Alaska--what a state

December 26, 2009/ from wtuu.com/ one of 10 major stories of the year

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- To some, the Anchorage Assembly's equal-rights ordinance seemed easy enough.

"It simply confers the same rights to gay and lesbian Anchorage residents as it confers upon everybody else," said Assembly Chair Patrick Flynn.

But back in May, when then-member Flynn proposed an ordinance to add sexual orientation as a protected class along with things like race and gender, perhaps no one could have expected the protests or days of public testimony that followed.


"I'm rebellious, I'm against those gay people that want to be just free," said protester David Drovkov. "I don't know why they just can't keep quiet."


"I'm really tired of seeing Alaska shove sexual minorities into second-class citizenship," said ordinance supporter Greg Ravn.

The Assembly wanted to hear what the public thought, and they got it -- both outside its chambers and inside.

"I come before you tonight on behalf of my friends who have been discriminated against, even fired from their jobs," ordinance supporter Christina Talbot-Clark testified. "And those who are not here tonight for fear of losing their jobs or their homes."

"I should have the freedom to reject anyone whose behavior I find objectionable for reasons of morality, or any other reason that might hurt my rental business," ordinance opponent Peter Goldberg testified.

again, America's bold face logic. I don't like unmarried people living together so I should reject them, don't like mixed marriages? same thing. don't like bigots like above? yup. same thing. don't want to rent to people with kids? anyone who drinks or smokes or rides motorcycles? union leader, those lazy teachers, low IQ, etc. I get the picture. check out the web site and read the rest

the Z machine

Le Figaro magazine jan 23 2010 has a wonderful picture of a field of energy emitted by an x ray generator, installed since 1996 in an American laboratory. It produces temperatures 4 to 6 times higher than those of an H bomb. Want to investigate? If you read French, pick up the magazine. The photo was provided by Sandia National Labs--maybe info is available there. YES at www.sandia.gov. The same picture appears on the site as in the magazine. Check Z machine but the gaming site isn't the one you're after. Very neat photo.

re: insurance meeting

so the state has mailed out postcards with a replacement meeting for the flint one that was cancelled as people arrived. did the state send cards to everyone in the state? just those in the county? nearby counties? how much did that cost? plan to ask when i go.

sites to visit

pleasecutthecrap.com 4 sites for finding the ethereal truth
snopes.com
truthorfiction.com
buzzflash.com

what were the skies like a gardener's blog, by stephen orr who writes for the new york times, article in martha stewart's living march 2010

www.youarebeingwatched.us web cams

infoplease.com events during your birth year

www.communitymediaworkshop.org helps nonprofit communicators get their info out to the media and community. PR tips at www.newstips.org. I attended 1 workshop in Flint last March and thought it was extremely useful.

GreenYour.com how to go green, questions you might have

Privacy-Rights.org/fs/fs4-junk.htm or OptOutPrescreen.com or CatalogChoice.org or BigGreenPurse.com and search control catalog overload
places where you can get help getting rid of junk mail. there are others that charge but why pay

www.foodnews.org print a list with best and worst veggies and fruits per pesticide residue

www.boldprogressives.com for those to the left

maxwell.com for those to the right and those who want to read ads for the gullible
socialismalerts.com for those to the right who believe the sky is falling--forget Bush already?

www.energysavers.gov check with your state for appliance rebates for 2010. for michigan you need residency and proff the rebated product is a replacement

from readymade magazine (readymade.com) sites to help with car choices: biodiesel.org, goodgrease.com, greasecar.com, goldenfuelsystems.com.

