The DISH

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

The UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS was adopted on December 10, 1948. To read the DECLARATION in its entirety, go to http://www2.ohchr.org.

Along the Way America Lost Its Way!

By John Burl Smith

When a society's most cherished values are usurped, the usurpers try to convince the world that they embody those values. Such is the case in the United State of America (USA). Founded on ideals of freedom, justice and the liberty to pursue one's dream of happiness, leaders of America claim it is the world's greatest democracy, when it actually is a republic. Lacking the democratic prerequisite of one man one vote, George W. Bush became president by partitioning the court to stop counting votes. Bush used September 11, 2001 and his so called "War on Terror" to set the US up as an international police force, which makes it no better than a rouge state run by a bully.

Using fear of terrorism from will-o-the-wisp individuals and shady non-states entities, the US has engaged in far greater acts of mayhem, destruction and murder than the terrorists its behavior was meant to stop. No terrorist act has caused the loss of life the world has witnessed in Afghanistan, Iraq and the rest of the Middle East that resulted from US actions. Today, no terrorist group has used democracy to justify occupying a sovereign nation, while continuing to hold its people hostage until that country's government accede to its demands for control of its natural resources and to establish permanent military bases (permanent occupation). The US has done all of this in the name of bringing democracy and freedom to the people it is oppressing.

In order to perpetrate this fraud on the world, the Bush junta used the US Supreme Court to get into power. The court denied voters' choice by refusing to count legally cast ballots. Had this act taken place in a third world country, the US would have invaded it to install the rightfully elected leader.

Once in office, the Bush cabal proceeded to rob the American people of the rights it claimed it would establish in Afghanistan and Iraq, once they overthrew the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. Considered almost sacrosanct since its signing by the Founding Fathers, the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights were immediately undermined. Long held legal traditions, precedents and laws were usurped or simply ignored. For the first time, government freely intruded or pried into everything from the bedroom to what books one checked out of the library.

Human rights, international protocols and treaties were all sacrificed on the altar of national security and the "War on Terror." Drunk on power, driven by a lack of concern for the rule of law and obsessed with its own importance, the Bush White House replaced diplomacy with deception and duplicity. Bush lied to US citizens, the UN and NATO to create a pretext for war. Prosecuting that illegal war, the US has used what it calls unusual renditions, detention in foreign countries and "floating prison" aboard ships to deny human rights to non-combatants. Torture and other inhumane treatment have been authorized by the Bush White House in violation of US and international law.

Armed with the recommendations of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), Bush's desires exceeded his authority. And, because of a power hungry Democratic leadership in Congress, whose spinelessness exceeded the mental grasp of the American people, Bush has not been held accountable. Even before the US Supreme Court stole the election of 2000 for Bush and September 11, 2001, somewhere along the way, America lost its way.

When members of a political party desire power so badly that it not only countenances what Bush has done, but supported and justified it with legislation, the system has gone wrong. Moreover, when the opposition party acquiesced by refusing to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities, the country is under the control of a political dictatorship by all those in power. The next step is an Adolf Hitler.

The only protection a free society has is its will not to be dominated by fear. Every petty dictator has used fear to control people, whether it was fear of those without or those within the society. Dictators, like Hitler, convinced the people that they needed them to protect the people from the fear they created. First the people allowed them to take away the rights of those nobody liked. Then, it was those least able to defend themselves. Then, it was those who disagreed with them. Then, those left were afraid it would be them next, so they went along with whatever those in power said, in order to keep the little they had. By then, the society was lost because the freedom to change things no longer existed.

Americans and the leaders that have chosen to run the country seem frozen in fear, afraid to act against the petty dictator occupying the White House. Thus, America is lost.

Bit of History

Louise Arbour

Born February 10, 1947 to Bernard Arbour and Rose Ravary, the owners of a hotel chain in Montreal, Quebec, Louise Arbour attended convent school and earned a reputation for irreverence as editor of the school magazine. After graduating from Regina Assumpta College, she attended the Université de Montréal where she completed an LL.L. with distinction in 1970. While a Law Clerk for Mr. Justice Louis-Philippe Pigeon of the Supreme Court of Canada (1971-1972), she completed graduate studies at the Faculty of Law (Civil Section) of the University of Ottawa.

Arbour was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1971 and to the Ontario Bar in 1977. She was research officer for the Law Reform Commission of Canada from 1972-73. She began her outstanding legal career by teaching at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, first as a Lecturer (1974), then as Assistant Professor (1975), Associate Professor (1977-1987), and finally as Associate Professor and Associate Dean (1987). She also was Vice-President of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association until her appointment to the Supreme Court of Ontario (High Court of Justice) in 1987. She was appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 1990 and to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1999.

Subsequent to allegations of prisoner’s abuse, Arbour was appointed as President of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate and report on events at the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario in 1995. She was appointed Chief Prosecutor of War Crimes for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague in 1996. In that capacity she indicted then President Slobodan Miloševic for war crimes, the first time a serving head of state was called to account before an international court.

