ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

HAMPSTER SPEAKS



For all those that are tired of the political talk, this is an amusing tale, told from the perspective of the hampster.

MOB BOSS

THE BLOG CONVENTION

BLOGS



Besides the suprise of Ron Reagan speaking at the Democratic Convention, bloggers were allowed access to cover the convention for their blogsites. The Democrats felt that it was a way to reach more voters.

BAD OMEN

MUSLIM FORCES



Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has called on all Muslim coutries to unite and help stablize Iraqa? Does anyone else see that bad signs in this purposal? Iraq could turn into another Iran. Do we really want that? I don' think so.

RON REAGAN

RON REAGAN



Unless you live under a rock, you know that one of the biggest suprises of the Democratic Convention was Ron Reagan's appearance. Surely his father is rolling in his grave. But Ron wasn't there to talk about politics as such, but to promote stem cell research.



Now there have been tests to show that stem cell treatments do work in certain cases. Unforunately Alzheimer's disease is one of those that doesn't show much promise. But others such as Parkinson's, Diabetes, spinal chord injuries have shown great benefits from stem cell research in the lab. The reason that embryotic stem cells are wanted is because they are the easiest stem cells to grow and reprogram so to speak to become what ever cells that are needed.



STEM CELLS



Now I know people get up in arms about embryotic stem cells, but like that article states. most embryoes that are used in the labs are those from fertility clinics after they are through with them. Now, these are embroys there were going to be discarded anyway. Unless people want to go rescue these embroys from the clinics and implant them in willing women, lots of these embryos are going to be lost anyway.

CHIEF WILSON

CHIEF WILSON



As those local people already know, Montgomery's police chief WIlson, has decided that it would be in the best interest of the city to take his retirement a few months early. He has been our police chief for the last 28 yrs.



In fact he repplacec another police chief that was involved in a scandal. Charles Swindle was the police chief in the 70s when a big scandal erupted about a robbery of a jewelry stored downtown.



WHITEHURST



WHITEHURST 2



Now according to the first article, Whitehurst was suspected of armed robbery of a jewlery store and was found under a house before he was shot to death by Montgomery Police officers. But I was livig here at the time and I remember hearing the radio annoucements. (back then the radio stantions competed with the TV stations to be the first on the scene) They annouced then that Whitehurst was seen running from the scene of the robbery, police shouted for him to halt and he "supposedly" turned and fired at the officers. The police shot back, killing him. The radio news man reported shortly afterwards that they couldn't find a gun on the suspect. The shooting took place around around 10am, but the police didn't find the gun until 2pm. under some bushes, near the scene. The lenth of time it took to find the gun immediately made it suspicous. It turned about to be a gun the police confiscated during a drug raid a few months before, that was mysteriously missing from the evidence room.

Several officers were either fired or resigned along with Chief Swindle, and the mayor Jim Robertson. who was popular with the people until the scandal.

Then in the eary 80s another scandal rocked the police dept. when the police chase a burlery suspect in the Todd Road area the suspect ran into a house. The police in pursuit, broke into the house, where several family members had gathered following a funeral. Accordin to the family members. no one had come through their door other than the police, who broke it and haressed and abused the family members. Several police officers were dismissed or Resigned because of that case, but Chief Wilson assured the people that he would get to the bottom of it.

He will be surely missed.

POLITICAL CARTOON

BUSH/KERRY CARTOON



I don't know how many of you have seen this, but it is hilarious!!!!!

9/11 COMMISSION REPORTS

9/11 COMISSION FULL REPORT



EXEC SUMMARY



Although these reports came out yesterday, it took me a while to figure out the quickest way to download them, since I have a dial up. I finally realized it was so much quiker to load them through Adobe Acrobat and then save them. Doing a straight download and save was going to take me an hour. Anjway, I'll be reading them over the next few days and will give you my take on them.



Okay, I just previewed this entry and can't seem to get the bottom link to work but both repports are online in PDF files.

