I just heard my man, GWB, on the radio saying "...the oil belongs to the Iraqi people..."

Interesting concept. I guess he's looking at Iraq as a democratic country and in such a country, the resources of the country belong to the people. Kind of like in the U.S.A. Wait...

How dare these people commit this "act of war" against us? Don't they know they're prisoners? And have no rights?


Guantanamo suicides 'acts of war'
The suicides of three detainees at the US base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, amount to acts of war, the US military says.
The camp commander said the two Saudis and a Yemeni were "committed" and had killed themselves in "an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us".

Rights groups said the men who hanged themselves had been driven by despair.

President George W Bush expressed "serious concern" over the suicides at Guantanamo, which holds about 460 men captured in the US "war on terror".

There have been dozens of suicide attempts since the camp was set up four years ago - but none successful until now.

The men were found unresponsive and not breathing by guards on Saturday morning, said officials.

They were in separate cells in Camp One, the highest security section of the prison.

I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of warfare waged against us
Rear Adm Harry Harris
Camp commander

They hanged themselves with clothing and bed sheets, camp commander Rear Adm Harry Harris said.

He said medical teams had tried to revive the men, but all three were pronounced dead.

A military investigation into the deaths is now under way.

'Creative'

Rear Adm Harris said he did not believe the men had killed themselves out of despair.

"They are smart. They are creative, they are committed," he said.

"They have no regard for life, either ours or their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."

These people are despairing because they are being held lawlessly
Ken Roth
Human Rights Watch

All three men had previously taken part in some of the mass on-and-off hunger strikes undertaken by detainees since last August, and all three had been force-fed by camp authorities.

They had left suicide notes, but no details have been made available.

The US military said the men's bodies were being treated "with the utmost respect".

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Mr Bush had "expressed serious concern" at the deaths.

"He also stressed that it was important to treat the bodies humanely and with cultural sensitivity," he said.

A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Tony Blair described the suicide as a "sad incident".

'Heroes'

The suicides have sparked a chorus of protest from human rights groups including Amnesty International, which repeated demands for the camp to be closed.

William Goodman from the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights told AFP news agency the men were "heroes for those of us who believe in basic American values of justice, fairness and democracy".

Mr Goodman, whose organisation represents some 300 detainees, said the government had denied them that.

Ken Roth, head of Human Rights Watch in New York, told the BBC the men had probably been driven by despair.

"These people are despairing because they are being held lawlessly," he said.

"There's no end in sight. They're not being brought before any independent judges. They're not being charged and convicted for any crime."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/5068606.stm

Published: 2006/06/11 06:59:57 GMT

© BBC MMVI

Here's the part I like the best:

The US military said the men's bodies were being treated "with the utmost respect".

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Mr Bush had "expressed serious concern" at the deaths.

"He also stressed that it was important to treat the bodies humanely and with cultural sensitivity," he said.

They don't believe the were entitled to any, even basic human rights when they were alive but they promise to take good care of the bodies. And GWB is very concerned. Bra-VO!

This sounds kind of crazy but really, why not?

Spanish MPs push for apes' rights
Spanish Socialist MPs hope to persuade parliament to back a landmark project seeking human-like rights for apes such as chimpanzees and orang-utans.
Campaigners say the intelligence and self-awareness shown by apes mean they deserve rights to life, freedom and protection from torture.

Parliament's support would not be law, but would mean a commitment to the work of the NGO, the Great Ape Project.

The proposal has raised eyebrows and opposition in many areas.

One Spanish archbishop described the idea as ridiculous.

But for conservationists and Green MPs behind the proposal, it is a serious issue.

Best interests

Green MP Francisco Garrido, who proposed the motion, says these creatures "so close to humans" have until now been considered as "mere objects or play things".

I do think it is possible that we might want to extend this to other animals... perhaps as we discover more about elephants and dolphins
Peter Singer
Great Apes Project

"The great apes have been tortured, mistreated, enslaved and murdered," he says on his website. "The habitats where their live have been wiped out and, according to the UN, they are in serious danger of extinction."

His colleague, Green MP David Hammerstein, told the BBC's World Today programme: "They show a degree of intelligence and awareness and, indeed, self-awareness.

"Their social and emotional needs are at the same level as handicapped people, small children, elderly, mentally impaired people - and they all have rights."

He insisted that they were not asking that the apes be given "legal or human rights".

"What we are talking about is very basic legal protection of rights which will guarantee each chimpanzee, bonobo or orang-utan the opportunity to live out his or her life according to his or her best interest," he said.

The international Great Ape Project is supported by environmentalists, conservationists and scientists.

But Professor Steve Jones, of London University, says the idea is an "overstatement of what science, what biology can tell you".

"As most people know, chimpanzees share about 98% of our DNA, but bananas share about 50% of our DNA and we are not 98% chimpanzee or 50% banana, we are entirely human and unique in that respect," he said.

"It is simply a mistake to use an entirely human construct, which is rights, and apply it to an animal, which is not human. Rights come with responsibility and I've never seen a chimp being fined for stealing a plate of bananas."

Other species

Archbishop of Pamplona and Tudela Fernando Sebastian said he could not believe it was even being proposed.

"We don't give rights to some people - such as unborn children, human embryos, and we are going to give them to apes," he said.

But Peter Singer, founder of the Great Ape Project says it need not stop with apes.

"I do think it is possible that we might want to extend this to other animals, perhaps progressively, perhaps as we discover more about elephants and dolphins," he told the BBC.

"Or maybe even more familiar animals like dogs or pigs, we might think that we owe them more in terms of moral status than we are currently inclined to give them."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/5058986.stm

Published: 2006/06/08 12:29:25 GMT

© BBC MMVI

I contend that the term "strike out the side" is used incorrectly quite frequently, and by people who should know better. Three up, three down, all on strike-outs is striking out the side. You cannot, for instance, give up a lead-off double and then come back and "strike out the side". What about that first guy? Isn't he part of "the side"?

I have the radio on downstairs, a.m. (amplitude modulation not ante meridian), and I heard a commercial while I was down there

"Have you ever shook somebody's hand and just moments later you can't remember his name?" Blahblahblah starts to sounlike they have a drug for you and shure nuff they do. Didn't catch the name but it contains proprietary neuropeptides so get some if short term memory's a problem.