Big Dan's Big News May 14, 2008

● Washington Post: System of Neglect. As Tighter Immigration Policies Strain Federal Agencies, The Detainees in Their Care Often Pay a Heavy Cost. Some 83 detainees have died in, or soon after, custody during the past five years. Most of the people who died were young. Thirty-two of the detainees were younger than forty, and only six were seventy or older.

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Here's your proof we have a fascist Supreme Court! Corporate-owned Supreme Court can't even field a team for an important decision! 4 of 9 justices had to recuse themselves because of conflicts of interest with big multinational corporations! What kind of a Supreme Court do we have? Fascism: the blending of government & corporations........and these are the same guys ruling on laws that affect us all!

South African Apartheid Suit to Proceed

The Supreme Court said Monday that it can’t intervene in an important dispute over the rights of South African apartheid victims to sue US corporations in US courts, because four of the nine justices had to sit out the case over apparent conflicts. The lawsuit accuses dozens of prominent US corporations of violating international law by assisting South Africa’s former apartheid government. Because the court couldn’t reach quorum, the court was forced to uphold an appeals court ruling allowing the suit to proceed. For the record, Chief Justice John Roberts owns Hewlett-Packard stock. Justice Stephen Breyer owns stock in Colgate-Palmolive, Bank of America, IBM and Nestle. Justice Samuel Alito holds shares in Exxon Mobil and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Meanwhile, Justice Anthony Kennedy sat out the case because his son is a managing director at the investment bank Credit Suisse.

● The Supreme Court said Monday that it cannot intervene in an important dispute over the rights of apartheid victims to sue U.S. corporations in U.S. courts because four of the nine justices had to sit out the case over apparent conflicts.



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What? Come again?

Pentagon Drops Charges Against Alleged 20th Hijacker

And the Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi man held at Guantanamo who was was at the center of the military’s controversial torture program. Mohammed al-Qahtani was accused of being the so-called twentieth hijacker in the September 11 attacks. In 2006, al-Qahtani recanted a confession he said he made after he was tortured and humiliated at Guantanamo. Al-Qahtani was the subject of a harsh interrogation plan authorized by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The alleged torture included being beaten, restrained for long periods in uncomfortable positions, threatened with dogs, exposed to loud music and freezing temperatures and stripped nude in front of female personnel. On Friday, the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Crawford, dismissed the charges against al-Qahtani. She dismissed the charges without prejudice, meaning they can be filed again later.

● The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks, his U.S. military defense lawyer said Monday.

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Have GOP fake voters rights groups that claim non-existent "rampant voter fraud" made voting tough enough for YOU yet? Start looking for your birth certificate & passport in order to vote! (if you have them)


● NYTimes Cleanses Thor Hearne's Record, Scrubs Front-Page Reference to the GOP Vote-Suppressor's 'American Center for Voting Rights'. Paper Fails to Note Change to Article, Hearne's Ties to Bush/RNC, Discredited Background as Partisan Operative...

● Do you know where your passport is? Do you have one? Do you know where your birth certificate is? How about your marriage license? In Missouri, and probably more states to come, some law makers want you to prove your citizenship before you can register to vote.

● 'Hello,' They Lied: NH, TX Sec. of State Officials Continue to Deceive Voters. TX Official Claims 'Machines Not Faulty'; NH Official Claims Not to Know Whether They Use Same Diebold Op-Scan Voting System Seen Hacked in HBO Documentary (It Was)...

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Clip of Bill O'Reilly of "Take A Spin In The No-Facts-Zone" flipping out:





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Hillary Clinton is like the black knight in this Monty Python skit, who won't give up...despite reality and nothing to give up!



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● The New Daily NEPA/AAA DAILY GAS RECORD:

Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton Regular Mid Premium Diesel
Current $3.746 $3.949 $4.123 $4.597
Yesterday $3.725 $3.927 $4.100 $4.555
Month Ago $3.349 $3.531 $3.687 $4.351
Year Ago $2.947 $3.106 $3.244 $2.915

Highest Recorded Price:

Regular Unl. $3.746 5/14/2008
Dsl. $4.597 5/14/2008