fix a leak week is march 15-21. Visit epa.gov/watersense

What a great idea Republicans

Memo from State Budget Director Bob Emerson
Dear Fellow Employee:
I'm sure it is no surprise to you when I report that state government is facing economic challenges we've not experienced since the Great Depression.
In the 10 years from 2001 through this year, Michigan will have lost one million jobs, much of that job loss due to the profound changes that have reverberated throughout the auto industry. Three out of four automotive jobs in our state are gone. This stark reality has affected our budget in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. Today, we are operating state government on revenues that are at a 45-year low when adjusted for inflation.
Since 2003, we have had to address billion dollar deficits, many times with your help. State employees have contributed some $650 million to resolving our budget problems, which has gone a long way in helping us resolve the challenges we have faced over time. Despite your sacrifice, we are once again facing a billion dollar plus deficit.
In less than two weeks, the fiscal year 2011 executive budget recommendation will be presented for the coming year, and that budget will recommend a number of solutions to resolve the state's structural deficit. Those recommendations will include a public employee retirement program to cut costs by offering both positive and negativeincentives to approximately 7,000 state employees and 39,000 public school employees eligible for retirement.
The budget recommendation will require legislative approval in time for employees to submit a retirement application between April 15 and May 15, 2010. Here are some of the details about the plan that will be formally unveiled in the budget recommendation.
State Employees Retirement SystemState employees who are members of the defined benefit (DB) plan will experience the following changes effective October 1, 2010:
To ensure that the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) is fiscally sound, a 3 percent employee contribution will be reinstated.
Earned service credit capped at 30 years. Employees continuing in state service beyond 30 years will be moved to a defined contribution (DC) plan for any additional years of service accrued after September 30, 2010, excluding what is purchased by the employee.
Elimination of state-subsidized retiree vision and dental coverage for state employees retiring after September 30, 2010. Retirees will be able to purchase this coverage for a monthly fee through the plan.
Increased retirement multiplier of 1.6 percent for eligible employees who retire between July 1 and October 1, 2010. Details on eligibility will be included in the fiscal year 2011 executive budget recommendation.\
Phased retirement option for retiring employees age 60 or older. Phased-in retirement will be allowed for up to three years, enabling employees to collect their DB plan retirement with a workload of no more than 20 hours per week for a previously full-time employee. This option is available to the employees at management discretion.Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System
Public school employees who are members of the Michigan Public SchoolEmployees Retirement System (MPSERS) will be subject to the followingchanges effective October 1, 2010.
To ensure MPSERS is financially sound, employee contributions to the plan will increase by 3 percent for all employees except those in the MIP Plus program whose contribution was increased in 2008. MIP Plus members' contribution will increase by 0.9 percent.
Elimination of subsidized retiree vision and dental coverage for school employees retiring with an effective date after October 1, 2010. Retirees will be able to purchase this coverage for a monthly fee through the plan.
The retirement multiplier will be increased from 1.5 percent to 1.6 percent for employees who retire with an effective date between July 1and September 1, 2010, which will be paid by the applicable school districts.
A new, more cost-effective hybrid retirement plan for new employeeshired on or after October 1, 2010, will be created. New employees will participate in both a base defined benefit plan and a defined contribution plan.
Phased retirement option for retiring employees age 60 or older. Phased-in retirement will be allowed for up to three years, enabling employees to collect their DB plan retirement with a workload of no more than 20 hours per week for a previously full-time employee. This option is available to the employees at the discretion of the school districts.
We know that this program will pose some very difficult choices for many state employees, who will be faced with a decision to retire sooner than they may have originally planned. We also know that for employees who are not eligible to retire, this plan will mean additional sacrifice. It is that reality that made our choices to resolving the budget deficitall the more difficult.
This plan is part of a four-part reform plan for state government that can be found at www.michigan.gov/gov . When the executive budget is presented on February 11, additional information about the retirement incentive plan will be posted on the Office of Retirement Services Web site at www.michigan.gov/ors .
Sincerely,
Bob EmersonBudget Director

Updated: January 29, 2010

“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made. Our times are in his hand who saith, 'A whole I planned, youth shows but half; Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!'” Browning might want to ask those who have reached "old" how much truth is in this quotation. Of course, the alternative to growing old is what? Is "old" physical and/or mental? My mother used to say "You're a little old lady", and I was in high school. I take it that was not a compliment. Then you get older and are told to "act your age", not a compliment either. Better to have fun when you're "too old for that" or you will indeed be old.

