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Unlike a criminal case, the American courts will only have to prove on a balance of probabilities that the former Secretary of Defense authorised the "enhanced interrogation techniques" against the two plaintiffs. As disappointing the facts of the case are in terms of the poor light it paints the United States, I hope the plaintiffs win their case against Mr Rumsfeld. I hated the bastard when he was in government and he deserves to pay in some way for the crimes he perpetrated while in office. A precedent needs to be set to encourage others to follow suit. You can read more about the case here.
What's the point of airport security?
Jul. 5th, 2011 07:25 amA Nigerian-American man was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport last Wednesday because he was allegedly attempting to travel with a boarding pass that was "issued in another person's name and for a flight that had departed a day earlier." Worryingly for you and me, this was apparently not the first time he had travelled this way with his most recent such trip earlier in the week. But on Wednesday he forgot to take a shower.
There's some fascinating additional stuff in a blog post by Gulliver on The Economist. It includes an explanation given by security guru Bruce Schneier in 2008 about how a terrorist might exploit loopholes in airport security:
There's some fascinating additional stuff in a blog post by Gulliver on The Economist. It includes an explanation given by security guru Bruce Schneier in 2008 about how a terrorist might exploit loopholes in airport security:
- "To slip through the only check against the no-fly list, the terrorist uses a stolen credit card to buy a ticket under a fake name. "Then you print a fake boarding pass with your real name on it and go to the airport. You give your real ID, and the fake boarding pass with your real name on it, to security. They’re checking the documents against each other. They’re not checking your name against the no-fly list—that was done on the airline's computers. Once you're through security, you rip up the fake boarding pass, and use the real boarding pass that has the name from the stolen credit card. Then you board the plane, because they’re not checking your name against your ID at boarding."
20 Guardian Articles of the Week
Oct. 7th, 2010 03:30 pmWORLD:
The death of climate legislation [5 Oct]
US midterms set to be most expensive [4 Oct]
Commonwealth Games: are opening ceremonies worth it? [4 Oct]
Park51 drawings prove how far 'Ground Zero mosque' claims are from truth [3 Oct]
Over 100,000 Irish workers expected to leave country before 2012 [30 Sep]
TEA PARTY:
How the Tea Party movement began [5 Oct]
Tea Party activists invoke spirit of 1773 [5 Oct]
Profile: the main Tea Party groups [4 Oct]
The Tea Party: five to watch [4 Oct]
UK:
Liverpool board agree sale to Boston Red Sox owners [6 Oct]
Ken Clarke to unveil plans for prisoners to work 40-hour week [5 Oct]
How benefit cuts could affect you [5 Oct]
Can Britain ever be a fair society? [3 Oct]
Britons robbed of £1.7bn in last five years while on holidays abroad [3 Oct]
Could Dundee be the new Bilbao? [3 Oct]
Ed Miliband gets lukewarm welcome from north of England Jews [30 Sep]
MISC:
Are guidebooks facing extinction? [3 Oct]
Are the best pictures on Facebook or Flickr? [3 Oct]
Twitter and Facebook cannot change the real world, says Malcolm Gladwell [3 Oct]
IRONY:
Martin McGuinness condemns Real IRA's Derry bomb [5 Oct]
The death of climate legislation [5 Oct]
US midterms set to be most expensive [4 Oct]
Commonwealth Games: are opening ceremonies worth it? [4 Oct]
Park51 drawings prove how far 'Ground Zero mosque' claims are from truth [3 Oct]
Over 100,000 Irish workers expected to leave country before 2012 [30 Sep]
TEA PARTY:
How the Tea Party movement began [5 Oct]
Tea Party activists invoke spirit of 1773 [5 Oct]
Profile: the main Tea Party groups [4 Oct]
The Tea Party: five to watch [4 Oct]
UK:
Liverpool board agree sale to Boston Red Sox owners [6 Oct]
Ken Clarke to unveil plans for prisoners to work 40-hour week [5 Oct]
How benefit cuts could affect you [5 Oct]
Can Britain ever be a fair society? [3 Oct]
Britons robbed of £1.7bn in last five years while on holidays abroad [3 Oct]
Could Dundee be the new Bilbao? [3 Oct]
Ed Miliband gets lukewarm welcome from north of England Jews [30 Sep]
MISC:
Are guidebooks facing extinction? [3 Oct]
Are the best pictures on Facebook or Flickr? [3 Oct]
Twitter and Facebook cannot change the real world, says Malcolm Gladwell [3 Oct]
IRONY:
Martin McGuinness condemns Real IRA's Derry bomb [5 Oct]
Tags:
USA's Anti-Miscegenation Laws
Feb. 12th, 2008 09:15 pmAnti-miscegenation laws were laws that banned interracial marriage and sometimes interracial sex between whites and members of other races. In the Thirteen Colonies laws banning the intermarriage of whites and blacks were enacted as far back as the late 17th-century. Typically defining miscegenation as a felony, these laws prohibited the solemnization of weddings between persons of different races. All anti-miscegenation laws banned the marriage of whites and non-white groups, primarily blacks, but often also Native Americans and Asians. In many states, anti-miscegenation laws also criminalized cohabitation and sex between whites and non-whites. In addition, the state of Oklahoma in 1908 banned marriage "between a person of African descent" and "any person not of African descent", and Kentucky and Louisiana in 1932 banned marriage between Native Americans and African Americans. While anti-miscegenation laws are often regarded as a Southern phenomenon, many northern states had anti-miscegenation laws as well. Although anti-miscegenation amendments were proposed in United States Congress in 1871, 1912-1913 and 1928, a nation-wide law against racially mixed marriages was never enacted.
