Welcome to ...

The place where the world comes together in honesty and mirth.
Windmills Tilted, Scared Cows Butchered, Lies Skewered on the Lance of Reality ... or something to that effect.


Friday, June 13, 2008

A Post Turtle

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old Texas rancher, whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Senator McPain and his bid to be our President.

The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, McPain is a 'post turtle'."

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post turtle' was.

The old rancher said, 'When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle'.'

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor's face, so he continued to explain. 'You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he is up there, and you just wonder what kind of a dumb ass put him up there to begin with.'

To those haters attacking via e-mail!

THOSE ATTACK E-MAILS ABOUT OBAMA...

Atheist_keithtaylor
GUEST BLOGGER KEITH TAYLOR SAYS:
"Enough, already!" to all those anti-Obama rants piling up in his inbox! W_jitcrunch








And so it starts, one after the other e-mails about Obama land in my box. He is like a turtle sitting on a post. He did not serve in the armed forces. He didn’t stand properly at the playing of the national anthem. His religion is even sillier than believing that a woman talked to a snake. Some e-mails are true. Some are partly true. Some are so obscure nobody could tell the difference.

All have the same purpose. To distract attention from the most inept and corrupt political party in American history, and from the man who has promised to carry on with the same old stuff, namely fight unnecessary wars and cut taxes!

Now let’s look at what this corrupt party has given us. To start with, we had eight years of uninterrupted opposition to the administration. But was it the oft-touted “loyal opposition” with the best interests of the country in mind? Was it based on learned, high minded opposition to policy or goals?

Oh hell no! It was aimed at a blow job for Pete’s sake. A FUCKING BLOW JOB almost got a president turned out of office. And I heard the shouting loudest from sailors, none of whom ever did such a thing! NEVER!

That effort was then carried by one of the biggest lies in our political history “IT WASN’T ABOUT A BLOW JOB.”

Oh it was about a lie? Under oath? Did anybody check Ronald Reagan’s responses to the most important accusations of his administration? He claimed some thirty times that he didn’t recall. These were in deposition and under oath.

It’s simple folks. If he recalled and said he didn’t It was a lie. If he truly didn’t remember he was even more inept than our current president. That simply isn't possible.

The bloviating worked. Eight years where we had relative peace, rising prosperity, international respect, and a balanced budget were followed by a president who, according to his own closest advisors, was blissfully unaware of what happened in his own cabinet meetings.

This president, whose only accolade seemed to be that he really, really, really believed in god also insisted that his intelligence be shaped to “prove” what he wanted it to prove.

He got us into a war based on lies. Again these lies are revealed by those on the inside, not by a blithering blowhard bloviating “duddle up, duddle up, duddle up” into a microphone. We are still in that war and the best we can possibly hope for is that we can get out without screwing up the Middle-East further.

The national debt has soared out of sight with no remedy anywhere to be seen.

This president's science advisors altered reports commissioned by himself so as to reflect what he wanted to believe.

And now we have a man who agrees with him 95% of the time, and we’re supposed to give him a pass because his son served in Vietnam or because his wife did something nice?

Is party loyalty so great that we will ruin the country in its name?

Keith Taylor is a writer and author in Chula Vista, CA.



(Shamelessly 'borrowed' from over at Rev. Art - Minister of Rants, lock, stock and barrel)

Yeah, what he said!

Arrested At Graduation

Arrested at graduation - talk about a welcome to the adult world!

When school officials in Rock Hill, South Carolina, tell graduation ceremony crowds to hold their applause until the end, they mean it — Police arrested seven people after they were accused of loud cheering during the ceremonies.

Six people at Fort Mill High School's graduation were charged Saturday and a seventh at the graduation for York Comprehensive High School was charged Friday with disorderly conduct, authorities said. Police said the seven yelled after students' names were called.

"I just thought they were going to escort me out," Jonathan Orr told The Herald of Rock Hill. "I had no idea they were going to put andcuffs on me and take me to jail."