Supreme Court

Corporations have to thank:

Stevens, John Paul Illinois Ford December 19, 1975 -- dissent
*Scalia, Antonin Virginia Reagan September 26, 1986
*Kennedy, Anthony M. California Reagan February 18, 1988
*Thomas, Clarence Georgia Bush, G. H. W. October 23, 1991
Ginsburg, Ruth Bader New York Clinton August 10, 1993 -- dissent
Breyer, Stephen G. Massachusetts Clinton August 3, 1994 -- dissent
*Roberts, John, Bush, G.W. September 29, 2005
*Alito, Samuel A., Jr. New Jersey Bush, G. W. January 31, 2006
Sotomayor, Sonia New York Obama August 8, 2009 -- dissent

re Massachusetts

from NYTimes: 5.4% of the people in MA have no insurance. How much influence nation wide does the recent election have for states like TX where 25.2% of the people are uninsured?

How about the Nebraska deal?

"The Federal gov would pay full cost of planned Medicaid expansion while other states would eventually pay a small parat of the expense."

But there is a "provision that would provide tax credits of up to 50% to small business owners who offer health benefits to their employees, or another that would authorize $200 million in grants to small businesses to help them start comprehensive wellness programs for their employees."

more quotations

from Irish Chain, book by Earlene Fowler:
"Am I going to live?"
"Got insurance?"
"Yes".
"Then we'll do our best."

reference to a G.K. Chesterton quotation:
"Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason why it was put up." (supreme court take note)

fun book, diversion, to read but good info on Japanese camps we set up during WWII

Banks/Corporations are in charge

Read the rest of this on line. Even more funny since I know what Chase is like. 3 death certificates for the same person for over a year after she died, shorting us 1 bond value when cashing bonds, putting the $ of bonds in wrong accounts and having to get a correction so taxes could be done correctly, having accounts continually come "unlinked" so I assume Chase could charge $ for the accounts, etc. How much did the Chase CEO earn this year? Any well deserved bonuses for a great job? I bet some of the Chase earnings can now be used to support politicians who can help them out and get away with even more.

'relief' leads to foreclosure notice
Posted: Tuesday, January 26 2010 at 06:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan
Deb and Rick Franklin
For nine months, Deb Franklin said, she did exactly what JP Morgan Chase and President Barack Obama told her to do. She made her mortgage payments on time, delivered via Western Union, after they were reduced from $1,433 to $1,233 through Obama's Making Home Affordable program. After three payments, the mortgage relief was supposed to become permanent, but a maddening string of paperwork headaches landed her in limbo. Then, on the day after Christmas, a "bomb dropped" on her life.
A letter from a law firm representing Chase said the bank had begun foreclosure proceedings against her.
"It was devastating, just devastating," Franklin said. "I ended up on the couch shaking so badly that my husband started piling blankets on me saying, 'Are you OK?' And I told him, 'I'm not cold, I'm scared.' "
The Franklins are exactly the kind of family the Making Home Affordable program was designed to rescue. They were trying to hang on to their primary home, had enough income to make significant monthly payments and their home’s value was still within shouting distance of their mortgage balance. Home values in rural Airville, Pa. -- just across the Maryland border, near Baltimore -- never exploded like those in America's big cities, so market value of their modest split-level hadn’t fallen far.
But instead of hope and help, the Franklins say their 10-month odyssey through the Making Home Affordable program raised their mortgage balance from $187,000 to $207,000, ruined their credit score, leading to cancellation of their credit cards, and now -- despite making all their payments -- put them on the brink of losing their home.
Franklin has been told by bank representatives that the foreclosure notice was sent in error, but she doesn't buy it. On a single day in early January, she says, one Chase representative told her that the loan modification plan had been denied, another said it was approved and a third told her the foreclosure had been "suspended."
"I check my county auctions every Monday to make sure my house isn't on there,” she said. “I don't believe anything they say anymore."
Enrollees see their mortgage payments reduced to 31 percent of their income through interest rate reductions, fee waivers and lengthening of mortgage terms. Entrants are told that if they make three "temporary" modification payments on time, they will qualify for permanent relief. But as of December, only 66,000 had seen their mortgage permanently modified – a number dwarfed by the 2.8 million foreclosures completed last year.
Until the lower loan payments are made permanent, banks are entitled to continue with foreclosure proceedings.
Franklin is one of many homeowners who have enrolled in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), offered as part of Making Home Affordable, who later compared their experiences through the Web site LoanSafe.org. They found that many of them had similar tales of lost paperwork, surprise foreclosure notices and ruined credit. Msnbc.com reviewed about two dozen such stories involving virtually every major bank. Franklin, who shared an extensive diary of events she said she kept during her attempt to modify her mortgage, is typical.

