It seems that the White House may finally decide to close Gitmo:

The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility and move its terror suspects to military prisons elsewhere, The Associated Press has learned.

Senior administration officials said Thursday a consensus is building for a proposal to shut the center and transfer detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where they could face trial.

Another prison mentioned is the naval brig in Charleston, SC.

“The damage done to the United States goes beyond undermining our status as a global leader on human rights,” Cardin said. “Our policies and practices regarding Guantanamo and other aspects of our detainee policies have undermined our authority to engage in the effective counterterrorism measures that are necessary for the very security of this country.”

Officials say that Bush, who also has said he wants to close the facility as soon as possible, is keenly aware of its shortcomings.

His wife, Laura, and mother, Barbara, along with Rice and longtime adviser Karen Hughes, head of the public diplomacy office at the State Department, have told him that Guantanamo is a blot on the U.S. record abroad, particularly in the Muslim world and among European allies.

Bush has said the United States first has to determine what to do with the detainees there. The administration says some countries have refused to accept terror suspects from their territory.

Earlier this month, former Secretary of State Colin Powell called for the immediate closure of the prison, saying it posed an untenable foreign policy risk and was irreparably harming the U.S. image abroad.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said in statement that “removing the stain Guantanamo has left on our foreign policy” is long overdue.

“It also goes a long way toward returning America’s moral authority in the world and addressing the mistakes which have set us back in the fight against terrorism,” said Kerry, the Democrats’ 2004 presidential candidate.

I don’t know whether or not it’s too late to right what has been so badly wrong in Guantanamo, but the sooner it’s closed the sooner the United States can get back to establishing some credibility in the realm of human rights.

Guantanamo, Human Rights, War on Terror, US, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

This is facinating. I had no idea my home state had the same GDP as Singapore. I certainly never would have guessed that Utah’s was comparable with Ireland! What do they make in Utah?

I’ve got to admit that it’s funny to see Iran in place of Louisiana. I bet there’s some pissed off rednecks, “Lerleane, bastards done covered Loosiana with I-ran. Sonsabitches.”

map, gdp, economics, US, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Here’s that big moment every American has been waiting for, sick of being accosted by their European friends for his country’s energy addiction [from The Guardian]:

Now, when faced with criticism over our polluting ways, Americans can say, “Yeah, but China’s worse, and you let them sign the Kyoto Protocols, exempting them from any responsibility to reduce emissions because they weren’t emitters during the Industrial Era, as though who’s producing the smog makes any difference when you’re breathing it.”

Add a defiant “Huh!” for good measure.

I note that because the number three nation, Indonesia, is on the list largely due to the heavy deforestation therein:

Some say it is the “Hidden Cause of Global Warming.”

Then again, isn’t global warming just some kooky new boogie man to feed our voracious hunger for things to be scared of?