Orr, 21, spent two hours in jail after he was arrested when he yelled for his cousin at York's commencement at the Winthrop University Coliseum.

Rock Hill police began patrolling commencements several years ago at the request of school districts who complained of increasing disruption. Those attending graduations are told they can be prosecuted for bad behavior and letters are sent home with students, said Rock Hill police spokesman Lt. Jerry Waldrop.

All the cases, except for one that includes a resisting arrest charge, will be handled in city court and are punishable by a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Orr said he thinks people should be allowed to cheer.

"For some people, it might be the only member of their family to graduate high school, and it was like a funeral in there," Orr said.

William Massey, 19, was arrested but said he plans to fight the charge. He said he simply "clapped and gave a little whoop" when his fiancee's name was called. Massey said there were warnings before the ceremony but none that said he could be arrested.

He said not everyone who cheered was arrested.

"There's a lot more people that did it than six or seven," said Massey, who graduated from Fort Mill last year.

Fort Mill Principal Dee Christopher says school officials don't ask that offenders be arrested but that he plans to keep a police presence at future graduation ceremonies.

"We think it's important for every graduate's name to be heard and for every person in the arena to be able to see that student cross the stage. ... That's why we have disruptive guests removed," he said.

Last year in Galesburg, Illinois, five students were denied diplomas from the city's lone public high school after enthusiastic friends or family members cheered for them during commencement. Students could get their diplomas after completing eight hours of public service for the school district.

*****

All I can say is I see the reasoning and the need for it. Raucous idiots interrupting the presentation of the diploma to the other graduates is rude and very disrespectful of the other graduates and their families.

However, a show of emotion that is brief and not over the top should be allowed by today's standards. It used to be that you needed not to be told to remain quite and respectful toward all graduates, it was simply done ... but over the years standards changed and not for the better or for the ill when kept in moderation.

Arrests were not warranted.

I just attended my granddaughter's graduation from Newberry High School in Newberry, South Carolina last week and there were a few louder than others "whoops and hollars" but none lasted long enough to interrupt the presentations ... the presenter paused long enough to allow some of the more lower class to make a scene briefly. The rudeness displayed that this ceremony was from people getting up and walking up and down the aisles during the ceremony and talking to whoever on their damned cell phones - and these rude ones were by in-large the same low class scene makers.

No one was hauled off by the police who were there in number, mainly for traffic duty (which was a bitch). At least one was hauled off by EMS due to the aforesaid traffic bitchiness and the first wreck of the graduation night - and not a half a mile from the ceremony site, to boot.

Seven Hundred


That's seven hundred posts in the ground and you are listening!

Muito obrigada,
Благодаря ти,
Hvala vam,
Být zavázán tebe,
Tak for lån,
Merci,
Gracias,
Kiittää te,
Je vous remercie,
Danke,
ευχαριστώ,
Köszönöm,
Þakka þú,
Grazie,
メルシー,
Takk skal du ha,
pasalamatan ka,
Dziękuję,
Obrigada,
Mulţumesc,
Благодарю,
Hvala ti,
Tack själv,
Ddiolch 'ch,
eyvallah,
Gratias ago vos,
谢谢,
당신을 감사하십시오,
go raibh maith agat,
tapadh leibh,
mauru'uru,
Ho'omaika'i, mahalo,
Asante,
Wa do,
cam on,
Dankie,
Yislamo,
,תודה, תודה לך!,
الشكر, شكر,
Miqk Katr
*****
Thank you.

If I left you out please forgive me. I only understand the languages above.
Well, ok, I understand a few more that aren't spoken any longer ... such is the curse of an Archaeologist.


Two dead at Bottling Plant - An Update

Two people were shot and killed Friday morning during an apparent robbery at a soda bottling plant north of Charlotte, authorities said.

Concord deputy police chief Guy Smith said authorities were using a helicopter and police dogs to hunt for the shooter, who was seen running away from the Sun-drop Bottling Co. carrying a box. He remained at large late Friday afternoon.

