In an upcoming “60 Minutes” interview, former Vice President Dick Cheney said he had his doctor disable the wireless function of his implanted defibrillator because he was concerned terrorists could hack into the device. I have a feeling Cheney wasn’t only concerned about terrorists when he made this decision.
Category: human rights
The World of Justice Scalia
Here’s a well-informed Supreme Court Justice of the United States. According to a New York Magazine article, Justice Scalia only reads The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Times. He admits he gets most of his news from talk radio and his favorite host is Bill Bennett.
*update: Be sure to read Justice Scalia’s answer to why he became an avid hunter. Scalia recounts when his grandfather and namesake Antonino became too old to go out into the woods, he would sit on the back porch and shoot rabbits who ventured out in the vegetable garden. When the interviewer suggests this isn’t a very sporting way to hunt, Scalia excuses it because his grandfather was 85 at the time. I wonder if Justice Scalia will be metaphorically shooting defenseless things from the Court bench in his old age…
*update #2: “… the only heroic opinion I ever issued— was my statement refusing to recuse”, Justice Scalia said of his decision not to recuse himself from the case which involved former Vice-president Cheney, his hunting buddy. If I can find the cartoon I did about that case, I’ll post it soon.
Found it! From 2004:
Supreme Court back in session
It’s the first day of the Supreme Court’s 2013 term. Head over to SCOTUSblog to read about what’s coming up.
Another mass shooting- this time in Washington, DC
Another mass shooting in the United States. If I sound weary, it’s because I am. Although it’s early and details about the shooter are still emerging, the common ingredients are all there: easy access to guns, previous gun-related arrests, the powerful gun lobby, mental illness, and violent video games. Here’s a graphic reflecting who commits these mass shootings from Mother Jones:
I guess they forgot to include a graphic showing the male/female ratio.
Back to work
Congress is returning today after their a 5 week recess (you had most of August off from your job, didn’t you?) to face the question of Syria. President Obama will also be making his case for airstrikes on six(!) networks today, followed by a Tuesday prime-time address from the White House.
Here’s what I thought in 2003 about Bush’s push for war in Iraq:
…and here’s what I think about Obama’s case for airstrikes in Syria.
This time it’s Syria
It’s looking more and more like the US will be launching air strikes in Syria, possibly as early as Thursday. You’ll have to excuse my cynical tone, but here we go again. Here’s an illuminating chart by a well-known Egyptian blogger which shows the complicated and constantly changing relationships in the Middle East. Of course our past policies have contributed to the never-ending cycle of violence in the region:
There are some congress members speaking out against military action.
Here’s my latest animation on the subject.