Probably his honest viewpoint--how do you answer it?

this is why i shouldn't watch tv, listen to politicians, read the paper, link to news items on the internet, etc. hello america
How about making ALL parents take drug tests and attend school functions, go to parent-teacher meetings (Make them mandatory with a fine or prison imposed if they don't show up.), etc. Wait, how about all elected officials too and maybe mandatory monthly lie detector tests.
Am I on to something here?
Wait again--if you don't want them breeding, why not mandatory birth control starting about 9 for female and male. Good for corporations/good for businesses. No abortions? Can't limit those for those breeders. The circle downward continues. . . .


S.C. lawmaker likens welfare to feeding animalsJan. 25: Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, R-S.C., is under fire for making a comparison between "feeding stray animals" and doling out government assistance. Msnbc's Tamron Hall talks with The State newspaper reporter Leroy Chapman.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - When things looked their darkest for Gov. Mark Sanford — when he was in danger of being impeached for running off to Argentina to see his mistress — his best insurance policy may well have been South Carolina's lieutenant governor, Andre Bauer.
Lawmakers knew if they removed Sanford, they would end up with Bauer, a fiercely ambitious Republican with a reputation for reckless and immature behavior.
Now Bauer has folks shaking their heads again, after he likened government assistance to the poor to feeding stray animals.

At a town hall meeting Thursday, Bauer, who is running for governor in his own right now that Sanford is term-limited, said: "My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed! You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don't think too much further than that."
Democrats and others railed at him.
'Disgusted'"I am disgusted by these comments. They show an unbelievable lack of compassion toward the unemployed workers in our state who are hurting during these hard times," said state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, a Democrat who is also running for governor. "His comments were immoral and out of line."
South Carolina schools Superintendent Jim Rex, another Democratic candidate for governor, called Bauer's comments "reprehensible" and said he should apologize.
Bauer said Monday that he regrets his choice of words but that government should expect welfare recipients to try to better themselves. He wants to require them to take drug tests and attend parent-teacher conferences if they have children in school.
A child of divorce who benefited from free lunches himself, Bauer insisted he wasn't bad-mouthing people laid off from work in the recession or advocating taking food from children, but rather emphasizing the need to break the cycle of dependency.
"Do I wish I'd used a different metaphor? Of course I do," the 40-year-old said. "I didn't intend to offend anyone."
State GOP Chairwoman Karen Floyd, who is not taking sides in the race for the nomination, said the flap should be a lesson to everyone to "choose our words more carefully."

It takes a big shovel to clear up after the elephants--cute semi quotation

Irony

Funny that MA has health care for everyone--no wonder it wasn't an important issue in the state.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski "Aims to keep EPA from limiting emissions" and her effort "is applauded by industry, agriculture and energy lobbies" See p. A14 in NYTIMES Jan 22, 2010. This is great since the Supreme Court with wisdom unlimited has allowed corporations to finance political campaigns for the presidency and congress. I just know that we as individuals will also be allowed to give as much as we have, if we have anything when the blessed corporations (banks, insurance companies, etc) finally get in total control. Yea America.
For: Kennedy, Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas
Dissent: Stevens, Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Breyer
Wonder who supported the FOR nominees when they were nominated and approved?

The Michigan arms company, Trijicon, will stop using Bible references on rifle sights it sells to the military. Why? Were they like "Thou shalt not kill?" or "Turn the other cheek?" or. . .

How long can one party keep saying no and intentionally halting any progress, any solutions to economic problems? Check out Michigan for sure. JUST SAY NO ALWAYS is the mantra.

Why do we have money for Haiti, but millions in America without insurance? Kind of like money for warfare but none for healthcare.

quotations

from Track of the Cat Nevada Barr-

-Heaven was just Hell in the shade with a cold beer. p205
-Hunting and football, not opposing thumbs and the ability to laugh, were what separated Man from the apes. p43

thinking about

memo about Geneva Convention, signed by Gonzales: The memo recommended that the president should not apply Geneva noting that the war against terrorism was a new kind of war. "This paradigm renders obselete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions." (reaping what we sow?)

lawyer Feith in 1985: "those who didn't follow rules should not be able to take refuge in the convention"

gone was the Common Article 3--check it out

If wrong is wrong, when isn't it really wrong? When a lawyer is in charge?