"We have 25 to 30 investigators who are following every lead," Smith said. "When someone is carrying a box from the scene, you want to talk to them."

Smith said the shooter walked into the plant's office around 10 a.m. during what they believe was a robbery. He identified the victims as Donna Barnhardt, 59, and Darrell Noles, 44.

Two employees working at the facility who did not hear the gunfire later found the bodies and called 911, he said.

Smith said Barnhardt had worked at the company for 18 years.

"She liked her job. She was just one of these people who was happy-go-lucky," said Charles Messina, whose brother-in-law is married to Barnhardt's daughter. "She was just bubbly all the time ... It's just amazing that something so senseless could happen."

Family members said Noles was not an employee at the plant, but was visiting the office to apply for a part-time job.

Smith said police don't know the shooter's identity or if there was a relationship between the shooter and the victims.

Sun-drop Bottling manufactures soft drinks and spring water at the plant about 25 miles north of Charlotte.

Quote of The Day

Anyone else see the irony in the Quote of the Day today by Euripides and the recent postings about the haters and their ilk.
For when you point out their hatreds and inaccuracies they call you foolish for having a brain and the willingness to actually use it and for having thoughts and ideas founded on facts and reality.
As Euripides says ...

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.
~ Euripides

Judge under scrutiny declares mistrial in LA obscenity case

You knew it was coming ...

The federal judge under scrutiny for posting sexually explicit material on his own Web site declared a mistrial Friday in an obscenity trial over which he was presiding.

Judge Alex Kozinski said he would ask that the case be assigned to another judge.

Kozinski is chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals but was serving as a trial judge in a federal obscenity prosecution of a man who distributed videos showing bestiality and extreme fetishes.

"In light of the public controversy surrounding my involvement in this case, I have concluded that there is a manifest necessity to declare a mistrial," Kozinski wrote in his order.

The postings on the judge's Web site came to light earlier this week when opening statements were under way. The trial was suspended Wednesday after jurors had already watched some of the videos.

Kozinski on Thursday asked an ethics panel of the 9th Circuit to conduct an investigation of his own conduct and pledged to cooperate fully. He also asked Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to assign the inquiry to a panel of judges outside the 9th Circuit's jurisdiction of nine western states.

In the obscenity case, the U.S. Department of Justice is prosecuting Ira Isaacs, 57, on four counts, including importation or transportation of obscene material for sale. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and forfeiture of assets if convicted.

Defense attorney Roger Jon Diamond said he was very upset about the mistrial and was considering his options.

He said it was unclear whether the case could proceed with the same jury and a new judge.

Diamond accused the Department of Justice of "intimidating Judge Kozinski into doing this." Justice Department attorneys are trying the case.

"We all have to be nervous and concerned when the executive branch can do this to anybody, including the sitting federal appeals judge," Diamond said.

You bet your sweet bippy we do!

And the survey says ... republican support, enthusiasm down

The republican party will face tough times at the polls come November, according to results of a new national survey.

A new national opinion survey out Friday indicates that 2008 will not be a good year for republicans up and down the ticket, even though most national surveys indicate the race for the White House between Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama is quite close right now.

Sixty-three percent of Democrats questioned say they are either extremely or very enthusiastic about voting this year. Only 37 percent of republicans feel the same way, and 36 percent of republicans say they are not enthusiastic about voting.

"republicans are far less enthusiastic about voting than Democrats are, and enthusiasm has plummeted among GOPers since the start of the year," said Keating Holland, the polling director. "There was already an 'enthusiasm gap' in January, when Democrats were 11 points higher than GOPers on this measure. Now, that gap has grown to 26 points."

"Bottom line: After eight years of the shrub's malignancy, republicans are demoralized," said Bill Schneider, a senior political analyst.

Fifty-three percent of registered voters questioned in the poll say they think that Obama, D-Illinois, will win the election, with 43 percent saying that McPain, R-Arizona, will win.

