Nightingale

If they fired on troops, put them on trial and convict them for it. If you don't have enough evidence to convict them, release them.

Regarding the American citizens: Which laws and whose rights should be pretty obvious there. Yes, I'm aware of who they are and who they were fighting for. However, they are American citizens, and therefore shouldn't be deprived of their rights without due process. Period. They are entitled to their day in court. Regarding the other guys in cuba: The supreme court has already ruled on which laws. Our supreme court has ruled that since they're being held on what amounts to american controlled soil, they have the right to challenge their incarceration in court. I object to the US holding prisoners for years that we can't prove did anything wrong. Either put them on trial or let them go. "United States courts have jurisdiction to consider challenges to the legality of the detention of foreign nationals captured abroad in connection with hostilities and incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay."

Just having one or two new people on the court is going to be a shake-up. I think the chief justice should be someone who's got some supreme court experience. Someone who doesn't have practical experience in the job may understand it in theory, but the reality is sometimes radically different.

I think many of us who are pro-gun ownership support some regulation and training. The problem is that the people writing the laws have no experience with firearms. Example: the recent ban in California on 50 caliber weapons. It makes no sense. 50 caliber rifles can be about 5 feet tall. They're too damn awkward for criminal use (IIRC, there hasn't been one single murder in California history with a 50 cal). They're used primarily for hunting and target shooting. Why the heck ban a weapon that a criminal isn't going to be using to begin with. 50 caliber guns are damned expensive, and so is the ammo. Someone's more likely to remember someone buying 50 caliber ammo than 22 caliber. Criminals don't want people remembering them, and they don't usually spend hundreds (thousands sometimes) on rifles. Crime statistics for the US in the 90s indicate that out of all gun homicides, less than 4% were committed with rifles of any kind. 8/10ths of 1% of these were committed with military caliber weapons, like the 50 cal. Approximately 3% of gun homicides were committed with a weapon that could be classified as an "assault weapon." source: FBI, Uniform Crime Reports, CRIME IN THE UNITED STATES People who don't know anything about guns tend to advocate banning the ones that "look scary" rather than the ones that are actually used in most homicides. The "assault rifles" that the gun control advocates seem hell bent on banning just aren't practical for use as a criminal weapon, because they're big, awkward, expensive, and noticible. You can't really conceal a rifle, and you definitely can't conceal it as easily as a handgun. The government is making no sense in regards to the weapons it's choosing to ban.

There's been many people who've had their rights trampled on recently. The folks in prison in cuba come to mind. Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla's names come immediately to mind. American citizens designated "enemy combatants" and denied access to the courts for over 20 months, and not charged with anything. What about the American citizens who've been unable to get on airplanes because they happen to have the same name as someone else suspected of terrorism? Personally, I had a hell of a time renewing my driver's license because of the Patriot Act governmental hoops. There was a typo in the government's social security info on me that had my birthday wrong by one day. Because what the social security computers had and what the DMV computers had didn't match, the DMV wouldn't renew my license until it got fixed, which social security was telling me could take months. Were it not for the new hoops put in place by the Patriot Act, it wouldn't have been a problem in the first place. Just bring in an "official copy" of the birth certificate and correct the typo. Now they require the original birth certificate. Problem was that I don't have an original birth certificate. The original is sealed by court order because I was adopted. Social security was trying to tell me that I needed a damn court order to unseal the record to fix the problem (what would happen to some poor person whose original was lost or burned in a fire or something??). They also specifically told me that this new "security measure" was due to the Patriot Act. Finally, a call to my congressman and a nice little "congressional inquiry" stamp on my file got it all straightened out, Caused a lot of hassle and a lot of stress, though.

Religion only scares me when people attempt to use the law to force everyone else into line with their own religious ideas of right and wrong. I believe Scalia would make a really good chief justice. Even though I don't agree with him on his interpretation of the constitution sometimes, I think he takes each case and looks at all the facts first, before making up his mind, and he seems to be willing to listen to other points of view. I think a chief justice should be picked from the existing justices, rather than placing a newbie in charge.

I met Scalia last week; he was visiting the area and decided he wanted to teach our constitutional law class. I think he'd make a good chief justice.

I don't believe in gun control because it doesn't work.

A lot of people just want an easy fix for a not so easy problem. Example: I lost about 20 pounds last year. My aunt asked me how I did it. I looked at her like she was nuts and said "eat less, exercise more." She looked disappointed and said "I was hoping there was some kind of trick! Like slimfast or something." She didn't want to devote the time to exercise, so she was looking for an easier way.

