Yet Another...

Here we go again - another open thread.

Comments

[Jane]

Oh dear.

Well I'm not one to demand someone come back from vacation, but a brief tour around the blogosphere shows we are sadly in need of direction. Does anyone else think Deb Frisch is about to explode?

And what's with Judge Diggs Taylor's attempted coup on the constitution?

And does anyone think that John Karr killed JonBenet? Is he simply trying to avoid a Thai jail?

And how about Iran taking down all those satellite dishes? Is this a pre-cursor to 8-22-06?

[lurker]

Yesterday’s Court Decision Proves the NSA Disclosures Harmed National Security

And AJStrata introduces a possibility of a dem political sell versus "National Security":

National Security Verses Impeaching Bush

We may be seeing more ads from Dems asking us if we are *safe* or have been made safer than before, if not, then vote for change. The swing voters should be wise to ask them for specific change before they vote for change. I am willing to bet that the next president will continue the Bush doctrine simply because he or she was left no choice, especially once he or she was given the opportunity to see all classified information.

One reason I hope the Republicans retain majority of the House and Senate is the Supreme Court judge nominees for the others that are about to retire.

As for tearing down the satellite dishes, it may be a way to inflict a tight dictatorship over the Iranian people. I wonder if the Iranian people will reach a boiling point to retaliate and start a revolution against Khameini. I don't know about August 22nd. One scenario would be that August 22nd came and went as normal business.

As for Diggs Taylor's ruling, I haven't come across any intelligent legal counsel that agreed with her ruling. The only ones that agreed with her are the ones that caved in to emotion because they believed it gave them ammunition to impeach Bush. Patterico has plenty to say about the blog reaction to her ruling. CQ thinks this will harm her reputation and any ruling set against this NSA program because even the ones like Orin Kerr and Volokh with their conclusions that this program is unconstitutional may be reluctantly forced to defend this program as they puzzled over Taylor's ruling.

As for the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, be ready for round two war. The latest I read was that USA is scrambling as fast as it could to provide humanitarian and reconstruction aid to offset the Hezbollah aid. Hope they find a way to freeze those incoming Iranian assets to force Lebanon currency and exchange rate to USD.

[caves412]

California Indian Tribes are destroying the lives of tribal members by disenrolling them from casino rich tribes.

The Pechanga band of Luiseno Indians has recently disenrolled 25% of their tribe in order to increase the wealth of the remaining members. There is a faction known as the splinter group that has been working to take over the tribe for 20 years. They have won. The USSC refused to hear the case of the Manuela Miranda family and after that decision, the disenrolled the Hunter Family, ancestors of an original allotee of reservation land and one who was PROVEN Pechanga by their own hired archaeologist.

Here is a portion of the story, the rest is at: www.pechanga.info

Harper's
August 6, 2000
Vince Beiser

A Paper Trail of Tears

How casino-rich tribes are dealing members out,

For many Native American tribes, the success of their gambling operations ends a run of misfortune and dispossession that dates back to when white men first dubbed them Indians. Since full-scale reservation gambling was sanctioned by Congress in 1988, its annual take has grown to some $20 billion, with more than one hundred tribes doling out profits directly to their members. The Pechanga (the tribe's insignia is shown here), whose reservation is a patch of largely useless scrub-and-rock desert southeast of Los Angeles, rake in well over $200 million a year from a 522-room casino/resort with eight restaurants and 2,000 slot and video-poker machines. The cut for each Pechanga adult: $290,000. But if being an Indian has taken on the imprimatur of wealth, high stakes have also led tribes to deal some of their people out. Bands from California to Connecticut have expelled thousands of long-standing members, often on flimsy grounds of inadequate Indian ancestry. By thinning their numbers, casino-operating tribes have figured out how to split the pot fewer ways.

This decision concerns the disenrollment of John Gomez Jr., whose entire extended family, consisting of 135 adults and all of their offspring, was declared in 2004 no longer to be Pechanga. Gomez and his relatives are descended from Manuela Miranda, who all sides agree was part of the Temecula tribe from which the Pechanga originate. Decades after the federal government established the Pechanga reservation in 1882, Miranda's granddaughter - Gomez's grandmother - left the impoverished area. But Gomez's people never stopped identifying themselves as Pechanga. Gomez's father returned to the reservation every summer when he was a boy, and later he took his children there for family occasions. In 1998, Gomez settled his own family a few miles from the reservation, in the town of Temecula, and he soon went to work for the tribe as its legal analyst. His brother has served as the executive chef of the casino's restaurant, his cousin was the casino's head of human resources, and other relatives helped draft the tribe's constitution.