In elections, the public has a pretty good track record at predicting the outcome of presidential elections. The public correctly forecast that Bill Clinton would beat Bob Dole in 1996.

In the battle for Congress, 54 percent of those questioned say they would vote for the Democrat in their congressional district, with 44 percent saying they'd vote for the republican candidate.

"Democrats lead republicans by 10 points in the congressional vote. At this point in 2006, the Democratic lead was seven points. Democrats went on to win a landslide in 2006," Schneider said.

Another question hovering over this year's campaign: Race. Forty-two percent say Obama's race will make it more difficult for him to get elected, with 57 percent disagreeing.

*****
We already knew this, didn't we?!

Hey, I just realized today is Friday the 13th.
Spooky, ain't it. Must not be too much to that unlucky nonsense if I spent the better part of the day unaware it was Friday the 13th.

By chance how many of you know why Friday the 13th in considered by some to be unlucky?

It all comes from obscene wealth and avarice.

The obscene wealth of the Templar Knights in France and the avarice King of France.

The Templar Knights were very secretive and had more wealth in their temples and fortresses than did the King who was in desperate need of funds to run the country on - it was not just avarice on the King's part ... need played a small supporting role.

The King sent his soldiers to take the wealth of the Templars and to execute them as heretics against the teachings of christianity - remember the Templars were a christian sect - and the day he sent his soldiers was ... yep, Friday the 13th.

So, in reality Friday the 13th is only unlucky if you happen to be a member of the Templar Knights in France in the high middle ages.

`Friday the 13th' blackout hits nation's capital

A power blackout brought much of the nation's capital to a standstill for more than two hours Friday as the White House went to a backup generator, stranded commuters escaped the snarled Metro by trudging up stalled escalators and federal workers milled outside darkened buildings.

Frustrated officials muttered darkly about the "Friday the 13th" blackout as some government employees were given the rest of the day off. , the utility provider, reported power was restored to all customers before 11 a.m.

The power went out at 7:25 a.m., idling arriving office workers outside darkened workplaces. Two small fires on Metro tracks snarled morning subway commutes. It wasn't clear whether the fires were caused by power problems, which have been blamed in the past for track fires.

At one point, Pepco reported more than 18,000 customers without power. A single office building is one customer, and it was unclear how many affected were residential users, and how many were commercial customers.

The White House went smoothly to backup power.

"The White House had been running on generator power, and all essential functions were operational," deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said.

Pepco spokesman Bob Dobkin said workers traced the problem to some substation equipment in the Chinatown area and planned a statement later. The outage cast Pepco's downtown headquarters into darkness though a generator provided power for some lights and phones.

"We certainly know what our customers are experiencing," he said.

Elsewhere, traffic lights were knocked out, contributing to accidents in which two pedestrians were injured, said Alan Etter, a spokesman for District of Columbia fire and emergency medical services.

"Friday the 13th certainly is living up to its reputation," Etter said.

Metro riders experienced long delays after two fires at the Metro Center station, which forced trains to share a single track. The first fire was reported at 7:24 a.m. and the second at about 9:50 a.m.

Spokeswoman Taryn McNeil said officials hadn't determined the cause.

Metro also closed the Dupont Circle station because of a lack of power to run the escalators, which at 188 feet were deemed to long for passengers to handle.

Before the station closed, Etter said many people complained of breathing difficulties going up the steps. Nine people were treated, including a 50-year-old man taken to a hospital because of problems with his implanted defibrillator.

Meanwhile, some welcomed a long weekend.

Brian McDonald, a 27-year-old federal worker, said he stood for about an hour outside his darkened office building before being told he could go.

"I'm going to hit the links right now," he said.

Just then the lights came back on in his building, but McDonald was already gone.

*****

As Johnny Bravo would say ... Oooh, Friday the thirteenth-ery!

Pity Really

What is truly disappointing is the lack of recognition of the haters and hate filled rhetoric by some who are continuing to 'defend' the haters and accuse those who call them to task for their hate of not 'understanding' or being in error in their perceptions.