IRAN

IRAN, DANIELLE PLETKA



IRAN, WILLIAM O. BEENMAN



They say that there are two sides to every story. Well, here there are two opinions on the same topic. Danielle Pletka says that we should take a hard line stance with Iran, sanctions and other possible means short of military to stop them from supporting Hezbollah and Hamas, and possibly al-Quaida



William Breenman, on the other hand, says that the United States should extent the olive branch and seek diplomatic relations with Iran.



It�s funny how the United States seems so to develop a case of amnesia when they want something in return. Japan, for instance; they pulled a surprise attack on Pear Harbor. After the war, we not only rebuild their country, but their economy too! And now they complete with us on the World Market. The same thing happened with Germany after WWI. Money was diverted from our own economy to help build Germany�s. Then, once they were up and running again, then attention was brought back to the American market, which had cut its staff while Germany was rebuilding. That meant that manufacturers couldn�t keep up with the demand, but couldn�t afford to hire more people to keep up with the demand. A lot of companies folded. And the runs on the banks, because no one was investing in the American economy, what little was in the banks were used to built what was being built at that time. People didn�t realize that when you put money into a bank, it doesn�t stay there physically in the bank. It gets loaned out to many different businesses. And these businesses pay back the money with their profits. What is in your account is backed by the banks accounts receivables accounts. The FDIC, guarantees those accounts.



Anyway, that is totally digressing. The point is, Iran, back in 1979, took 53 Americans hostage, paraded them around in public and held them for 444 days. And we are supposed to act like it didn�t happen!!! Or even better yet, Vietnam. We were at war with them for 10 years, over 58,000 Americans killed, thousands held prisoner and tortured. All these things were forgotten when the United Stated wanted to build political and economic ties with them.



And now they want to normalize relations with Iran? We better be watching our backs where they are concerned.

SPENCER ABRHAM

19 SUSPENDED



Today it is reported that 19 personal from the Los Alamos lab have been suspended pending an investigation into the missing discs, and if the discs are not recovered, those same 19 people will be permanently terminated. Of these 19, 15 were suspended for violating security procedures and the other 4 for violating safety procedures. According to George P. Nanos, director of the lab, the workers at the lab have the attitude that they are so important that they will not lose their jobs, no matter what they do. He called it �suicidal denial� (see above link)



ABRAHAM



In a related story, energy secretary Spencer Abraham has issued a halt to all work being done in government contracted labs all across the country, to stop using the kind removable disc that were lost at Los Alamos, and to conduct an inventory of all classified material. Then these labs are to conduct weekly inventories and retrain their personnel on the proper handling of classified material. Besides Los Alamos in California, there are labs in a few other states; Tennessee, Idaho, Kansas and Illinois. There are also other facilities, such as: Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago, IL; Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM; Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, NY and the nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, TN. (see link above)



It appears that after the fall of the Soviet Union, the level of security has dropped significantly all across the country. But, just because we don�t� have the �Big Red Bear� to worry about, doesn't mean we should let our guard down. As has been proven, our enemy now is not a country backed enemy, but one that is mobile and has their on agenda.

CHAPTER 4

FBI-Nuclear Lab



Even the FBI is taking a relaxed stand in light of the security breaches at the Los Alamos. They feel that there is no need to investigate the security lapses at one of our nuclear weapons lab. They feel that these lapses are due to negligence and not sinister reasons.



And, in the New York Times, contract, its reported that the University of California's contract with the government runs out at the end of the year and the University of Texas is vying for that contract. Maybe all these lapses will be what cost Los Alamos to lose that contract. And I think that�s better for our national security.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

I'm sure anyone thats heard about the pregnant jogger in Salt Lake City, UT is thinking the same thing. Sounds identical to Laci Peterson. And now it comes out that the husband has been lying the whole time about him attending medical school in NC. It turns out that he never even applied. Not only that, but he never even graduated from the University of utah. So, if he had been living this lie for 5 yrs. why should he believed when he says he doesn't know what happened to his wife. And the fact that the Scott Peterson trial is getting such coverage and the fact that the prosicutions case against Peterson seems to be fallin apart may give others the idea of copy cat murders.