In 2002, Gomez and a cousin were elected to the Pechanga enrollment committee. Deluged with applications after the opening of its first gambling hall in 1995, the tribe imposed a moratorium the following year on accepting new adult members, although children of existing members were still permitted to apply. Some of the new applicants were undoubtably opportunistic pretenders, but others had lived their entire family lives as unquestioned tribal members and simply never had reason to formally enroll. According to Gomez, he and his cousin found that the committee was not processing applications filed before the moratorium and was failing to enroll some members' children. Only after he called for an investigation, says Gomez, did questions about his own ancestry arise.

Please do not patronize Pechanga.

[Bob]

Looks like Young had a Mel Moment

"Well, I think they should; they ran the 'mom and pop' stores out of my neighborhood," the Sentinel, a newspaper serving the African-American community, reported. "But you see, those are the people who have been overcharging us — selling us stale bread and bad meat and wilted vegetables. And they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they've ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it's Arabs; very few black people own these stores."

Let's see if he gets the same treatment!

[Internet]

NSA opened its doors in November 1952-building on the legacy of its predecessor-the Armed Forces Security Agency.

The judge needs to talk with the Intelligence Committee members from 1952 on, he'll find the US has always done this and he is making a mistake.

Poppies are up this year, maybe that's why they like England. Drug dealers never wanted the NSA laws.

He did'nt kill her, it was probably an arranged murder.

Satellite dishes are traditionally attacked by Maoist, land problems, maybe they're afraid of Maoists.

Sorry about the lurker postings.

[lurker]

Michael Totten's trip to KIRYAT SHMONA. He predicts a far severe round two war coming soon - very different from what we saw this past month.

Israel is going to have to raise quality of its IDF to match what it used to be or better to better defend itself next time and be ready to go all the way.

[maryrose]

The Detroit ruling by that Whacko judge appointed by Carter will not stand. It will be overturned on appeal and her 15 minutes of fame will be over. Taylor is clueless as are dems who support her as to what is necessary to fight this war on terror. Voters will not support weak sob sisters when it comes to security.
Vandehei of the Washington Post is on a one man crusade pounding away at the repubs diminishing chances in November. His assertions are short-sighted and inaccurate.

[lurker]

After Taylor, how many of these Carter-elected / nominated judges remain active to this day?

[Rick Ballard]

VanderHei is steering by watching the rear view mirror. He's right with the Dem program of going backward while proclaiming progress. Jay Cost has a good piece up today that someone should read to VanderHei, preferably while drawing some pictures for him as visual aids.

Barring additional terror strikes (which the Democratic party is praying for) the "national issue" upon which the election will turn is the economy rather than security. The astonishingly thoughtful and fiercely independent herd of cattle which must be swayed in every district in order to assure victory have their big brown eyes fixed on the prices at the gas pump. Given the current supply/demand situation (approaching glut status) there is going to be an appreciable drop in those prices over the next few months. The Republicans have nothing to do with it but the cow's cuds will taste better none the less - and a contented cow makes for a happy incumbent.

It doesn't hurt that the balance of the economy is in fine shape, either (except in MI where Granholm and Stabenow may pay the price for the automakers incompetence) but the herd's mental acuity doesn't quite rise to the level needed to appreciate how well the economy is, in fact, performing. That's rather unsurprising given the business press' ability to darken the cloud behind every rainbow.

[Jane Woodworth]

Speaking of the economy, the deficit has been cut in half - (Bush predicted we would achieve this in 2010) largely due to the tax cuts. Of course it didn't make news.

As a result of the Indian casino's the per capita income of every indian in this country is over $1 million. That of course does not mean that every indian is a millionaire.

Rulings like Diggs Taylor's really piss me off. If the woman doesn't understand the law she shouldn't be making it.

Jon-Benet a contract hit? Why?