This is vividly illustrated on a forum wherein one of the most virulent haters is posting his flotsam and jetsam and those who are asking him to stick to the debate are being 'attacked' by yet another who claims to be one of the non-haters yet consistently posts hate laced posts and posts supporting hate and the haters.

This particular forum is fast going the way of the DoDo with uninspired pablum on threads and hate filled sputum on others ... a pity really for it once was a vibrant forum for all viewpoints - and is increasingly irrelevant as it has lost its focus in favor of becoming a soapbox for the haters to spew from.

What is even more funny is as that forum is falling off, viewer and readership here has climbed ... makes one wonder. Hate and intolerance versus humor and diversity ... hummm ... could it be?!

Dimensional Observations

There are three dimensions to credit cards:

Length,
Width,

and

Debit!

Hey, it's an offer!

The historic flooding in Iowa has led to the issue of a 'voluntary' evacuation order for residents in Des Monies and the surrounding areas.
Better make that mandatory because it is only going to get worse before it gets better by the way the weather gurus see it.
We'll take 1/100th of that rain off your hands in Iowa here if you'll take half the bloody heat and use it to dry up the over soaked farmland to the point of a natural balance.
We need the rain to end the drought and it's hot enough around these parts this time of year without the oppressive temperatures of the past few days.
Think it over.
But don't take too long, this offer has a half-life of how ever long the temperatures remain excessive ... and they are beginning to fall back to the normal overly hot temperatures we know and love.

Shrub's Third Term

If you still need proof that McPain is just running for the shrub's third term take a gander and lend an ear to this clip from Meet The Press.

More of this shit we do not need!

Shrub's Third Term

If you still need proof that McPain is just running for the shrub's third term take a gander and lend an ear to this clip from Meet The Press.

More of this shit we do not need!

Two dead in NC bottling plant shooting

Two women were shot and killed Friday at a soda bottling plant 25 miles north of Charlotte, police said.

Concord police Sgt. Lisa Linker said police were looking for the shooter, who ran away from the Sun-drop Bottling Co., which manufactures soft drinks and spring water at the plant.

Linker said an employee called 911 around 10 a.m. and told dispatchers there "were two females down" at the plant. The caller reported seeing the shooter running from the scene.

Linker said police were using a helicopter and police dogs to search for the shooter.

Police said they don't know the shooter's identity or have any ideas about a possible motive. They also don't know if there was a relationship between the shooter and the victims, whose names have not yet been released.

*****

It's this mother F'ing heat, I tell you!

It's driving people mad!

NC couple face murder charges in death of son tied to tree

A couple accused of tying their 13-year-old son to a tree for two nights to punish him for disobedience has been charged with murder in his death, authorities said Friday.

Brice Brian McMillan, 41, of Macclesfield, told a deputy that the child was being disobedient and was forced to sleep outside Tuesday while tied to a tree, the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office said. The teenager was released Wednesday morning but again tied up that night for bad behavior, authorities said.

The boy was left tied to the tree until the following afternoon when his stepmother found him unresponsive, Sheriff James Knight said in a statement.

Dwight Jefferson, an emergency responder with Pinetops Rescue Squad who was first on the scene, said he did not know the cause of the child's death.

"What we found was a 13-year-old laying on the ground - CPR being done by his father," Jefferson said. "Then we took over."

Knight said the boy was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

It wasn't immediately clear what the couple used to allegedly tie up the boy.

McMillan and Sandra Elizabeth McMillan, 36, also have been charged with felony child abuse. Two other children at the home, ages 7 and 9, have been placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services, authorities said.

They are being held in the Edgecombe County Detention Center under no bond. The sheriff's office said they did not know if the couple had an attorney.

Macclesfield is about 20 miles southeast of Rocky Mount.

*****

There is more to this than is known so far, I am sure, but they are getting off light with the murder charges if you ask me. I know some discipline is required in life but being tied to a tree is not discipline it is torture, so the line forms to the right for volunteers to exact society's punishment for these 'parents' infractions of its norms.