BERGER

Berger



It seems strange that a former Security Advisor would go into the National Achieves and take documents that were not suppose to leave the reading room. Not only that, but to have made copies of these high security documents seemed highly irregular. Then for him to have removed some of the original documents and have to either recklessly misplaced or thrown such documents out, shows what kind of security this Nation has.



Could it be that Mr. Berger was trying to as they have been saying, re-write history? To take out evidence of some serious lapses in our national security that might have been the signs of thing to come? We may never know because these documents will never be recovered. Or could it be that Mr. Berger was gathering information that the Kerry camp needed, to use in their Presidential Campaign?



Mr. Berger should face criminal charges for theft of government property. His position of former Security Advisor to Clinton should have taught him the importance of security. But this shouldn�t surprise too many people; after all, the President of the United States, back in 1972 broke the law. I don�t believe that anyone in the government is totally honest.

LOS ALAMOS 4

LOS ALAMOS



Today it has been released that the 19 discs that are missing were in a safe outside of the security zone, near a soda machine down the hall, where anyone could access it. There weren�t even any security cameras in the area! Is anyone else getting just a little bit nervous about our national security? We might as well just open the flood gates and let everyone in and turn over all our security information to them. I�m sure they are getting it anyway.



I hate to say it but the United States needs people like J. Edger Hoover and Senator Joe McCarthy again. Hoover never trusted anyone, and had anyone even the slightly suspicious under surveillance. McCarthy and his �Red Scare� commission were worried about the communist attacking us from within. I hate to say it folks, but he was prophetic about being attacked from within but it wasn�t the communist, but the terrorist. And what have we done since 9/11/01? They make advances toward more security but then do stupid stuff that undermines what they�ve tried to accomplish. If Mr. Hoover and Mr. McCarthy were alive today, they would have rounded up every undocumented alien, ever student with an expired visa, anyone who didn�t legally belong in the US and sent them packing. Back before the year 1984, people were worried that Orwell�s book by that title would come true and �Big Brother� would be watching our every move. If there was a �Big Brother�, we wouldn�t have to worry so much about al-Quaida or OBL. It�s a balancing act, weighing civil liberties with national security.

GA CASE



For the first time in 15 yrs since the courts have allowed convicted felons to use DNA testing in attempts to clear themselves, one man who is scheduled to die tonight has been denied that chance by the Georgia Supreme Court.



Download file



Eddie Crawford was convicted in the 1983 rape and murder of his 2 yr old niece. Crawford admitted that he had been drinking during that time and had experienced black outs when he drank, but does not recall committing the crime.



Berry Scheck, a lawyer and founder of Project Innocence, an organization that has helped clear over 145 inmates using post conviction DNA testing, has filed an Amicus Brief on Mr. Crawford�s behalf to have his execution stayed until more DNA teats can be conducted on the evidence that convicted Mr. Crawford.



In 1983, DNA testing wasn't avaiable , only visual comparison of hair and fibers found at the crime scene evidence that only showed that a descendant of Crawford�s sister had been in the car, and family member agreed that the niece had been in car the previous day. A shirt that was supposedly worn by Crawford and was blood stained, was tested last December and showed that the blood came from a descendant of Crawford�s sister. There aren�t any DNA samples from the niece to make positive identification possible.



There are 35 states that allow post conviction testing and in these states, the requirements very from state to state. In Kansas, for example, it must be shown that the evidence was never tested before the conviction. In Georgia there is a �catch-22.� For there is an agreement to do the post conviction testing, it has to be shown that had the testing been done before, it would have effected the outcome of the trial. Crawford also learned that several items were taken by the police, yet never tested, such as the girl hair brush, vaginal swabs taken at the autopsy and pubic hair taken from Crawford after his arrest.



In June the State Supreme Court stated that due to the overwhelming evidence against Mr. Crawford, the Justices felt that testing of any of these items would not have affected the outcome of the trial.



Mr. Scheck is hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will stay Mr. Crawford�s execution until such test are completed.

CLARENCE DARROW

FREED MAN



The famous trial lawyer from the Scopes Monkey Trial would have a field day with this story. He believed that "better a guilty man go free than and innocent man go to prison." And that is exactly what happened here.