[maryrose]

Rick:
I read the Jay Cost article and found it to be most helpful and explanatory. Dems need to learn that wishing doesn't make it so.
Jane Woodworth;
I don't see the logic in the JonBenet Hit thesis. Something definitely unsettling happened here. I think Barr is trying to avoid prosecution and wants to be extradited to the USA because he'll get a better deal here.

[Hunter]

The Pechanga Band has been skirting the law for quite some time.
They were threatened with closure after putting in 2,000 additional machines, unlawfully.
They contributed $4 MILLION dollars to Cruz Bustamante, againts election laws.
They have eliminated families from their rightful birthright.
They banished legitimate tribal members while placing a white man with no Indian blood on the Tribal Council.

All because $270,000 a year was not enough. There are similar happenings at Chukchansi, Redding Rancheria.

Politicians in California get so much in donations from Tribes, that they won't get involved.

In my family's case, there are affadavits from 90 years ago that prove heritage for the mid 1800's, yet, someone who joined the tribe 20 years ago, voted to disenroll us.

Mark Macarro, spokeman of the Tribe has been part of this planned elimination of tribal members for some time.

I encourage all who read this to visit the website at www.pechanga.info

[Soylent Red]

He's right with the Dem program of going backward while proclaiming progress.

Since to Dems peace equals the absence of conflict, it would appear that their strategy is to back slowly away from the rattlesnake until it is out of sight.

Contrast that with the apparent current Republican policy of poking at the snake with a sharp stick until you kill it with a lucky shot or it slithers away.

If Dems want to pursue their policy into the '06 and '08 elections, fine. But what the Republicans need right now is to draw a distinct contrast.

To extend the analogy, the Republicans need a guy who will say, "My plan is to put on the tall boots and gloves, wade in and chop the snake into pieces with a corn knife. Then I'm going to find its den and gas out the rest of them. Because if I don't, one of these things will eventually crawl up on my porch and bite the baby."

Let the Dems dither about policy and multilateralism. My senses tell me that people want decisive action, and the Republicans are appearing to vacillate.

Cattle like to know they're secure.

As for JonBenet...

This Karr guy is obviously a sick freak of some sort. But he didn't do it. This is some kind of twisted attempt to get a linkage with the object of his obsession.

More importantly, wouldn't it be nice if all the children who are killed or went missing got this much public attention?

[Syl]

My opinion is that Israel did so much damage to Hezbollah that Iran is worried. All the victory talk is just saving face. They know we're watching every move Iran and Syria make.

For a regime that said it wouldn't negotiate, it's now willing to go back to the table. They're eating up all the talk from the West about Israel's 'failure'. It puts Iran in a better position.

And Iran sure as heck doesn't want its people to know the magnitude of the damage. Neither do they want their people to know of the embarrassment of sanctions being imposed.

And they're worried about an American induced revolt.

Iran is extremely paranoid at the moment. Well, the mullahs tend that way anyway, but Iran is getting way too close to crunch time.

I don't think Iran will pull anything on the 22nd. But NoKo may. And Iran probably thinks that will scare us into capitulation? Ha! It'll only strengthen our resolve.

I hope to God I'm right. Because if Iran really and truly believes it won and won big there'll be hell coming soon.

[Jane]

More importantly, wouldn't it be nice if all the children who are killed or went missing got this much public attention?

Well sort of, except I can't imagine how the last ten years have been for the Ramsey's. It wasn't exactly great attention for them. I can't imagine losing a child. I really can't imagine losing a child and then being accused of killing them. Death might be a relief.

[maryrose]

Iran finally believes that we will in fact bomb them if they don't straighten up and fly right. That's why they are willing to negotiate now. We will see how this all plays out.
Syl;
I agree with you; crunch time for Iran and Iraq as well.

[windansea]

I don't get all this talk that Hezbollah won

I see video of southern Lebanon on CNN and it looks like Germany after WWII....blown to smithereens

Northern Israeli towns appear to just have cosmetic damage from random rockets

Maybe the hezbots won the propaganda war, but not the "war" war

[danking70]

Is NK testing a bomb for Iran? I thought there stuff came from the same supplier.

[boris]

Larry C Johnson:

there are emerging indicators that Bush and Blair exaggerated the truth about the actual readiness of the so-called plot. And yes, I mean so-called plot.