Are political labels losing their power?

This year an interesting question has been asked:

Is this an election year when name-calling won't win votes?

The answer: In some places, maybe. In some districts, swing voters focus more intently on issues, but most voters don't pay much attention to detailed statements on issues. A few labels, starting with the party label, provide all the information they want. That's especially true in districts drawn to heavily favor one party or the other.

However, a growing number of voters want more than that. Here are two recent signs of the shift:

In North Carolina and many other states, independents are the fastest-growing segment of the electorate. Party label may mean something to them, but it doesn't mean everything. They're the swing voters, who go one way or the other according to the appeal of the candidates or the clash of issues.

In some traditionally Republican districts, Democrats have won recent elections: a Mississippi congressional seat; a Louisiana congressional seat that Republicans had held since 1975; former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's seat in Illinois – a district Republicans had won in 37 of the last 38 elections.

One reason is the shrub's unpopularity. Under his leadership, the nation is at war in two countries, the economy is limping, mortgage foreclosures are soaring, middle-class incomes are stagnant, the dollar is weak and the prices of gasoline and food have skyrocketed.

Michael Steele, chairman of GOPAC, a group whose reason for being is to elect Republicans, knows that. He says "that Republicans 'lacked the brand power' to win on party label alone.” He urged candidates to “come to the table with a better game.”

In a recent article, Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, cited a Washington Post poll showing “on every single topic” his party trailed the Democrats on which party can handle an issue better.

He wrote, “Americans now believe that Democrats can handle the deficit better (52 to 31), taxes better (48 to 40) and even terrorism better (44 to 37),” he wrote. He called it a “catastrophic collapse of trust in Republicans.”

Many voters are coming to believe the nation needs fewer ideologues and more problem-solvers. And one of the biggest problems is partisan gridlock in Washington caused by politicians who spend too much time calling each other names.

So the name calling will continue with the ones doing the most 'calling' whining about being called for what they are all the while becoming more shrill in their name calling of everyone else not of their ilk.

There will be bright spots - there always are ... it is just that this time around they will be more and they will make an impact, whereas in the past few dozen election cycles they have been very few and faint and have had no impact whatsoever. The trend will continue and shortly there will be no name calling, save from those who are the ones whining about it today when they are called for what they are - they will never change, it is not in their ideology to do so - but the rest of us will ignore them completely by then.

Not Surprised At All

I just finished a search for GOP Platform in hopes of finding out just what the devil those idiots are truly espousing and get this, not one ... let me repeat ... not one of the national, state, county or local web sites of the GOP on any search engine has the party's Platform on it.

Surprised? I am not.

And, they are beginning to wonder why no one likes them?!

Of course we all know what the Platform is - a quick perusal of the past few years shows it in stark clarity - and to use the euphemism of every teenager ... it sucks!

Busy Summer Taking Vows

It is going to be a busy summer this year on the wedding front.
I have 12, count'em, 12 weddings already on the books and calls from people requesting that I officiate their wedding keep coming in.

So far I have:

2 Renaissance themed weddings
(Good thing I have the appropriate costume[s])
4 Civil Service weddings
(Do I wear my tie-dye or my Pinpoint Oxford ... Hummm)
1 Pirate themed wedding
(Good thing I have the appropriate costume, too)
3 Traditional weddings
(Yep, have stole, will travel)
1 Nude wedding
(Got the appropriate costume here as well)
1 Highland Scots themed wedding
(Ok, I'm Scots so the costume here is no problem)

Yep, it's going to be a busy summer.

Whole Shebang May Be For Naught

The imminent start of war-crimes trials at Guantanamo Bay was thrown into doubt Thursday when the Supreme Court ruled that detainees have constitutional rights and can appeal to civilian courts.

