US officials may face charges in Spain

For facilitating torture, no less:

A Spanish court has agreed to consider opening a criminal case against six former Bush administration officials, including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, over allegations they gave legal cover for torture at Guantanamo Bay, a lawyer in the case said.

Human rights lawyers brought the case before leading anti-terror judge Baltasar Garzon, who agreed to send it on to prosecutors to decide whether it had merit, Gonzalo Boye, one of the lawyers who brought the charges, told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The ex-Bush officials are Gonzales; former undersecretary of defense for policy Douglas Feith; former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff David Addington; Justice Department officials John Yoo and Jay S. Bybee; and Pentagon lawyer William Haynes.

From the Independent, via Pride for Red Dolores in this babble thread.

An explanation as to why more people don't vote NDP

I often disagree with the guy on babble who calls himself Stockholm, but he does have a way with words, and in this thread he manages to frame the problem very well:

It's like if you asked 100 Canadians to name their favourite beer - 95% of them will automatically say Labatt's or Molson. Its only during an election campaign that they are forced to pay attention to Upper Canada and Sleeman's and be reminded that those brands actually taste a lot better than Labatt's or Molson.

That sounds about right to me, except for the part about noticing the good brands at election time.

Not a huge surprise...

... though the party apparatchiks did their best to convince us it would be a tough battle:

The NDP has retained both of its seats up for grabs in Manitoba legislature byelections Tuesday.

Former MP Bill Blaikie emerged the victor by a comfortable margin over Progressive Conservative Adrian Schulz, Liberal Regan Wolfrom and James Beddome of the Green party in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood.

With 98 per cent of the polls reporting, Blaikie held 2,303 votes, compared to Schulz's 909 and Wolfrom's 802. Beddome registered 210 votes.

"I'm looking forward to being on the government side," said Blaikie, noting that will be a first in his lengthy political career.

"It's one of the reasons I chose to come out of retirement. I've always wondered how government works — now maybe I'll find out."

NDP candidate Frank Whitehead, former chief of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, outpaced Progressive Conservative Edna Nabess and Liberal Maurice Berens in The Pas. With 75 per cent of the polls reporting, Whitehead had 2,449 votes, compared to Nabess's 680 and 219 for Berens.

CBC

Of course I'm happy with the outcome. Blaikie is one of the stalwarts of Canadian politics, while Whitehead is a promising newcomer. I could actually see us winning the next election; not only do we have a good team, but the other parties are in disarray, and Manitoba is withstanding the current crisis better than almost anywhere else.

Some of us are looking at the stars

And may it always be that way:

Quietly and with almost no flourish, the space agencies of the US and Europe last month settled upon a new joint mission to the farther reaches of the solar system. They will mount a fresh exploration of Jupiter and take a closer look at its mysterious moons, Europa and Ganymede. Adventures such as these are an act of faith: they are devised by scientists who may never live to see the outcome, and based on instruments that will be out of date before they can be used.

From the Guardian. The fascinating thing is that Europa is considered a strong candidate for being inhabited:

The fundamental requirements for life seem to be water and a source of energy. So, for more than a decade, space scientists have been tantalised by the possibility that, beyond Mars, beyond the asteroid belt, and wheeling around the second biggest object in the solar system, there could be living things, sheathed in an enormous goldfish bowl, masked by dense, self-repairing ice, the creatures of a separate genesis. They proposed an orbiter to take a closer look: President George Bush cancelled the project in 2002, because the cost would be excessive. Seven years on, and with a new presidency, the great adventure can begin again.

It's tempting to say that this money could be better spent elsewhere, but although there are an awful lot of things that need attention now, just ending some foreign military adventures (ahem) could free up enough money to fund energy conservation, alternative power sources, build up healthcare, education, and other social programs to decent levels, and continue the exploration of space. We most definitely need to look towards the near future, but we can't ignore the far future either. And the value of finding life on another world would be incalculable.

How the Patriot Act works

Atomicat has found this interview with Susan Lindauer, who went through five years of hell after being charged under the infamous Patriot Act:

Michael Collins: Not many people know that you were arrested under provisions of the Patriot Act. You were one of the fist U.S. citizens to experience the brutality of this legislation. How did it shape your case and treatment in the Courts?

Susan Lindauer: That's right. Along with Jose Padilla, I will go down in history as one of the first and only non-Arab Americans ever indicted on the Patriot Act during the Bush Administration.

I believe that my case demonstrates why the Patriot Act should be repealed immediately to safeguard our country and our freedom.

I have always opposed war and advocated diplomacy to solve conflicts. The indictment accused me of "acting as an unregistered Iraqi Agent," on the grounds that I delivered a letter forecasting the failure of the Occupation to my cousin, Andy Card, Chief of Staff to President George Bush. That's what used to be known as Freedom of Speech. The letter was not hostile or threatening. In fact, it proved tragically accurate. That did not matter to the Justice Department. Vocalizing opposition to Bush policy was treasonous. End of discussion.

Read the whole interview. It's freaking insane. And the fellow who interviewed her should watch himself too; they might accuse him of being this noted terrorist, and deem the evidence that the latter has been dead for 87 years as being "inadmissible".

George Galloway banned from Canada!

Even the Bush administration didn't do this:

Anti-war MP George Galloway has been banned from Canada, it emerged today.

A Canadian spokesman confirmed that the Respect MP had been deemed inadmissible on national security grounds and would not be allowed into the country.

Galloway today branded the ban "idiotic" and vowed to fight the ruling with "all means" at his disposal. He is due to give a speech in Toronto on 30 March.

Earlier today the Sun said border security officials had declared Galloway, 54, "inadmissible" because of his views on Afghanistan and the presence of Canadian troops there and would be turned away if he attempted to enter the country.

A spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada said the decision had been taken by border security officials "based on a number of factors" in accordance with section 34(1) of the country's immigration act.

From the Guardian. Immigration minister Jason Kenney says that he has given "financial support" to Hamas; as far as I can tell that refers to his participation in this. What a load of crap (though I can see why the Cons would be scared of Galloway; he can't be intimidated).

Saudi oil minister: Alternative energy is too risky!

And of course this is just impartial advice, right?

Action is needed now to prevent a possible "catastrophic" energy supply crunch , Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Naimi warned today.

"In years to come, if traditional energy supplies should prove inadequate because capital expenditure was curtailed due to unsustainable prices, unreliable indication of future demand or hopes for a substitute that oil cannot deliver, such a supply crunch would be catastrophic," Reuters quoted Naimi as saying.

"The painful result would be felt sooner rather than later. It would effectively take the wheels off an already derailed economy."

The world risked disaster by placing too much hope on untested alternative energy sources, Naimi told an Opec conference of energy leaders.

"We frankly court disaster if these supplemental resources on which such high hopes for energy security and sustainability are pinned do not fulfil their high expectations," he said.

Naimi said the world should not use low oil prices as a reason not to investment in the sources of future production, as to do so would only gaurantee further shortages and soaring prices.

From here, via Mega in this iTulip thread.