THE SAGA OF LOS ALAMOS

LOS ALAMOS



Well another installment in the continuing saga at one of our nations nuclear weapons lab. They better hope no one from the Taliban or other sleeper cells ever find their way into these labs or they will make 9/11 look like a fire cracker.

LETTER FROM IRAQ

I received the following letter from a friend of mine from MI. Her name is Misty and she thought everyone should read this.

___________________________________________________



Fw: Subject: A clear perspective. Share this with someone who's a Michael Moore fan.



From a soldier serving in the U.S.Army in Iraq comes these pinpoint accurate facts.



There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during the month of January.....



In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January.



That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq.







When some claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war, state the following .



FDR...led us into World War II.



Germany never attacked us: Japan did.



From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year.



Truman...finished that war and started one in Korea, North Korea never attacked us.



From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,334 per year.



John F. Kennedy...started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.



Johnson...turned Vietnam into a quagmire.



From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.



Clinton...went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent, Bosnia never attacked us.



He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.



In the two years since terrorists attacked us President Bush has



...liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put



nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot,



and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.







The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking, but...It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51-day operation.



We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.



It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick.



It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!!



Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB! The Military morale is high!



The biased media hopes we are too ignorant to realize the facts.





Wait, there's more.......................





JOHN GLENN ON THE SENATE FLOOR



Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13



Some people still don't understand why military personnel do what they do for a living. This exchange between Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one man's explanation of why men and women in the armed services do what they do for a living. This IS a typical, though sad, example of what some who have never served think of the military.



Senator Metzenbaum to Senator Glenn: "How can you run for Senate when you've never held a real job?"



Senator Glenn: "I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line. It was not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the daily cash receipts to the bank. I ask you to go with me ... as I went the other day... to a veteran's hospital and look those men - with their mangled bodies - in the eye, and tell THEM they didn't hold a job! You go with me to the Space Program at NASA and go, as I have gone, to the widows and orphans of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee... and you look those kids in the eye and tell them that their DADS didn't hold a job. You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch those waving flags. You stand there, and you think about this nation, and you tell ME that those people didn't have a job? I'll tell you, Howard Metzenbaum; you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men

- SOME MEN - who held REAL jobs. And they required a dedication to a purpose

- and a love of country and a dedication to duty - that was more important than life itself. And their self-sacrifice is what made this country possible. I HAVE held a job, Howard! What about you?"



For those who don't remember - During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney representing the Communist Party in the USA.



Now he is a Senator!



If you can read this, thank a teacher.... If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran. It might not be a bad idea to keep this circulating 'till next November....

_______________________________________________



I have only one point of disagreement with that letter. It was Eisenhower who initiated our involvement when he sent aid to bail out the French and sent advisors. Under his adminstration Ho Chi Mein was installed into power, but he quickly turned against us as most leaders that we install into power often do. Kennedy sent more advisors but it was Johnson who turned it into full fledged involvement after the "Gulf of Tonkin" incident which has never been proven to have really occured.



And now, we installed another government into power. Lets wait and see if this government will honor its agreements with the US or turn against us like so many others.

CONCERNED CITIZEN OR REVENGE?

MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER.COM



Was Hooper acting as a concerned citizen or as Chief Wilson suggest. as a disgruntled fromer police officer seeking revenge for being fired? And if you saw the interivew on WSFA-TV news when they met up with Hooper at the court house, he was getting a pistol permit and saying his reason was that he saw what happened to Serpico ( SERPICO), so yes he feared for his life. I think Hooper is delusional. Serpico broke up a major narcotics ring in the NYPD, not caught the police chief driving after have a drink.

HOOPER 2

To Answer Dennis, that is the question, why was Hooper out there at the same time is Chief Wilson. Not only that but Hooper had surveillance equipment in his car at the time, including camera and microphone, both which were on during the traffic stop. It is believed that Hooper has been following Wilson in hopes to get something to use against Wilson in attemt to get his job back at the police department. But someone who compares himself to Serpico definitely has a screw loose somewhere.