On February 20, 2004, she was appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a position she took officially on July 1, 2004. She replaced Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in the Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, along with other members of his staff, in August 2003.

During her tenure as Commissioner, Ms Arbour has been both praised and vilified for calling upon the world to do more to give a fair hearing to oppressed people like the Palestinians. Fluent in French and English, she said during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, "Those in positions of command and control could be subject to personal criminal responsibility for their actions in the conflict."

Responding to a Jerusalem Post question regarding distinction under human rights law between missile attacks aimed at killing civilians and military strikes in which civilians are unintentionally killed, Arbour said, "In one case you could have, for instance, a very objectionable intent - the intent to harm civilians, which is very bad - but effectively not a lot of harm is actually achieved. But how can you compare that with a case where you may not have an intent, but you have recklessness [in which] civilian casualties are foreseeable? The culpability or the intent may not sound as severe, but the actual harm is catastrophic."

Throughout her career, Arbour has published in the area of criminal procedure and criminal law. At various times, she has served as an editor for the Criminal Reports, the Canadian Rights Reporter, and the Osgoode Hall Law Journal. She has been awarded honorary doctorates by twenty-seven universities. For contributions to the Canadian justice system and dedication to the advancement of human rights throughout the world, Madam Arbour was made a Companion to the Order of Canada in 2007. She is also the subject of a 2005 fact-based Canadian-German made-for-television movie, entitled Hunt For Justice, which follows her quest to indict Bosnian war criminals. She has three children: Emilie, Patrick and Catherine Taman.

Venue for an Artist

Broken Laws, Broken Lives

By Major General Antonio Taguba, USA (Ret.)

This report tells the largely untold human story of what happened to detainees in our custody when the Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture. This story is not only written in words: It is scrawled for the rest of these individuals' lives on their bodies and minds. Our national honor is stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received from their captors.

The profiles of these eleven former detainees, none of whom were ever charged with a crime or told why they were detained, are tragic and brutal rebuttals to those who claim that torture is ever justified. Through the experiences of these men in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, we can see the full scope of the damage this illegal and unsound policy has inflicted--both on America's institutions and our nation's founding values, which the military, intelligence services, and our justice system are duty-bound to defend.

In order for these individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were disregarded. The UN Convention Against Torture was indiscriminately ignored. And the healing professions, including physicians and psychologists, became complicit in the willful infliction of harm against those the Hippocratic Oath demands they protect.

After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts, and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

The former detainees in this report, each of whom is fighting a lonely and difficult battle to rebuild his life, require reparations for what they endured, comprehensive psycho-social and medical assistance, and even an official apology from our government.

But most of all, these men deserve justice as required under the tenets of international law and the United States Constitution. And so do the American people. To read the entire report, go to http://brokenlives.info/?page_id=23.

About Me: Retired Maj. General Taguba led the US Army's official investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and testified before Congress on his findings in May, 2004.

Hood Notes

The Great Writ's Return

"The Supreme Court has finally brought an end to one of our nation's most egregious injustices. By granting the writ of habeas corpus, the Supreme Court recognizes a rule of law established hundreds of years ago and essential to American jurisprudence since our nation's founding." Vincent Warren, Executive Director of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights.

A Latin phrase literally translated as 'We command that you have the body,' the writ of 'habeas corpus,' also known as "The Great Writ,' is a legal action through which an individual can seek judicial relief from unlawful imprisonment or detention. For centuries, it has been an important instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary state action.

Shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration opened the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to hold 'enemy combatants,' individuals the administration suspected of ties to al-Qaida or the Taliban. Hundreds of terrorism suspects were captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere and detained at the Guantanamo Bay naval facility. By housing them there, rather than inside the US, they would presumably be outside the US legal system. The Bush administration sought to deny these individuals basic US legal rights, including the right to question the legality of their detention, and debated whether or not the Geneva Conventions applied to their treatment and indefinite incarceration.

At home and abroad, the detentions at Guantanamo came under harsh criticism. In addition to being incarcerated without the right to question the legality of their detention, prisoners were subjected to interrogation tactics that many called torture.

On June 28, 2004, the Supreme Court decided in Rasul v. Bush that the nearly-600 detainees at Guantanamo had a right to challenge their detention and conditions of confinement in US courts. A number of cases were filed on behalf of the detainees; these cases were consolidated into Al Odah v. United States and Boumediene v. Bush.

Three separate briefs were filed on behalf of the petitioners in Al Odah and Boumediene. More than twenty amicus briefs were filed by supporters, which included retired military officers and federal judges, former US diplomats, a Republican Senator, Canadian, British and European Parliamentarians, the American Bar Association, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, law professors and legal historians, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), and domestic and international non-governmental organizations.

The court heard oral arguments on December 5, 2007. On June 12, 2008, the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision reaffirmed that the men held as enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay had the right of habeas corpus. Legal scholars worldwide welcomed the Great Writ's return.