He lives a few blocks away from where I live, and we're still close friends.

Take them to a professional photo restorer. Or, better yet, if you have the negative, just print it again.

As Americans who elect our leaders, it's not only our right, but our responsibility to hold our government accountable for its actions. As a soldier, it was her son's responsibility to follow orders and go and fight when and where he was told to. However, it is the responsibility of the government to make sure that its soldiers lives aren't wasted. Cindy Sheehan knows what her son agreed to, but as a US citizen and a mother, she wants reassurance that her son's life was not wasted.

I've found some conflicting info on what exactly Peterson was convicted of in regards to the fetus. I can't find the case itself at this point.

Doesn't sound like there is one. Sounds like they prosecuted under "child endangerment" instead of "fetus endangerment" I see why the court was reaching for a way to convict her of something. However, I also see why the ACLU is fighting this. They're concerned that if a woman can go to jail for child endangerment for endangering a fetus, next someone is going to try to put a woman in jail for murder for having an abortion. It's not that the woman in question here wasn't an idiot and it's not a question of whether she put a child she was carrying to term at risk for birth defects, its just a legal question of where we draw the line between fetus and baby.

I'd pick Amy, Billvon, and Clownburner. Can't go wrong with a doctor, a gadget-genius, and a computer genius.

hehe. I love my iPod.

Me too! My mom's iPod is a direct copy of mine! Jimmy Buffett Eric Clapton CCR Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young John Denver Bob Dylan Eagles Fleetwood Mac Elton John Journey Gordon Lightfoot Don McLean John Mellencamp Joni Mitchell Juice Newton Peter, Paul & Mary Bob Seger Bruce Springsteen Styx James Taylor Suzanne Vega

Maureen. It's my mom's first name. Kinda a family tradition to use part of the mother's name... My great grandmother was Grace Lucille, grandmother is Lucille Catherine, my mom is Maureen Catherine, and I'm Kristin Maureen.

Well said.

Absolutely not. Happiness isn't something that can be purchased. It's something that has to be worked for, but it's not something you can slap a dollar sign on. My dad worked so much when I was a kid, to make sure we had everything we needed and never had to worry that we couldn't afford things we wanted. What he didn't understand is that what we wanted was him. My brother and I would have gladly given up the extra toys and the video games if it meant that Dad would have had the time to play catch with us or come to a karate tournament or a school awards ceremony. Buying and having things can be fun and amusing, but what really brings happiness is having people you care about and people who care about you. Sure, having money can remove some stress from your life. It's nice not to have to worry about whether you can pay the rent or afford to go grocery shopping. However, money tends to bring a lot of problems too. Personally, as long as I make enough money to pay my rent and feed myself and my cats, and maybe have a little left over, I really don't care about how much money I have. I'll never be a workaholic working 60-80 hours a week just to make a lot of money. I'd rather have time for my friends and my family and time to enjoy life, read a book, and take a long walk in the evenings, even if it means not being able to afford some of the little luxuries that are nice. When you look back at your life, you don't think "I wish I'd made more money." You think "I wish I'd spent more time watching my kids grow up" or "I wish I'd been there on that special day" or "I wish I'd taken the time to make sure that person knew how much they meant to me." Money just isn't all that people make it out to be, and if you really feel that it can buy happiness, I think you need to rearrange your priority list, because the best things in life can't be bought.

The president in Battlestar Galactica is female.

My power was out for over 24 hours last winter, and I didn't even notice until my brother stopped by to check on me. I guess if you live in an area with harsh winters, a power outage would be a much bigger deal. Most of the time, it's hard to freeze to death in southern california, so my emergency preparedness pretty much just consists of food, water, first aid stuff and medication, and light sources. I always try to keep enough gas in my car to get to my parents' place, because they're a lot better stocked than I am because they own a house and have more room to store stuff like that, and in that kind of situation, I'd probably want to be over there anyway.

I think many Americans view Britain as an ally and friend. Part of the reason for such a strong alliance may be the common language. I think many Americans have a similar view of Canada. Places like Mexico and Germany feel farther away culturally, primarilly because of the language barrier. Places where English is not a primary language feel more foreign.

Yep. Borrowed a demo of a PD 176 reserve from square 1 and put a couple of jumps on it about 60 jumps ago. Gave me a lot more confidence in my gear.

yep.