inkbluesky

sienna miller’s tattoo, larger 

One of rare instances where someone became famous in a very short time and it was based on talent rather then wealth or getting thrown out of a succession of night clubs. If you can handle the violence the movie that really started the buzz for M’s Miller, Layer Cake (2004). I thought it was excellent and Daniel Craig was charming and tough enough in Cake that he was probably chosen to be the new Bond based on his performance.

Even though you can still go out and buy a pizza and some cheap beer, yesterday America’s freedoms took a cheap right hook to the jaw. There are plenty of good news reports and blog posts out there so I thought I’d post a brief story off the beaten track that explains some of the basics of what happened, Tortured Justice 

“This provision would perpetuate the indefinite detention of hundreds of individuals against whom the government has brought no charges and presented no evidence, without any recourse to justice whatsoever,” Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy declared at the start of Wednesday’s Senate debate. “This is un-American. It is unconstitutional and it is contrary to American interests.” Congressional critics argued that, coupled with an expanded definition of “enemy combatant,” the legislation would permit the government to indefinitely imprison any non-citizen – including a long-time resident of the United States who holds a green card — without review by the courts

If you have the time this is also well worth a read, Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215 - 2006) by Molly Ivins

 With a smug stroke of his pen, President Bush is set to wipe out a safeguard against illegal imprisonment that has endured as a cornerstone of legal justice since the Magna Carta.

I’ve been through the mid-west though the closest that I have lived there is west Tennessee. So in some ways it is still a little bit of a mystery. Garrison Keillor explains some things about his current corner of the mid-west in this interview, THE MIDWESTERNER’S ALMANAC: GARRISON KEILLOR (UNABRIDGED)

Stop Smiling:  Schoolteachers will always be thankful for Minnesota, which produced the stapler, Scotch tape and F. Scott Fitzgerald. What must your home state do to assure a continued excellence in education and a thriving interest in the humanities?

Garrison Keillor:  We are saddled with a charming idiot of a governor and a fleet of assistant idiots in the legislature who are killing education in this state, simply slicing its throat. We are on our way to becoming the Mississippi of the North. A high school teacher told me the other day that 10 years ago, his largest class was 29 students. Now his smallest is 34, of whom 8 have special needs and for whom he must draw up individual lesson plans. The starting pay for a teacher — once you subtract taxes, Social Security and health plan payments — is around $14,000 a year. This is a scandal. The state is in the hands of rednecks who want to bring back capital punishment and kill off public education. If there is excellence in education, it’s no thanks to Republicans.

Garrison has a reputation for his wit, with this piece he may also get a reputation for being blunt and to the point.