by TChris

President Bush "courted his Christian base" in a speech at Michigan's Calvin College, only to find that not all Christians are of like mind. About a third of the Christian college's 300 faculty members signed a letter criticizing the values underlying the administration's policies.

"As Christians, we are called to be peacemakers and to initiate war only as a last resort," it said. The letter criticized economic policies that it said favored the wealthy over the poor, and faulted Bush for mixing religion and politics and exhibiting an "intolerance" for others' views. It cited "conflicts between our understanding of what Christians are called to do and many of the policies of your administration."

Some of the graduating students wore buttons bearing the phrase "God is not a Democrat or a Republican."

It's been more than two years since we invaded Iraq. How are the Iraqis doing? Not so good, according to this new joint Iraqi-U.N. report. In fact, living conditions are called "tragic."

The report estimates the number of Iraqis who have died since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 somewhere between 18,000 and 29,000. Of those deaths, 12 percent were children under 18 years of age, meaning that between 2,100 and 3,500 children have been killed in the war thus far, according to ILCS data.

It's the children who have been suffering the most:

Raw Story reports on the 2002 Koran Incident at Guantanamo. Here's a Miami Herald report from February, 2002.

Friday's episode occurred when a guard entered the 8-by-8-foot chain-link-fence cell of a prisoner who was away, and was going through the prisoner's ''comfort items'' -- which include towels and a toothbrush, two buckets, personal hygiene products and a Pentagon-provided copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

''Another detainee thought that an MP kicked a Koran,'' said Army Lt. Col. Bill Costello. ``One started shouting, `Allahu Akbar.' So other detainees starting shouting, `Allahu Akbar.' Col. Carrico has said this happened before.'' The protest was contained to a 12-unit cellblock, he reported, and guards quieted it ``in a couple of minutes.''After that, the U.S. announced its official policy of respect for the Koran and the detainees' religious beliefs.

But, Raw Story reports that many of the mainstream press articles on the 2002 incident have disappeared:

by TChris

David Corn hopes that the Pentagon's latest attempt to mislead will receive due attention. The Bush administration has a history of misleading the public, and the public didn't seem to care when it came time to vote the liars out of office. Is there reason to think that the public will notice that the Pentagon is misleading about abuse of the Koran?

Lawrence Di Rita, a Pentagon spokesman, claims the Pentagon has "received no credible and specific allegations" of Koran desecration or mistreatment at Guantanamo.

How then does Di Rita explain the International Committee of the Red Cross' claim--which became news yesterday and today--that in 2002 and 2003 it told the Pentagon multiple times that prisoners in Guantanamo had said that US officials there showed disrespect for the Koran?

Reports of Koran desecration have been circulated for two years. The Red Cross maintains that the reports are credible and that they were shared with the Pentagon on several occasions. It's easy for the Pentagon to dismiss every disturbing report as lacking credibility, just as it's easy to blame Newsweek for problems that are rooted in the administration's invasion of Iraq. Misleading is a tactic that has served the administration well, and no matter how often the lies are exposed, the tactic continues to provide cover for an administration that refuses to be held accountable for its mistakes.

"Ghost Air," the CIA Gulfstream that flew detainees around the world for interrogation, on occasion went to Sweeden. The Washington Post reports that the Swedish authorities have released their own report on the CIA's treatment of prisoners in this secret renditon program. This paragraph says it all:

"Should Swedish officers have taken those measures, I would have prosecuted them without hesitation for the misuse of public power and probably would have asked for a prison sentence," the investigator, Mats Melin, said in an interview. He said he could not charge the CIA operatives because he was authorized to investigate only Swedish government officials, but he did not rule out the possibility that other Swedish prosecutors could do so.

Update 5/24: 5 of the jurors who convicted Bruce Lisker now say they would not have convicted him had they known about the possible involvement of a second person:

"I feel that I made a mistake," juror Linda R. Kelly, a retiree living in San Diego County, told the Los Angeles Times for an article published Tuesday. "Hopefully, he will get a new trial and he can have the rest of his life."

