taks

because all politicians throw rocks while living in glass houses. the guy's a conservative, so he has to uphold a certain public image. that his personal life does not live up to that image is immaterial since he still needs "family values" voters to like him. you can find many similar examples across all public political views. i think we as a society have decided that the party line must be largely upheld, regardless of which line it is, and any deviation from that line automatically disqualifies the candidate. perhaps our views are warped by incessant media hype, but ultimately, it is our choice. too bad, yet another uncovered hypocrite. taks

UCCS, while being a major university, is primarily populated by commuters. they are expanding their on-campus housing through the addition of several new dorms, but in the end, most attendees live in town away from the school. not being allowed to drive would decimate their incoming population. my first school, UMR, was also a major university, as well as a "go away to school" type university, but we were so small and so remote that barring freshmen from driving would be tantamount to a crime on humanity. we were required to live in "on campus" housing the first year or two, but fraternities qualified, so i moved into one immediately. oh, for those that don't know, there are several "levels" of post-secondary public schools in the US. the first level, considered the major universities, consists of schools dubbed "The University of <insert state name here>". the next level would be "<insert state name here> State University" and on down the list to "Such and Such College," etc. there are, of course, others such as Rensaeller Polytechnic University, or Rutgers University, though those are usually private. taks

i tell you what, the wiki on the habeas corpus mess is rather detailed and much more complicated than i had originally assumed (it is fairly up to date, btw). i'd say this is no where near completely resolved. taks

never said it does, merely that the written document really holds no realistic power. i.e. those that it would apply to likely already abide by such rules. taks

no, but that's the only remotely relevant document pertaining to the guantanamo detainees, so it is relevant. hence it was a debate that had never occurred before, so there's nothing wrong with his opinion, particularly given that the original comment (by you as i recall) was much more general than the few cases this extended to. gonzales context was rather specific, whereas your comment was not. that's all... but he was speaking about a case that resulted from guantanamo, particularly regarding the few citizens that had been detained there. in that regard, and w.r.t. the constitution, he was correct, and the context is completely relevant. taks

books for my most recent classes were $100 each. many of the books i still buy are often $150 or more. btw, where i went to school, fraternities were the most economical living accomodations... by a large margin. fraternity members generally perform better, as an average, than the all men's average GPA as well. sororities do, too, but they're typically more expensive than dorms as well (nicer accommodations i suppose). taks

i think that was the context, however, and in terms of the current state of warfare in the world, yes, it is obsolete. none of the signatories are really battling with each other (at least, not to the point of gunfire) nor is there any legitimate chance of that in the reasonably near future. at the time it was originally conceived, there was a very real danger of more world war, particularly among developed nations. personally, i've always felt the geneva convention was "obsolete," or at least, unnecessary. the only countries that would sign up to something as such are the ones that would already behave in a manner consistent with "rules of war." really, it is nothing more than countries that are otherwise "civilized" agreeing they won't torture each other, or drop nerve gas, if push comes to shove. those we're battling now wouldn't ever sign up to something given the chance anyway. yes, it wasn't the brightest proclamation from an AG, that's for sure. btw, the geneva convention does not grant habeas corpus to POWs, whether signatories or otherwise, so w.r.t. guantanamo, it is mostly an irrelevant point. taks

this is a given but a side issue w.r.t. the FBI posting images of suspected terrorists. public transportation is always the most vulnerable target. it necessarily has to allow just about everyone on, and requires the most effort to monitor due to the sheer volume of participants every day. plus, such suckers are all trapped with no escape, making very easy targets. taks

indeed, the event horizon. i think the major point of the article, at least those scientists that contributed to it, is that this void is larger than they expected even considering statistical variation. whether or not this is a valid concern is beyond my understanding of astrophysics, however. taks

