May 8, 2007

There were 4 posts published on May 8, 2007 (this is page 1 of 1).

Terrorist Luis Posada Carilles Walks – Again

An El Paso judge threw out all charges against Cuban-born terrorist mastermind Luis Posada Cabrilles. In dismissing the charges judge Kathleen Cardone stated that “The evidence is overwhelming that the Government improperly manipulated the administration of criminal justice in order to secure a criminal indictment(s) against defendant.”

Posada has long been suspected of multiple bombings in Cuba, including the 1976 downing of Cubana airlines flight 455, killing 73 people. More recently, he has been linked to a string of bombings against tourists in Cuba as well as a plot in 2000 to assassinate Fidel Castro. He was sent to prison in Venezuela for the airliner bombing but escaped, reportedly using a false passport to disappear into the United States. Posada was arrested in 2005 for immigration charges but was not deported to Venezuela for fear that he could be “tortured.”

It bears mentioning that Posada is a long-time CIA operative. Among many secret missions against Castro, Posada was deeply involved in the training of the Nicaraguan Contras, a terrorist organization created by the Reagan Administration.

How’s that for your so-called war on terror? Posada is a man who practically boasts about his association with murders, most of which were committed while he was working for the CIA. We have a chance to put away a real, live terrorist, and he walks. First we refuse to deport him because we’re afraid he’ll be tortured. Then we drop the charges altogether for some unspecified reasons. Our CIA happily kidnaps innocent men and flies them to countries that practice torture like Egypt, Morocco, and Syria without blinking an eye, yet a terrorist like Posada – a man a hundred times more dangerous than anyone held at Guantanamo or anywhere else – has been given a permanent get-out-of-jail-free card.

I suppose terrorists are okay as long as they are our terrorists. War on terror, my ass.

in Rant | 308 Words

N.C. Seeks To Join National Popular Vote Compact

There’s a huge change underway in the process of electing a President. I happened to stumble upon this N&O article announcing North Carolina’s proposed plans to offer all of its electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. The plan calls for state officials to tally the popular votes from all of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and offer all of its electoral votes to the winner of that tally.

The plan, called the National Popular Vote compact, would give smaller states like North Carolina more clout in presidential elections. Campaigns currently focus most all of their resources on the battleground states. This plan would change all that. North Carolina joins California, Illinois, Colorado, Maryland, Hawaii, and Arkansas in advancing the measure through its legislature.

State representatives have been falling over themselves to introduce the measure. Bills from Sen. Charlie Dannelly (S760) and Sen. Dan Clodfelter (S954) are moving through the Senate, while Rep. Melanie Goodwin’s (H1645) is working its way through the House.

More on the plan can be found at the National Popular Vote website, or the book Every Vote Equal, appropriately available online for free.

If states implement the National Popular Vote measure, no longer would a presidential candidate win the popular vote but lose the election. Makes sense to me!

Raleigh: The City Of Bradford Pears?

Looking out my office window this morning, I spied a very visible sign of wind damage: a large limb on a Bradford Pear tree in the front parking lot peeled off like a banana peel. It happened last evening, landing on a woman’s car from what I hear. It reminds me why I hate Bradford pear trees.

They’re everywhere, for one. Way overdone. They stink to high heaven when blooming. They also lack strength. Any little puff of wind will shred them. They also have the habit of dying too young: you’ll be lucky to get 20 years out of them.

Why do so many people plant them? They’re tolerant of many types of soil. They also grow very quickly – at the expense of strength. But who wants to go to the trouble of planting a tree if its only going to die in 20 years?

I wish our area builders were a little more creative with their landscaping decisions. I wish we’d see more of what is Raleigh’s city symbol: the mighty willow oak (Quercus phellos). If we want to build a city with a future, we should be using oaks instead of Bradford pears. Too many times developers go for the short-term gain.