1-19-10

and another question about today--why in the world does a policeman need to be on bristol rd in the 45/hr zone at 8:45 am unless it is such a great money making spot? how about by the intersection with M-15 where as i know accidents happen.

Retirement Session Cancelled

The state at its best and how it came to be. Guess no one near Flint really needed to know about his/her state employees' insurance. The good news is I bought gas for 2.50/gallon after I left the cancelled event. Can you believe this? I couldn't but I emailed the state to find out. Here's my message; will i get an answer?


So today's regional session at Flint was cancelled? The woman at the road said something was wrong with 2nd Generation Ballroom but they said they received no payment, no answer to phone call last Friday, and had experienced rescheduling on your part. (I called the Ballroom to see why, really why, the Ballroom was closed.) I was told I could attend another session. Are you paying mileage? If you reschedule, will it be on a convenient day for all those who were inconvenienced today?

Questions I wanted answered TODAY: #1 Medco is still the prescription company?
#2 Are we paying Catalsyt $10/month to be in charge of prescriptions for a lower prescrip cost or are we just paying them $120/year so someone can make money?
#3 Where is the health analysis info we are supposedly receiving? We sent info in by Dec. 5, I believe, and the new year is here (today is the Jan. 19, 2010).
#4 Has a credit of $100 for the deductible been applied since our family sent in our 2 forms? How do I find out?

Please try to answer within the 12 hour limit suggested on site.

as the world is killed

Watching TV this week, I see someone thinks that maybe the pcb problem needs more investigating even though a lot of research has suggested pcb is dangerous. Most baby bottles no longer contain it; but is it still in canned goods as a lining? Time to get concerned is now--ok it's probably too late. But more $ for research? It that a stalling game? Here's a book summary I did for Genesee County Master Gardener Newsletter, April 2008.


Recently the book OUR STOLEN FUTURE Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?—a Scientific Detective Story was mentioned a class offered at ForMar. I finally found the book at the UM Flint Library (ISBN/0-525-93982-2 by Colborn, Dumanoski, and Myers, 1996) and found it informative, seemingly well researched, fairly balanced, but unquestionably troubling. Sometimes called a sequel to Rachel Carson’s SILENT SPRING, the book starts with background information on the burgeoning worldwide use of pesticides and chemicals. The book strives to present a summary of research about “man-made chemicals disrupting delicate hormone systems”….which “play a critical role in processes ranging from human sexual development to behavior, intelligence, and the functioning of the immune system”. (p.vi)

The book starts with the “Omens” chapter going back to 1939 to Charles Broley’s study of Florida’s bald eagles and his concern that up to 1947 the eagle population was healthy and growing. Then birth rates decreased and the mating and nesting habits changed. By about 1955, Broley began to think that 80% of the eagles in Florida were sterile. The chapter explores other researchers and events they encountered: 1950s England’s disappearing otter population, reproductive problems with mink in the Great Lakes region in the 1960s, the die out of the herring gulls in Canada, the 1970s female western gulls nesting with other females in California, in the 1980s alligator eggs hatching at only 18% in Florida’s Lake Apopha linked to the startling fact that about 60% of the male alligators there had abnormally small penises and the 1988 Northern Europe seal die-off, frightening data in Demark that suggested human sperm count had dropped by nearly 50% from 1938 to 1990 and that testicular cancer was increasing.


Chapter 2 discusses the beginnings of bringing everything together as scientists began to think beyond cancer-causing chemicals to something more insidious—hormone disruption. The poisons from chemicals and pesticides “all act on the endocrine system, which regulates the body’s vital internal processes and guides critical phases and prenatal development. The hand-me down poisons disrupted hormones”. (28) In following chapters, not easy reading, the authors discuss what can happen when the chemical messages in embryos are blocked—male and female characteristics may be altered. The DES problem and its implications are summarized and the disturbing fact that “substances and doses tolerated readily by adults can devastate the unborn.” (50)