Attorneys for an alleged Sept. 11 plotter and for Osama bin Laden's former driver told The Associated Press they would use the ruling to argue that charges against their clients should be dismissed.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer said he would try to stop the first scheduled war-crimes trial, to start July 14, by arguing his client was denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial. He is defending bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni held at Guantanamo Bay for six years.

"The entire legal framework under which Mr. Hamdan was to be tried has been turned on its head," Mizer said.

The ruling also could have far-reaching consequences for the five alleged Sept. 11 conspirators, who were arraigned at Guantanamo last week. Navy Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier, the attorney for suspect Ramzi Binalshibh, said she will use the ruling to seek the dismissal of charges.

"The whole purpose of the administration was to evade application of the Constitution. Apparently that doesn't work anymore," she said.

The Pentagon had no immediate comment on the Supreme Court ruling, but President Bush said he would determine whether new legislation "might be appropriate" in response. The trials operate under a law passed by a Republican-controlled Congress in 2006, but Congress is now controlled by the Democrats.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey said the ruling would not affect the Guantanamo trials against enemy combatants.

"I'm disappointed with the decision, in so far as I understand that it will result in hundreds of actions challenging the detention of enemy combatants to be moved to federal district court," Mukasey said at a Group of Eight meeting of justice and home affairs ministers Friday in Tokyo.

"I think it bears emphasis that the court's decision does not concern military commission trials, which will continue to proceed. Instead it addresses the procedures that the Congress and the president put in place to permit enemy combatants to challenge their detention."

"Obviously we're going to comply with the decision, we're going to study both the decision itself and whether any legislation or any other action may be appropriate."

U.S. officials have said the military can hold enemy fighters without charge for the duration of the conflict to protect the United States and its allies. In this case, the conflict is the war on terror, which could last generations.

"I believe the drafters of the Constitution would be turning over in their graves to find out that people intent on destroying our society have constitutional rights," said Air Force Col. Morris Davis, the former chief military prosecutor at Guantanamo who resigned in October amid disagreements with his Pentagon superiors.

Bush authorized war-crimes trials in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but more than six years later not a single one has been held. One Guantanamo detainee, David Hicks, accepted a plea bargain in 2007, served nine months and is now free in his native Australia.

The process has been mired in confusion over procedures and temporarily halted by two previous Supreme Court rulings. This third ruling threatens further delays because it allows defendants to turn to civilian courts to challenge whether the military tribunals have the authority to try them.

"The Bush administration has had three strikes in the U.S. courts - and they're out," said Clive Stafford Smith, an attorney for Guantanamo detainees. "But the prisoners still have a long way to go."

Some 270 men are at Guantanamo, from committed jihadists such as confessed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to Taliban foot soldiers to men who were sold to U.S. forces for bounties and who proclaim their innocence.

While the new ruling threatens to delay the military trials, it does not necessarily deal them a fatal blow, said David Glazier, an associate professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

"I think it makes it more likely than not that no trials will be complete by the time of the November election," Glazier said.

He said military judges may go ahead with the war-crimes trials while detainees' challenges move through federal courts, unless a federal judge tells them to wait. But he said some military judges may choose to wait, especially if they believe the defense could prevail in civilian court.

But Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said it was unclear whether the 19 detainees who have been charged with war crimes can challenge their trials now, or whether they need to wait until their trials are over to appeal to civilian courts. He said judges typically favor the latter.

The Pentagon has said it plans to prosecute about 80 prisoners in all. Many of the other 190 or so remaining have been cleared for transfer to their home countries but languish behind bars because the U.S. has been unable to secure repatriation agreements.

Lawyers say the U.S. may now push harder to repatriate them to avoid more challenges in civilian courts.

"The government doesn't want a factual hearing because it will have to show its hand and will have to show it's been bluffing all these years and doesn't have any evidence," said Marc Falkoff, a Chicago attorney who represents Guantanamo prisoners.

The fate of the detention center itself seems bleak, since Barack Obama and John McCain both have called for the its closure.

(From the AP)

*****

Interesting?! Isn't it.