called it “the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action.” Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced an amendment to remove this part of the legislation. He argued that the ability to challenge one’s detention is one of the most fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. The proposed amendment failed.

ON THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS

Coercive Interrogation Tactics

The bill prohibits “grave breaches” of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. That includes “cruel or inhuman treatment.” But many legal analysts and government officials believe the definition of cruel or inhuman treatment as written in the bill does not encompass some of the severe interrogation tactics that the CIA has reportedly used against terrorism suspects. The bill also prohibits enemy combatants from filing lawsuits claiming a violation of their rights under the Geneva Conventions. That could make it difficult to hold accountable those who do engage in torture.

Presidential Power

The bill gives the president the power to “interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions.” Critics fear this means that the president can unilaterally authorize interrogation techniques that many people would consider torture.

War Crimes Act

The legislation would narrow the range of offenses prohibited under the War Crimes Act. This would protect civilians (such as CIA interrogators and White House officials) from being prosecuted for committing acts that would have been considered war crimes under the old definition. The change is retroactive to 1997, which means any crimes committed since 1997 would be prosecuted under the new standard, not the old one.

ON MILITARY COMMISSIONS

Evidence Obtained Through Coercion

If an enemy combatant made a statement under coercion before Congress passed the Detainee Treatment Act in 2005, the evidence is admissible at a military tribunal in most cases. If the statements were made after Congress passed the 2005 ban on coercive interrogation tactics, the evidence is admissible only if a military judge finds that “the interrogation methods used to obtain the statement do not violate the cruel, unusual, or inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.”

Secret Evidence

The first draft of this legislation said that defendants could “examine and respond” to all of the evidence against them at a military tribunal. Now it says only that defendants can “respond” to all evidence. The full implications of this phrase aren’t entirely clear. Defense lawyers will likely argue that defendants can’t respond to evidence they haven’t been able to examine.

Hearsay Evidence

Hearsay evidence is generally acceptable at military tribunals. A judge has to rule that the evidence is reliable and relevant to the trial.

Link here

S3930 DETAINEE TREATMENT AND TRIALS BILL

REMEMBER THESE NAMES FOLKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DEMOCRATS VOTING FOR: ROCKEFELLER, PRYOR, MENENDEZ, SALAZAR, CARPER, LIEBERMAN,
NELSON (I don’t think this is all of them……..I’ll update as I get it)

65-34 THE BILL PASSES

The Specter-Levin amendment to the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (the “Detainee Bill“) to preserve the Great Writ of habeas corpus failed by three votes, with the vote splitting almost completely along party lines. The Washington Post write-up is here. You can see the scoundrels and their vote breakdown here.

It’s all over but the shouting. Not only have the GOP gutted the United States Constitution, they’ve assaulted the essential values that caused us to start the American Revolution in the first place - core principles that go back to the Magna Carta in 1215. Such is the awesome leadership, moral clarity and unerring judgment of President George W. Bush. Such is the fear that drives the GOP - not so much of terrorists, but of not getting re-elected, and losing party dominance.

I’ll have to research which level of hell in Dante’s Inferno this merits them (Aha. I’m going with the Eighth Circle).

Dan Froomkin supplies another splendid entry that round-up most of the best commentary on the bill itself (the amendment vote had not occurred yet):
Read more »

Vedddddddy interesting……wonder who will be in command.

PORTOROZ, Slovenia - NATO decided Thursday to take control of military operations across all of Afghanistan in what U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld hailed as a “bold step forward.”

As many as 12,000 additional American troops (emphasis mine) will be put under foreign battlefield command. That could be the most since World War II, U.S. officials said.

The move is expected to take place in the next few weeks, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

More here

By DAVID ASHENFELTER

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Bush administration’s domestic spying program that intercepts international phone calls and e-mails of suspected Al-Qaeda members without court orders can continue for seven more days, a federal judge in Detroit ruled Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Anna Digga Taylor, who declared the National Security Agency’s program unconstitutional on Aug. 17 on grounds that it violates Americans constitutional rights to free speech and privacy, said she would delay enforcement of her decision for seven days to give government lawyers time to ask the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals for a longer stay.

The Justice Department wanted Taylor to delay enforcement of her order until the appeals court decides whether to uphold or overturn her August decision. The ACLU asked Taylor to reject the government’s request.