FELON VOTERS

Today, in the NY Times, there is an editorial asking the question, �Should convicted felons have their voting rights restored?� There are states that allow once convicted felons the right to vote under varying circumstances. As the column states, 5 states including NY, don�t allow those on parole to vote, but those on probation can.

Last September, Alabama passed a law that speeds up the process that NON-violent felons have to go through to restore their voting rights. It still prevents restoring the voting rights of violent felons.



I don�t think that felons should get their voting right back. That is a privilege that shouldn�t be taken so lightly. One of the reasons for being a law abiding citizen is that you get to have a voice in government. Why would anyone an law abiding life if they can commit a felony, serve their time, and still have the right to vote?



In the south is the Democrats that pushed for this bill to increase their voting rolls. Just like up until the mid 80�s, it was the dead were still voting in the major elections. Now as their numbers are decreasing the democrats are just looking for another way to hang on to their votes.



My feels are that if you�ve been convicted of a violent crime, you shouldn�t get back your right to vote. Now for the non violent , they should wait until they are off probation before making any attempt to restore their voting rights/

LOS ALAMOS

How is this for national security? Two hard drives full of classified data are missing from the weapons section at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. And this is not the first such incident to occur at this highly sensitive lab. Four years ago, almost to the exact day, two other hard drives were reported missing. At that same time, two floppy discs were missing but later found attached to a paper in another secure area. And a door was left unlocked.



Then in December 10, 2003, it was reported in the Mercury News that nine floppy discs and one large capacity disc were reported missing. Although the University of California's vice president of laboratory management stated that the disc did not contain classified data, he couldn't be sure until he found them.



Even last month, keys to area 18 were reported missing for 16 hours. The guards changed shifts twice before the keys were located in a security truck under some equipment that wasn't moved during the prior searches. This lab contains enriched uranium and other nuclear material, but these security lapses is causing the government to think about moving the material the Whites Sands, New Mexico, where security is better.



I don't know why the government tolerates so many incidents before they take action. Look at the space shuttle Challenger in 1986. It was discovered that the O rings were at fault and that Morton Thiokol knew about the gases leaking around the O rings and didn't stop the shuttle missions. Yet even after they were proven responsible, NASA still let Morton Thiokol have the shuttle contract. Why should they err on the side of safety? You can kill seven astronauts and still have the contract.



Here, Los Alamos is a danger to national security. How many security lapses will it take before they move the lab to another more secure facility? Does someone have to die first? No, because its been shown that even death doesn't mean you will lose a government contract.

INSURGENTS

For those who are waiting for the war in Iraq to be over may have a long wait. According to the International Tribune over the weekend, the insurgents are being re-supplied with guns, ammo, men and equipment by three of Sadam Hussein�s cousins. One of them is Fatiq Suleiman al-Majid, former officer in the Special Security Forces in Iraq and cousin to Sadam. He fled to Syria last year and may still be living there. The speculation of a supply chain from Syria was sparked by an influx of cash and goods in out of Syria.



But he is just one of the many cousins in Sadam�s family. Hussein�s full name is Saddam Hussein al-Majid. The al-Majid family was the most feared part of the Tikiriti tribe. They made up the security forces, body guards, law enforcement and secret police. They also have tens if millions of dollars that they have diverted from oil revenues to smuggle military equipment into the country.

Fatiq al-Majid is said to be the money man and is Sadam�s son Qusay�s cousin and the nephew to General Ali Hassan al-Majid, AKA, Chemical Ali.



Another member of this family that may be involved in the pipeline is Izzadin al-Majid, who was a major in the Republican Guard fled with two more members of the al-Majid family, but those two returned back to Iraq and were later killed, leaving Izzadin holding the purse strings. He was granted asylum in Great Britain and he still has a home in Leeds.



The revelation of the al-Majid clan being involved with the insurgents was made by Samir Shaker Mahmoud al-Sumeidi, when he spoke in Washington last month. The US officials refused to comment because the report that states this information is a �95 report that is still classified. It is even believed that the al-Majid clan is sponsoring Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. So, until this pipeline is shut off, we will have to stay there and fight the insurgents.



