Not Totally Random Thoughts

I'm back from my travels. My contract proposal is in. So it's time to see what's going on in the world. I'm not ready to comment on the Hezbollah-Israeli war yet other than to say that killing civilians is still wrong. Juan Cole is doing some fine reporting at Informed Comment. So is Chris Albritton at Back to Iraq.

In the news that is more manageable:

Guantanamo detainees are using an al-Quaeda training manual as a means for organizing while in captivity. It sounds nefarious--an al-Qaeda manual--but what the article describes are classic techniques used by prisoners to maintain morale and communication. You know, the kind of things that Americans found so heroic among our boys held prisoner in Vietnam.

Arlen Specter seems poised to give away the store to BushCheney on electronic eavesdropping. The so-called compromise on FISA courts announced with such fanfare last week looks more like total capitulation Checks and balances? A quaint 18th Century concept that BushCheney believes has no place in a 21st Century world. Senator Specter seems to agree.

Other senators are not quite as accommodating as Specter. At least not yet. BushCheney is pushing hard to simply enact into law the military tribunals recently rejected by the Supreme Court. So far, a few senators are insisting on something a bit more in keeping with traditional legal concepts.