Until the 1950s, most states enforced anti-miscegenation laws. From 1913 to 1948, 30 out of the then 48 states did so. In 1967, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Loving v. Virginia that anti-miscegenation laws are unconstitutional. With this ruling, these laws were no longer in effect in the remaining 16 states that at the time still enforced them.
TRIVIA: When Barack Obama's parents got married in Hawaii in 1961, it was a felony in most of America!
Until the 1950s, most states enforced anti-miscegenation laws. From 1913 to 1948, 30 out of the then 48 states did so. In 1967, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Loving v. Virginia that anti-miscegenation laws are unconstitutional. With this ruling, these laws were no longer in effect in the remaining 16 states that at the time still enforced them.
TRIVIA: When Barack Obama's parents got married in Hawaii in 1961, it was a felony in most of America!
Iran faces $2.65bn US bomb award
Sep. 8th, 2007 12:45 amAs you sow, so you reap?
"A US federal judge has ordered Iran to pay $2.65bn to the families of 241 marines killed in a 1983 bombing of their Beirut barracks. The ruling allows nearly 1,000 family members and survivors to claim Iranian assets. Iran denies involvement in the bombing." -BBC
Nearly 20 years ago, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 as it was enroute to Dubai from Bandar Abbas, Iran. All 290 passengers aboard the aircraft died (including 66 children). The USS Vincennes was in Iranian territorial waters at the time of the incident. Till today, the American government denies wrongdoing, it has not accepted responsibility nor apologised for the incident. All they did was offer ex gratia in February 1996, a settlement of $61.8 million in compensation ($300,000 per wage-earning victim, $150,000 per non-wage-earner) for the 248 Iranians killed in the shootdown, but not for the aircraft itself. And even this was done only to discontinue a case brought by Iran in 1989 against the US in the International Court of Justice. But when Americans are killed, justice is when a judge orders Iran to pay 43x the amount they were willing to pay the innocent Iranian families for their tragic loss.
"I will never apologize for the United States of America — I don’t care what the facts are" -George Bush, then US Vice-President
"A US federal judge has ordered Iran to pay $2.65bn to the families of 241 marines killed in a 1983 bombing of their Beirut barracks. The ruling allows nearly 1,000 family members and survivors to claim Iranian assets. Iran denies involvement in the bombing." -BBC
Nearly 20 years ago, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 as it was enroute to Dubai from Bandar Abbas, Iran. All 290 passengers aboard the aircraft died (including 66 children). The USS Vincennes was in Iranian territorial waters at the time of the incident. Till today, the American government denies wrongdoing, it has not accepted responsibility nor apologised for the incident. All they did was offer ex gratia in February 1996, a settlement of $61.8 million in compensation ($300,000 per wage-earning victim, $150,000 per non-wage-earner) for the 248 Iranians killed in the shootdown, but not for the aircraft itself. And even this was done only to discontinue a case brought by Iran in 1989 against the US in the International Court of Justice. But when Americans are killed, justice is when a judge orders Iran to pay 43x the amount they were willing to pay the innocent Iranian families for their tragic loss.
"I will never apologize for the United States of America — I don’t care what the facts are" -George Bush, then US Vice-President