Read more at Detroit Free Press

Transcript here

What a great standard for all big businesses! Haliburton’s Mission Statement: To rape the government and citizens of the U.S. by overcharging for services, negligent work, and services not provided, then fuck the employees you hire to further enhance your profits. I think Cheney wrote that…..

September 28 2006: 3:00 PM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) — A federal judge in Texas ruled this week that oil field services company Halliburton Co. does not have to pay millions of dollars in overtime wages claimed by U.S. employees working in Iraq.

The five plaintiffs had filed the lawsuit last year charging Halliburton’s KBR engineering and construction unit violated the terms of its contract with the Pentagon by failing to pay them 1-1/2 times base pay for hours worked over 40 hours a week.

Many of Halliburton’s employees often worked as much as 100 hours per week under dangerous and difficult conditions, according to the complaint, but were not paid at the higher rate.

The five, who had sought class action status to include an estimated 20,000 and 40,000 employees who worked for KBR in Kuwait and Iraq, also argued the company had paid them too little by miscalculating their wages.

Read the full article at CNN Money

Off and on I’ve been watching the debate in the Senate today regarding Bush’s retroactive amnesty bill . I have to say, I believe this legislation will pass and I also believe, besides the Patriot Act, this has got to be the most damning piece of legislation this Republican congress will have instituted. Senator Byrd was asking for an amendment that would put a “sunset clause” into it so that it would be reviewed in 5 years, so that if they happened to be wrong, they would have the opportunity to review it. What harm could there be in that? My guess is…..that won’t fly either. God I hate what this Republican congress has done to this country. God help our servicemen and women if this goes through. What kind of people do we have in Congress, that put politics ahead of what is in the country’s best interest, in the military’s best interest, and in the citizen’s best interest? What are they thinking? Imagine the greed and power that must fuel these acts! And I have to ask, as I think Frank the Liberal asked yesterday, does this apply to U.S. citizens as well that might be suspected of terrorist ties and arrested? If it does……. God help us all. I can’t believe Americans are so complacent in watching the Bill of Rights be stomped on. I can’t believe so many Americans don’t even know what rights the Bill of Rights affords us. More than any other time that I can recall in history, Americans should be well versed in the Bill of Rights. They should be actively exercising them…….and vigilantly fighting for them. But alas, they are not. What a sad state of affairs.

AP Photo DCCD104
By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate, siding with President Bush shortly after he personally lobbied lawmakers at the Capitol, rejected a move Thursday by a leading Republican to allow terrorism suspects to challenge their imprisonment in court.

The vote paved the way for final passage of Bush’s plan to establish “military commissions” to prosecute terrorism suspects in legislation that also spells out violations of the Geneva Conventions, a treaty that sets international standards for the treatment of war prisoners.

Republicans say the bill is necessary to ensure that terrorists can be brought to justice and that CIA personnel will not be charged with war crimes when interrogating these suspects.

Barring any last-minute hiccups, the bill could reach the president’s desk as early as Friday.

You can read the rest of the sad story at The Guardian

“Women and people of low birth are very hard to deal with. If you are friendly with them, they get out of hand, and if you keep your distance, they resent it.”

These words are attributed to Confucius, who lived 551-479 BC, and their sentiment still influences the lives of women and girls in China and throughout the world. In 2006, what to do with these inferior and contrary women, these givers of pleasure and life and nurture, still confounds men.

Subjugation of females, both egregious and subtle, continues to be the favored solution to male vexation. As devastating, perhaps more so, is actual denial of female existence.

Joining enlightened men who seek equality for women is Kong Dehong. A descendant of Confucius and keeper of his family’s genealogy, Mr. Dehong is for the first time in 2,500 years adding females to his honored family tree. This will be the fifth family tree update, eighty generations, and he will reveal his completed work in 2009. It is possible that three million descendants will be added, as many as 200,000 of them female.

For these newly recognized women, daily life may improve. “Even if a woman has to leave her family when she gets married to live with her husband, that does not change the fact that she is descended from Confucius,” says Kong Dehong.

source

COULD BLACKWELL LOSS SINK DEWINE?

REPUBLICAN VITTER TRYING TO REVISE CYPRESS PLAN

CALIFORNIA TO AID GUARDSMEN RETURNING FROM ACTIVE DUTY

SAUDIS PLAN IRAQI BORDER FENCE

GOP SENDS CASH & CHENEY TO TEXAS

SUPPORT NICK LAMPSON!!!

$75 MILLION IRAQ POLICE ACADEMY A DISASTER

TOP ALL TIME POLITICAL DONORS