• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 7th from 14:20 to 14:26

    These are my links for March 7th from 14:20 to 14:26:

    • Obama restarts Guantanamo trials – President Barack Obama approved Monday the resumption of military trials for detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ending a two-year ban.

      It was the latest acknowledgement that the detention facility Obama had vowed to shut down within a year of taking office will remain open for some time to come. But even while announcing a resumption of military commission trials, Obama reaffirmed his support for trying terror suspects in U.S. federal courts — something that's met vehement resistance on Capitol Hill.

      "I strongly believe that the American system of justice is a key part of our arsenal in the war against al-Qaida and its affiliates, and we will continue to draw on all aspects of our justice system — including Article III courts — to ensure that our security and our values are strengthened," the president said in a statement.

      +++++++

      What?

      I thought Gitmo was Bush's fault and Obama was going to close it?

      Liar Liar pants on fire…. what a train wreck Obama is.

    • Big Payday for Aides of Departing House Members – Departing members of the House of Representatives awarded millions of dollars in extra pay to aides as they closed down their offices, according to lawmakers' spending records.

      The 96 lawmakers paid their employees $6.7 million, or 31%, more in the fourth quarter of 2010 than they did, on average, in the first three quarters of the year.

      That's about twice as much as the 16% increase awarded by lawmakers who returned to the 112th Congress, according to LegiStorm, an organization that tracks congressional salaries.

      The disparity suggests retiring or defeated members used remaining funds in their official expenses budgets to boost salaries for staffers before they left Washington, cash that might otherwise have been returned to the U.S. Treasury.

      ++++++++

      There needs to be some legislation here.

    • Charlie Sheen Fired From ‘Two And A Half Men’ – Not WINNING – It's over for Charlie Sheen on the hit CBS comedy Two and a Half Men. The series producer Warner Bros. TV just released the following statement: "After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen’s services on Two and a Half Men effective immediately."

      Just like the studio did with its previous statement announcing the cancellation of Two and a Half Men for the rest of this season, Warner Bros. TV stopped short of announcing the end of the series, meaning that continuing the sitcom with a new actor next season is a possibility. Two and a Half Men has one more season under a multi-year pickup at CBS. There has been a lot of speculation about CBS and Warner Bros. TV putting together a wish list of actors to potentially succeed Sheen on the show, with names like John Stamos and Rob Lowe bandied about.

      ++++++++

      John Stamos would be good in the role.

  • Guantanamo Bay,  Taliban

    Elliptical Kills Suspected Taliban Commander at Guantanamo Bay

    The recreation yards in Camp Delta, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, include exercise equipment for the detainees. An adjoining area gives the detainees room to play soccer

    I guess Awal Gul should have played soccer instead.

    A 48-year-old suspected Taliban base commander dropped dead of an apparent heart attack after exercising on an elliptical machine inside Guantánamo’s most populous prison camp, the military said Thursday.

    The dead man, Awal Gul, had been held at the prison camps in southeast Cuba since October 2002.

    Gul was working out Tuesday night in a collective cellblock at the cement penitentiary-style building called Camp 6, said Navy Cmdr. Tamsen Reese, a prison camps spokeswoman.

    “He went to go take a shower and apparently collapsed in the shower,” Reese said. “Detainees on the cellblock then assisted him in getting to the guard station.”

    From there he was taken to a prison camp clinic, then to the Navy base hospital, some miles away, but could not save him despite what the commander called “extensive life saving measures.”

    Hey, I thought President Obama was going to close Gitmo because of all of the torture going on there or something?

    Now, the detainees will be restricted from using the elliptical – no doubt.