Chapter 5, “Fifty Ways to Lose Your Fertility” portrays DES as an estrogen mimic and Vinclozolin, used to “kill fruit fungus as a testosterone message blocker perhaps creating an ambiguous or hermaphrodite state”. (83) Although having little structured resemblance to natural estrogen, DES and DDT are able to trick the human body to make it disrupt the body’s chemical messengers. This chapter is quite unsettling to read but the ideas it presents need to be discussed, disseminated and evaluated. The chapter presents a fictional account of the journey of PCBs beginning in the South to Canada, out West up to the Great Lakes, through the St. Lawrence to the Sargasso Sea and up to Greenland where the nonfiction reality is that “Canadian health studies have shown that the people of Broughton Island (Intuits) have the highest levels of PCBs found in any human population except those contaminated in industrial accidents”. (108) The Inuit’s diet is mostly wild fish and game—the PCBs have worked up the food chain to humans.

PCBs were introduced in 1929 when engineers created 209 chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls—PCB. Swann Chemical which became part of Monsanto put them to seemingly good use in transformers, as “lubricants, hydraulic fluids, cutting oils, and liquid seals”. (89) “They made wood and plastics nonflammable. They preserved and protected rubber. They made stucco weatherproof. They became ingredients in paints, varnished, inks, and pesticides”. (90) (An aside here: we had an oozing transformer right by our driveway a few years ago creating an orangish blob on the flowers and grapes below. It was replaced but is the soil there safe?) And carbonless copy paper used by all of us from 1957 to 1971 as we typed without the messy carbon paper put the PCBs literally at our fingertips. An alarming piece of information from p. 89 is that “of the 51 synthetic chemicals that have been identified as hormone disruptors, at least half including PCBs, are ‘persistent’ products in that they resist natural processes of decay that render them harmless. These long-lived chemicals will be a legacy and a continuing hazard to the unborn for years, decades, or in the case of some PCBs, several centuries.” Three decades ago researchers “discovered that DDT, PCBs, and other persistent were accumulating in human body fat and breast milk, as well as in every other part of the environment”. (106) What actions has the health care system, government or we taken about this disturbing fact?

Chapter 6, “A Single Hit”, discusses the creation of dioxin. It is released by volcanoes and forest fires but also created when chlorine-containing chemicals such as pesticides are manufactured, by bleaching paper with chlorine, incinerating plastic and paper trash, and burning fossil fuels. (See p. 113) It is everywhere. Agent Orange had been contaminated with dioxins which are linked to soft tissue sarcoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Hodgkin’s disease. (114) The chapter explores the evidence that in some animals dioxin seems to interfere “with the sexual differentiation of the brain”. (119)

Check chapter 10, “Altered Destinies” for information on estrogen mimics (PCBs), DES, declining sperm counts, increasing prostate and breast cancer numbers, PCBs effects on thyroid hormones, etc. “Defending Ourselves” offers some obvious actions we can take; many of us already have. Read the sections Know Your Water; Choose Your Food Intelligently (local is better), Avoid Unnecessary Uses and Exposure, and Improving Protection which has a thoughtful list of ideas that should and could be implemented to provide protection from chemicals that interfere with hormones. Also read “Flying Blind” where the development of CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons, in 1928 is discussed. In 1972, their effects on the environment and our earth’s ozone layer were questioned, but we are still debating their hazards today. Something MUST be done and we must be more demanding in our community, state and nation; it is imperative that even at this late date, some forceful action must be taken to eliminate this health catastrophe.

reading material

when enough fiction has been read, try MY HEALTHCARE IS KILLING ME by parks, welty, hendrick. it's a small book but filled with a lot on info and sources for things like the average cost of services/providers, how to dispute claims and costs, ideas for selecting insurance, things to say and not say, etc. a good reference book for everyone

if you are ready to be angry, pick up TORTURE TEAM RUMSFELD'S MEMO AND THE BETRAYAL OF AMERICAN VALUES. Doug Feith undersec. of defense for policy (p 28) objected to rules or international law that gave rights and legitimacy to terrorist--might make sense you say. evil deeds deserve vengence. but that leads to no rights for americans anywhere considered terrorists to another country? how about Delahunty's opinion that the rules of Geneva didn't apply to al-qaeda or taliban detainees. so detainees anywhere can't hope for any of the geneva rules to apply to them. guess rules regarding humane treatment of prisoners are gone. therefore abu ghraib