Larry in a tin foil hat over at Huff-n-Puff

[maryrose]

Nasrallah has declared victory for Hezbollah but I like the Krauthammer article today that talks about what needs to be done quite quickly in order to maximize the inroads the Israeli army has made.We in the USA cannot blow this small window of opportunity to begin to resolve this situation and save Lebanon from the Hezzies Syria and Iran.

[maryrose]

Larry Johnson at this point is suffering some severe mental illness. I think that is why he was sidelined out of the service.

[Jane]

Iran finally believes that we will in fact bomb them if they don't straighten up and fly right.

I think that is wishful thinking. Iran is hankering for war.

[clarice]

Hezbollah--Half of its fighting force was killed. http://americanthinker.com/comments.php?comments_id=5876

Iran is suffering economically. It has a huge unemployment problem. The people do not consider themselves Arabs and have no interest in Hamas or Hezbollah. How will Iran be able to replace the billions in ruined Hezbollah infrastructure, continue to support Sadr in Iraq and meet its own needs?

[paulv]

If IDF has to fight Hezzies in Lebanon again they should use a Blitzkrieg style attack. Tanks roll deep behind Hezzie's lines and cut off supply lines. Encircle and destroy. Clinton used terror bombing against the Serbs and that technique is effective.

[Jane]

Clarice,

I hope you had a nice vacation! I don't think the leaders of Iran could care less about their people. So they suffer. Big whoop! The fine line they walk is between rebellion and no rebellion, and things like taking down all the satellite dishes is aimed at quelling dissent.

My Iranian friend is out of the country now, but I bet she would tell me that they are closing in on the students as well. A few dead sophmores as a result of a protest will do wonders for keeping down the ruckus.

Sadly our best hope lies with those same students. I don't hear that they are making much progress.

[windansea]

ULDER, Colorado (CNN) -- John Mark Karr gave authorities graphic details about the condition of JonBenet Ramsey's body that have been kept secret for nearly a decade, a U.S. law enforcement source told CNN on Friday.

Those details were known only to the medical examiner and the investigators investigating the December 26, 1996 slaying of the 6-year-old beauty pageant competitor, the law enforcement official said.

cnn.com

[boris]

If pervs gather on the internet to swap their grisly stories for mutual entertainment, this creep may in fact know details he learned directly from the perp, or 2nd hand from scuttlebut.

[clarice]

windansea--the guy was obsessed with the story and the Boulder LE community leaks like a sieve. The only conclusive evidence would be a DNA match which I don't think will happen. The traces of it under her fingernails could come from anywhere and the stuff in her panties might have come from those who made and packed them (per forensic experts).

Rick, thanks for the hat tip re Jay Cost who I think it fabulous.

Jane, I feel so sorry for the Iranis, a mostly decent people who deserve better and who have been trying hard to get rid of the Mullahs.(They seem to have better luck offing the revolutionary guards thru airplane "accidents".) The military are pros...when they join in, it's the end for the nutters but so far they don't seem to be moving.

[PeterUK]

Clarice,
The Persians have suffered under the Arab yoke for centuries,it is worth remembering that Islam is a creed imposed by conquest in Iran,there are still may adherents to the Zoroastrian faith.

[clarice]

My son stood up for his Iranian friend's wedding and my husband did for one of our friends..in both cases, the ceremonies were more Zorastrian than Moslem.In any event, the Iranis for the most part consider themselves the cultural and social superiors of the Arabs and have no beef with Israel. Indeed one of the highest officials in Israel is from Iran and Israel beams a radio program there in Farsi which gets lots of supportive calls from Iranis. When this official was on, people from his former hometown called in.

As for the removal of the satellites--the Mullahs have been bitching about them for some time. They are illegal though no one seems to comply with that law.

[PeterUK]

"the Iranis for the most part consider themselves the cultural and social superiors of the Arabs "

Well ain't dat de trut,the Persians must have been appalled by the Clampetts finding oil.

Is ther any reason why portable satellite dishes could not be smuggled into Iran.

[clarice]

I think they're easy enough to make. I remember seeing people in Afghanistan fabricating them from scrap bits.

[Sue]

What happens if NK actually tests a nuke?

[windansea]

What happens if NK actually tests a nuke?

move to Mexico :)

[Florence Schmieg]

Did anyone see the Presdident speaking this morning from Camp David. He seemed listless and lacking in energy, except when getting riled up about the NSA surveillance opinion, as he should be. Otherwise he seemed distracted and simply read the statement on the economy. Something was wrong.