certainly mulder wasn't. taks

oh, OK. it was immediately after the wiretapping comment so i naturally connected the two. that said, suspension of habeas corpus has always been allowed in cases of extreme public interest, particularly with non-citizens. this is connected to the whole geneva convention being obsolete issue, too. the most obvious case of the gov't's right to suspend habeas corpus is w.r.t. prisoners taken during war activities. however, since the prisoners are not marked as enemy soldiers, indeed what could they be marked by, they really don't fall under the geneva convention. they aren't citizens (well, there may have been a few), so they aren't afforded constitutional protection either. sort of a conundrum. taks

i don't think we can really determine either way, and if the major information they have regards a ferry, then that's what we're going to hear about. plenty of other venues, such as hospitals, are inherently more safe anyway. remember, anytime there is power given to government agency to do the public will, there will be abuse... it is unavoidable. using that as an excuse to keep them from releasing such images, however, would be a travesty. taks

probably. if anything, this would fall under the illegal search and seizure category, not illegal detention (which is what the writ of habeas corpus addresses). make a call outside the US, and you've entered into different territory w.r.t. public safety. had they been tapping domestic calls, which i'm sure they do more than we're told (though probably with classified warrants), i'd hold a different opinion. taks

oh sure, butter us up... taks

i'm fine with beer after the 2nd day of hitting it hard, but the first day is an immense hangover. liquor, OTOH, leaves me with nothing but the shakes and a general lack of energy, but that's all due to a vitamin B deficiency brought about from any alcoholic consumption. taks

YEAH! i will say, however, that i don't disagree with tale's assessment. yes, i realize the <insert gov't agency here> has a bad track record in some regard, but they also have a good track record w.r.t. actually preventing attack since 9/11. most of the information they have is never publicly released, and this goes even for general police activities. how often do we see murder suspects with their pictures posted for all to see? the best way to keep the public safe is to keep them informed, though not necessarily with _all_ the information. if the FBI is posting this picture, the odds are high they have more information than simply "suspicious looking people on a ferry." taks

#2 is in the works... mulder and scully may return yet. taks

oh, i should add, good luck. i'd blather on about paying attention, not skipping class, doing your homework, not falling in with the party crowd, etc., but i did all those things and look how i turned out! edit: i should say, i didn't pay attention, skipped class, rarely did homework and basically anchored the party crowd. hehe. taks

now now, i have issues with all three of those. 1) yeah, doing a degree in your 30s is hard due to time constraints, but it is easier due to focus. in general, it is much easier to concentrate on your schoolwork when necessary, making your study efforts MUCH more efficient and ultimately, an A is much easier to obtain. i suppose part of that (for me) is simply because the classwork i've had to take for this degree has been all of my own choosing, i.e. no more silly electives. 2) i suppose that depends. yeah, however, the stress of most design engineering jobs is way higher than the world understands. we engineers comprise about 3% of the population yet develop almost 100% of the products used by society. 3) beer is a worse hangover for me. i drink bacardi and coke. taks

sweeping generalization. not true at all. the concept of habeas corpus really doesn't apply to the wiretapping thing anyway. taks

that's not the point... calling something obsolete and saying there shouldn't be rules are two different things. for example, one of the primary "requirements" of the geneva convention is the display of a uniform or identifying wardrobe. this doesn't happen anymore. the geneva convention IS obsolete, and gonzales was only pointing out the obvious - he wasn't making any statements regarding what _should_ be in place. heck, it was obsolete after vietnam. taks

it is, actually. i mean, exactly who out there do we engage that abides by even reasonable rules of war anymore? taks

really, not even that. i mean, they took the job under a democrat, likely replacing republicans from a previous administration that suffered an identical fate... it's not as if they didn't know it was coming, sheesh. congressional meddling in this affair was the real tragedy. they're really trying to overstep their constitutional bounds with this one. well, more so than they usually do i guess. taks

uh, no different than any other political appointee, and their names weren't dragged through the mud in the media. we wouldn't have even heard of them till somebody decided to take gonzales to task over the non-issue. so, sorry, your hypothesis that these guys were "dragged through the mud" is nonsense. taks

i'd lay off the mushrooms that grow on cow turds, if i were you. taks