Izzadin al-Majid makes frequent trips between Europe, Jordan and Iraq and denies any involvement in the insurgency stating that he hasn�t see his cousin Fatiq since �94 even though he admitted talking to him by phone last year.

Another member of the family, Ezz al-Dain al-Majidi al-Tikriti, own a printing plant and maybe producing the funds needed to supply the insurgents



The al-Majid family is like a ant colony, kill one there are hundreds to take his place. Until this family�s supply lines are cut, we will have a long, hard fought war ahead of us.

POLICE BRUTALITY

As some of you may know, on Wednesday, June 23, the Los Angeles police, after a 28 minute car chase, and a foot chase, beat with a flashlight and kicked 36 yr old Stanley Miller, while attempting to handcuff him. This event was video taped by a news helicopter, reminiscent of the 1992 beating of Rodney G, King. There are some major differences between these two events. In the Rodney King incident, King was clearly fighting with the police. In this latest incident, Mr. Miller was clearly on the ground surrendering to the officers.



But according to an editorial in today�s LA Times, its unlikely the officers will be charged criminally for their actions. As in the King beating, the officers were acquitted in the first trial, setting of several days of rioting and deaths. Only two of the officers were convicted later in federal court of violating Mr. King�s civil rights.



But these are only two of the many cases in LA where police have used unnecessary force and gotten away with it. Here is a list of case that the author of the editorial cited:

.

� Four LAPD officers charged in the videotaped beating of Rodney G. King in 1991 were acquitted in Superior Court, sparking massive urban riots. Two of the officers were convicted later in federal court of violating King's civil rights.



� Two Superior Court juries could not reach a unanimous verdict on murder charges against LAPD Officer Douglas Iversen, who was charged with shooting a tow-truck driver as he drove away from a gas station in 1992. The charges were dropped.



� State and federal authorities did not file charges against two Riverside County sheriff's deputies, Tracy Watson and Kurt Franklin, who were videotaped beating two Mexican immigrants with batons after a high-speed chase in 1996 that ended in El Monte.



� The federal case against Oxnard police Officer Robert Flinn, accused of beating an unarmed burglary suspect with a metal flashlight in 1996, ended with a deadlocked jury. Flinn was acquitted in Superior Court on some of the charges.



� Four Riverside police officers involved in the 1998 fatal shooting of Tyisha Miller, who had passed out in her car with a gun in her lap, were cleared of criminal wrongdoing by state and federal prosecutors.



� The Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the U.S. attorney's office did not file criminal charges against LAPD Officer Edward Larrigan, who killed a homeless, mentally ill woman who threatened officers with a screwdriver in 1999.



� LAPD Officer Tarriel Hopper fatally shot an actor after the man allegedly pointed a replica handgun at him during a Halloween party in 2000. The district attorney's office concluded that Hopper had acted in self-defense.



� Los Angeles prosecutors charged Inglewood Police Officer Jeremy Morse in the 2002 videotaped beating of a 16-year-old boy during an arrest at a gas station, but juries



It just shows how Inept the LA police dept really is.

OLD LAW

Most people know I love history. Well here is a bit of history that has come back to bite the USA on the butt, so to speak. A law written in 1789, called the Alien Tort Claims Act , which was originally written to fight piracy, is being used by foreigners, to use American courts to sue for human right violations overseas.



Right now the victims of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse are using the law to sue the private contractors that were running the prison. But the law has been used in other cases. Holocaust survivors used the law against the Swiss banks to retrieve assets that the Nazis took from them. And the people in Myanmar are using the law to sue an American company involved in a gas pipeline project. They are claiming slave labor.



Its this ability to sue in American courts for acts the victims claim are severe is what causes American businesses to think twice about setting up shop in another country or doing business in another country. But the law was intended to be used on crimes that the international community would deem particularly heinous. The case that brought the act to the Supreme Court was about a Mexican doctor who was detained illegally for a few hours during the investigation of the death of a DEA agent. Although the Court upheld the Act, they determined that the case did not meet the requirements and was thrown out.



While the courts are concerned about how these cases will affect American Foreign policy, the Bush administration is worried it will affect their war on Terror.