Expect this behaviour from a government that tries to allow a corporation to issue subpoenas without court supervision. That's what the Recording Industry Association of America got shoved into law. The first judge who took this up said, "WHAT?'

A couple of hints about Isreal:

You know there will be a problem when the prime minister says, "there is no such thing as a Palestinian." (Golda Meir)

The biggest sign that there is a problem ahead is when (as the song Exodus goes) "this land is mine. God gave this land to me."

@MAXROT:

How would I treat the situation of finding my spouse in bed with someone else? First, I would have to assume that you are referring to someone other than my four year-old daughter . . . AND that you are typing about something other than just being ‘in bed.’ So, if you are truly asking me, my answer is: Videotape . . .

From the stand point of Jewish tradition, the finding one’s spouse in bed with another is rather well-defined. If the spouse stepping-out is male, the finding individual would recognize that her husband has taken another spouse as is his right (The thousand year prohibition against polygyny lapsed several years ago). If the spouse stepping out is female, she and her paramour have enacted a property crime against her husband’s right to bed her. Truthful testimony from two (2) witnesses is required and a decision by the court against the trysting gal and her bang-buddy THEN the biblical prescription is the death of both (I vote from old age). The killing of a spouse and her lover is unjust until due process has run its course. If the court rules for the traditional punishment, the killing would be passionless . . . and just. If it were anything else, it would be unjust.

Jewish tradition, also, stands on the ideal that Jews must live with the customs and laws of the nation in which they reside. If I felt hurt by my wife getting hot and sweaty with someone else, divorce is an acceptable solution BUT in my case, such an occurrence would result in me reviewing my behavior within the relationship. As a responsible adult . . . if I am not delivering, her nasty-naked time with someone else is my fault. Contrary to popular Christofascist principles, marriages are more than just sex.

I have gone on the record many times before typing that the Tanakh this is not the basis of the American justice system and I am way beyond damn happy that this is so. The problem is compounded when folk from Christian traditions attempt to applying ‘biblical’ principles to legal standards because it is NOT their book and they do NOT understand that farging thing . . . In fact, their traditions preclude them from understanding the Tanakh AND, therefore, their attempt of inserting ‘biblical’ traditions into the law gives me the willies in a BIG way. The problems with imposing Christofascist principles on Americans is Americans are not necessarily Rapturian or supportive of fascism.

I know that, for Gerald, looking through the prism of his religious principles grants him a valid lens to understand his interpretation of the world BUT it is not my understanding of the universe AND I remain willing to passionately speak-out against it.

Libertarian dogma in a nutshell: Public sector bad! Private sector good!

Reminiscent of the sheep in Animal Farm.

When I was a kid, the Democrats with union support were considered the 'machine' Democrats. Now the DLC's are firmly in control of the party machinery.

Libertarians (in the American sense) aren't idealists, as their a priori assumption is that human nature is inherently selfish. They are, to their credit, hobgoblins for consistency.

But where is the DLC itself in the dominance/submission hierarchy?

What's really insulting is Democratic politicians who feel they have to distance themselves from us. According to the main$tream media, failure to do so makes them 'out of touch' or 'out of tune.'

uh oh, Thom is beginning to sound like rladlof, he might just start calling Obama a DLC boot lick if he continues on this line.

As I discovered my progressive frame of mind, I couldn't in good conscience join the Democratic Party, I couldn't ally myself with a party that pays lip service to its progressive platform. The Greens may be powerless, but I rather be in a party that shares my idealism, than be in a party that I must beg and plead to consider my ideals.

N

The TFR appears to be sensible. 3000 feet above ground level can be justified because of low level operations involving planes spraying chemicals. A whole bunch of sightseers could get in each other's way.

The relationship between the progressive movement and the Democratic Party has always been a marriage of convenience. The Democratic Party, first and foremost, is the party of the South; the party of Jefferson and Jackson.