[Jane]

there are still may adherents to the Zoroastrian faith.

PUK

That's my favorite religion (well based on the little I know of it.

Windansea,

I've been all over the map on this but I think now there is more of a chance Karr is the right guy. There is that teddybear picture (assuming it is true) and the whole name sign off in the yearbook which matches the sign off initials of the ransom letter.
Of course if he wasn't in Boulder....

[PeterUK]

"What happens if NK actually tests a nuke?"

The country which gave the world the No Dong,is quite likely to present us with the No Bang.
North Korea is where a puppy isn't just for Christmas,if you are careful it will make sandwiches for the rest of January,a place where "Taking the Train" means exactly what it says.It it works who will Kim Jong Unwell trust with it?

[Slartibartfast]

Keep stringing together open threads like this, Tom, and you'll become Atrios.

Which, you dont' want to go there.

[PeterUK]

Clarice,
Wonder if the banning of satellite dishes has anything to do with someone breaking into broadcasts.

[Slartibartfast]

The country which gave the world the No Dong

(Known in certain select missile defense circles as "dongless")

[PeterUK]

Slartibartfast,
TM is preparing himself to emerge from the well on the 22nd,then you will see a thing or two.

[Sue]

I wish, just once, Larry Johnson would post somewhere where you comments are deleted or moderated. I would love to have a real debate with him.

[Sue]

How it should read...I'm not sure who typed that other post... ::grin::

I wish, just once, Larry Johnson would post somewhere where your comments aren't deleted or moderated. I would love to have a real debate with him.

[windansea]

TM is preparing himself to emerge from the well

yikes....will he be wearing a dress made from the skins of seminticleos??

PUK...ROTFLing at the Clampetts and the No Dong

Clarice, Jane etc...I am very suspicious of this sicko in Benet case...he could be an attention seeker or the real deal...I caught a quick glimpse of his handwriting next to the ransom note on TV....it looked very similar to me....they didn't say the date of his sample....but no worries he is a Rove plant to distract from yadda yadda yadda

[windansea]

TM to semanticleo

it mixes the metaphor with the dangling participle

[PeterUK]

Windansea,
Probably a hat made from Semanticleo,perhaps the dangling participle has become the past participle.

[Other Tom]

Hi Clarice, and welcome back--you've been missed and badly needed.

I wish I could be optimistic about the fact that Iran can't replenish Hezbollah and also meet its own needs, but then I look at North Korea and reflect on how little a nation's own needs count in the calculus of zany despots. I keep hoping for those people to revolt, and the sooner the better.

I'll defer to you when it comes to dissecting the opinion of the lunatic Carter appointee in Detroit in yesterdays' NSA decision. Suffice to say it is indeed a target-rich environment. Perhaps the only thing more hysterically funny is the NY Times editorial on the subject. I have very high confidence that the 6th Circuit is going to shred this cuckoo opinion in a trice. A small horse, quickly curried, as Frankfurter (or somebody) said.

[clarice]

Thanks.OT. I think we ought to start a When Will the Family Give Pinch The Hook pool.

Taranto made a good point today. All of those who said they had standing because they were in regular contact with terrorists probably would be subjects for a FISA warrant in any event. (I really can't understand Hitchens serving as a plaintiff in that case!)

[Barney Frank]

Nice to see you back clarice,

"How will Iran be able to replace the billions in ruined Hezbollah infrastructure, continue to support Sadr in Iraq and meet its own needs?

$70 oil?

I'm afraid the last half of this year may feature a little more excitement around the world than is strictly healthy.

[PeterUK]

Has anyone looked up the political affiliations of the plaintiffs?

"Tara McKelvey, Larry Diamond, and Barnett Rubin indicate that they must conduct extensive research in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, and must communicate with individuals abroad whom the United States government believes to be terrorist suspects or to be associated with terrorist organizations. In addition, attorneys Nancy Hollander, William Swor, Joshua Dratel, Mohammed Abdrabboh, and Nabih Ayad."

The bit about communicating with terrorist suspects is nice,something we all do of course,have these people lost all moral compass in their egocentric world,is there nothing outside their infantile belief that freedom has no moral boundaries?