News You Use

Impeachment Action

By a vote of 251-166, Democrats in the US House of Representatives sent Rep. Dennis Kucinich's proposal to impeach George W. Bush on 35 counts of high crimes and misdemeanors, including lying to the American people and Congress about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, warrantless wiretapping and torturing detainees, to the Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by John Conyers (D-MI). Technically, the maneuver is designed to end House debate on the proposal. It is widely expected the Kucinich impeachment articles will 'die' in committee.

This should not be allowed to happen. If Democrats can muster a majority to send this measure to committee to die, they can also get the simple majority necessary for impeachment. It is their constitutional responsibility to hold the Bush administration accountable for its misdeeds.

Veterans for Peace (VFP) and other groups across the country are calling on individuals to read the proposal at http://impeachment.kucinich.us/, call their congressional representatives to ask them to read his Articles of Impeachment and then to sign on with him. To find out who your representatives are and their contact information, visit http://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml.

According to Congressman Kucinich, it is important that we all familiarize ourselves with the articles of impeachment. When we call our representatives ask them to do the same. Follow up one week later, ask if they have read the articles and continue calling until you receive a definitive answer.

If your representative is on the House Judiciary Committee, be even more persistent. The full Judiciary Committee can be found at http://judiciary.house.gov/fullcommittee.aspx.

The Bush administration is not above the law! MAKE YOUR CALL NOW! Call often! Make Congress hold Bush accountable!

Disgruntled says: At its inception, voters in the predominantly white counties surrounding Atlanta refused to join DeKalb and Fulton Counties in approving a one-cent sales tax referendum to support the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). Based primarily on race, whites feared a devaluation in property values, increased crime and the other stereotypes that come with giving blacks access to non-black areas. Even the state of Georgia refused to help fund the public transportation effort. Now that the cost of commuting is taking an increasingly large chunk of their disposable income to fuel their gas guzzling SUVs, residents in the counties that refused to support MARTA are now rethinking public transportation. On July 15, the Gwinnett primary ballot will contain a non-binding resolution asking voters whether or not they would support the one-cent sales tax to bring MARTA to the county. To garner Gwinnett voters' approval, MARTA executives held meetings in the county to explain the benefits the county will receive with public transportation, including rail service. Should Gwinnett voters approve the tax, the county's residents should have to pay into the system for decades or more before rail is a consideration; it should certainly not jump ahead of South DeKalb, where residents have paid the tax since MARTA's inception and still lack rail service.

Disgruntled feels: Jived! With few arrows remaining in his quiver, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has gone on a speaking tour to talk up the nation's economic fundamentals and talk down inflation expectations. With gasoline at historically high levels and food increasing in price with every trip to the grocery store, it is tough to take Bernanke's jawboning on inflation seriously. His efforts are falling on deaf ears on the ground where employment is higher than the national average and folks have little, if anything, invested in stocks and bonds and are daily choosing between food and fuel. Even those who listen to the likes of Bernanke see his efforts as a clever cover for a thorough lack of credibility. In the lingo of the ghetto, Bernanke is shucking and jiving. We will not be jived into believing night is day when we can see the signs of the times with our eyes and minds and feel the pain in our pocketbooks. And, for Bernanke's information, it is dark out here!

Disgruntled wants to know: Based on the testimony of veterans of warfare, torture does not work. Moreover, it is a violation of international law and morally wrong. Those undergoing inhumane treatment will say and do anything to make the pain stop. Men broken under extreme conditions bear the scars for a lifetime. Ask Senator John McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war during Vietnam. That said, the US should logically fear the men it has tortured under the auspices of fighting the war on terror. The US is like the mad scientist that creates a monster. There is always the possibility of the monster turning on its maker, just as the lion tamer risks the wrath of the beast he wishes to break or domesticate. Many of those 'enemy combatants' were innocent men, fathers, sons and brothers that had nothing to do with the US struggle prior to being imprisoned and tortured. Under the circumstances, it is understandable that the US would want to keep these men incarcerated for life for fear of what they might do once they are free to plan and plot. However, that fear, no matter how well grounded, does not make indefinite incarceration right. Imagine if you or a loved one was treated so poorly; would you turn the other cheek, like a good Christian, and love your torturer, but hate his sin, or would you find a way to blow your enemy to smithereens?

Comments from the Bat Cave

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro has been missing in the conversation since the end of the school year. By the skin of his teeth, he passed to the tenth. He has promised himself and us he will do better in the coming school year. Laid back right now, he just wants to have some fun; he plans to enjoy every celebration, including Independence Day. On that subject, I reminded him that our ancestors were enslaved on July 4, 1776. In response to that bit of history, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro sarcastically exclaimed, "Grandma, thanks for the education?" Under his breath he muttered, "Party pooper."

Side Orders

Politics

Disgruntled

Bat Cave

Phantom Scribbler

Mailbox

Hotplate Specials

Desserts

Hood Notes

Intuit's Vibe

Venue for An Artist

Kudos and Blahs