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original post: 5/21/05

22 years ago, a teenager named Bruce Lisker called 911 screaming:

It was 11:26 a.m. on March 10, 1983. "My mom — she's been stabbed!" Bruce Lisker cried into the phone. "She's been stabbed.

Later, when the officers arrived,

"Do you believe in God?" a tearful Lisker asked one of the officers. "Will you pray for my mother?"

Alberto Gonzales has announced the creation of a federal sex offender database. This is as unnecessary as a Victims' Rights Amendment to the Constitution.

48 states have sex offender registries online. They are indiscriminate and include not only predatory child molesters but non-violent offenders convicted of very minor crimes - even peeping toms.

Recent crime statistics undercut support for the rash of Meagan's Laws. Treatment works for many offenders. Studies show that sex offenders have a lower incidence of recidivism than other types of offenders.

As I've said in earlier posts,

Considering that most offenders' victims are known to them, i.e, not strangers, community notification seems unnecessary in a great many cases--and counterproductive. Registration causes great difficulty for ex-offenders both in finding housing and jobs--key ingredients to staying out of trouble and re-integrating with society in a positive manner.

In additon,

by TChris

It's easy for police and prosecutors to say "case closed" after a suspect confesses guilt, but -- as Charles Hickman's confession demonstrates -- not all admissions of guilt are grounded in fact.

Prosecutors are baffled about why Charles Hickman, 21, confessed to the [murder of a 10 year old girl] earlier this year, telling authorities that the fourth-grader was kidnapped and killed after she saw people making methamphetamine.

DNA testing of semen recovered from the girl's body now points to a different suspect. Murder charges against Hickman have been dropped. As is usually the case when a confession proves to be false, the reason Hickman told the story is unclear.

"I don't think the science in the case lies," said Hickman's attorney, John Plummer III. "I think the police have to follow what the facts are and not speculate as to why people say what they say sometimes."

Sen. Bill Frist trotted out Bishop Harry Jackson today, a black minister who supports Janice Rogers Brown. His support appears based on her opposition to gay marriage and support for heterosexual, conservative family values.

Bishop Harry Jackson said judges like Brown are needed to stop courts from overruling the people with decisions like those requiring the legalization of same-sex marriage. Jackson said black and white churches are uniting to restore "America's moral compass."

Who is he? He's a member of a group called "The High Impact Leadership Coalition," which, according to at least this writer, practices bigotry.

But don't take her word for it. Check out the group's inaugural press release:

Oh, the hypocisy of Republicans. Now they want an up-or-down vote on all nominees. That wasn't the case in the 90's when Clinton did the nominating. In fact, it's never been the case. Tremendous deference always has gone to the Senators from the nominee's home state.

• Denver lawyer Jim Lyons was nominated for the 10th Circuit in 1999. Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard blocked a vote on his nomination. The reason: Allard thought he was too partisan, because he had represented the Clintons and wrote a report on Whitewater. Lyons, a well-respected lawyer, had the support of Colorado's other republican Senator, Ben Nighthorse-Campbell, as well as that of Republican senators from other states. But Allard refused a vote and Lyons eventually withdrew his nomination.

A new Associated Press poll shows that 78% of Americans believe judicial nominees should be scrutinized by Congress and do not think Presidents should be given the benefit of the doubt.

More than three-quarters of Americans say the Senate should aggressively examine federal judicial nominees and not just approve them because they are the president's choices.

That's one of the few aspects of this divisive issue that gets widespread agreement, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Friday....The poll found 78 percent believe the Senate should take an "assertive role" examining judicial nominees rather than just give the president the benefit of the doubt. There were majorities among each political affiliation - Democrats, Republicans and independents.

Saddam Hussein's lawyer today announced he will file a lawsuit against those responsible for publishing photos of him in his underwear.

"We will sue the newspaper and everyone who helped in showing these pictures," Saddam's chief lawyer Ziad Al-Khasawneh told the BBC Friday.

President Bush said he doesn't think the photos will cause a violent reaction in the Arab world.

"I don't think a photo inspires murderers," Bush told the press at the White House. "These people are motivated by a vision of the world that is backward and barbaric ... I think the insurgency is inspired by their desire to stop the march of freedom."