Dave Neiwart of Orcinus has an excellent analysis of reaction on the right to Bush's immigration reform plan :

The uproar over George W. Bush's proposal for immigration reform has revealed a significant rift within the American right -- namely, between its corporatist element, whose primary interest lies in exploiting the low wages that immigrants provide, and its ideological element, which sees immigrants as part of a brown tide on the verge of permanently swamping the majority white culture.

The Bush plan comes down squarely on the side of the corporatists -- unsurprisingly, since those interests throughout his administration have held sway in nearly every aspect of governance. That in turn has spurred the intense anger of the ideological right, who are hotly denouncing Bush's "betrayal of America."

Update: Janice Fine, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, tells us the three serious flaws of Bush's plan:

As world criticism mounts against the U.S. policy of holding detainees at Guantanamo for 2 years without charges or trials, a disturbing fact emerges:

While Washington has promised tribunals, it also continues to expand the prison. Eventually it will have 1,100 cells, raising further questions of what the future holds for the mission.

There are still 660 prisoners at Guantanamo, including 3 teenage boys. While 88 have been released, new arrivals have taken their places.

Johan Steyn, one of a panel of judges who sit in Britain's House of Lords, recently said holding the tribunals in Cuba would be a "monstrous failure of justice."

....Some U.S. lawmakers also have raised concerns about prolonged delays in the detainees' cases. Others say holding tribunals outside the jurisdiction of U.S. courts would make trials unfair.

Many critics say the United States has abandoned its judicial principles in its zeal to prevent another terrorist attack on its soil. "You have people sitting there for two years with rights under international law being utterly ignored by the administration," said Jamie Fellner, U.S. director of Human Rights Watch.

There have been 34 suicide attempts by the prisoners--including one this week.

Guantanamo turns 2 years old today. How depressing.

In New Jersey, one of the few states that has refused to supply clean needles to heroin addicts, the majority of new AIDS cases result not from sex but from sharing needles.

To Joseph F. Vitale, a Democrat from Woodbridge who sponsored the unsuccessful bill in the Senate, New Jersey is dancing on the edge of public health disaster. "You have thousands of people who use needles regularly, and they share them with their friends," Mr. Vitale said. "In the end, what happens is the spread of AIDS has reached critical levels."

The Health Department estimates that nearly half of the state's intravenous drug abusers are already infected with H.I.V. and even more with the potentially deadly hepatitis C.

New Jersey has the 5th highest AIDS rate in the country. It is the only state where the drug use is the predominant cause of the disease. As long the state's citizens continue to elects legislators with beliefs like this one about needle laws, it's likely not going to change:

Some think it is wrong for the Legislature to take action that condones illegal drug use and are uncomfortable with the message that such a messure would send. "I don't believe the government should encourage illegal behavior and I believe that is what this law would do," said Assemblyman Michael J. Doherty, a Republican from Warren County.

[Title of post from Neil Young's song, The Needle and the Damage Done]

The wait is up to 9 hours for Americans to get fingerprinted at Brazilian airports. A stronger policy goes into effect Monday.

Brazil denies it is retaliating for the U.S. policy, but Judge Julier da Silva's order to begin fingerprinting contained tough rhetoric, calling the U.S. program "absolutely brutal, threatening to human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis."

Turkey has officially abolished the death penalty:

The Turkish ambassador to the Council of Europe made the pledge on Friday by signing protocol number 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The protocol obliges countries to abolish the death penalty in all circumstances, including times of conflict.

Now Turkey is closer to admission to the European Union which requires that its members do not impose the death penalty.

"The death penalty is the ulitimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It violates the right to life. It is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent. It has never been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishment".

There has been a moratorium on the death penalty in Turkey since 1984. Turkey previously agreed to ban the death penalty in peacetime, but it now has agreed to ban it in all instances, including war time.

The EU is to decide in December 2004 if Turkey, a secular but mainly Muslim country, has made enough progress in democratic reforms to open membership talks.

We so hope this isn't true. If it is, it's sickening.

Yet, we're hard-pressed to come up with another explanation for the electroshock burns on this man's feet and arms and face. Go look at the pictures for yourselves.

Sadiq Zoman Abrahim, 55 years old, was detained this past August in Kirkuk by US Soldiers during a home raid which produced no weapons. He was taken to the police office in Kirkuk, questioned by the Americans there, then transferred to Kirkuk Airport Detention Center.... It was from this detention center he was transferred to Tikrit Airport Detention Center.

...the family searched the hospital, but was unable to find him. While there, hospital staff (who wish to remain anonymous) informed them they had someone in a coma by the name of Abrahim Sadiq Zoman, who was dropped off two days prior by the Americans. According to staff at the hospital, the only information provided by the Americans was the incorrect name and a medical report which said Mr. Abrahim had suffered a heart attack.

....The doctors at the hospital in Tikrit, after performing diagnostic tests, informed the family that Mr. Abrahim had suffered massive head trauma, electrocution, and other bruises on his arms. An EKG proved that his heart was functioning perfectly. The family was told that he was in an unrecoverable state and would be in a coma for the rest of his life from the obvious trauma suffered.
....Now, today, three months later Mr. Abrahim lies dormant, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, blinking slowly from time to time, yet completely unresponsive to any stimuli.

Among the questions raised:

How do you explain the massive head trauma, the burns on the bottoms of his feet caused by electrocution and bruises on his arms, if he had only suffered a heart attack as the medical report provided by the Americans states?

Back in March, 2002, we wrote about a pre-dawn raid at the University of Idaho by 120 armed FBI agents investigating visa fraud. A professor, who was present, recounted what happened. A lawyer who also was present provided these comments.

Almost a year later, one of the arrested students was charged yesterday with providing material support to terrorists.

The indictment said Al-Hussayen, 34, set up Web sites for Islamic organizations that espoused violence against the United States and that he tried to raise funds and recruit new members for a violent holy war, or jihad, in Israel, Chechnya and elsewhere.

The indictment contends Al-Hussayen maintained bank accounts which he used to funnel at least $300,000 to the Islamic Assembly of North America. The government claims the group has raised and sent money to support terrorist-related activities starting in February 2000.