Progressive Musings

Here's some more stories deep in the papers that have caught my eye in recent days...

9/11 Panel Calls Policies on Immigration Ineffective -- The NY Times reports that "the commission investigating the 9/11 attacks has concluded that immigration policies promoted as essential to keeping the country safe from future attacks have been largely ineffective, producing little, if any, information leading to the identification or apprehension of terrorists.
"The commission said one program had proved so fruitless that it was discontinued after less than a year."

Critics, liberatian and pro-immigration groups, say that the commission's finding affirms their misgivings about the programs, aimed primarily at Muslims and Arabs.

Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies:  "Hundreds of people's rights were violated, and, very importantly, the United States is now seen around the world as a country where Arabs and Muslims can be arrested in secret and held without charges. That's a very dangerous development in terms of a country promoting democracy and human rights as an antidote to terrorism."

Study Suspects Thousands of False Convictions -- Also from the NY Times:  "A comprehensive study of 328 criminal cases over the last 15 years in which the convicted person was exonerated suggests that there are thousands of innocent people in prison today.
"Almost all the exonerations were in murder and rape cases, and that implies, according to the study, that many innocent people have been convicted of less serious crimes."

Company to start trial on brain implant devices -- USA Today reports that Cyberkinetics of Foxboro has received FDA approval to begin clinical trials in which computer chips will be implanted under the skulls of paralyzed patients.  If successful, the chips could allow the patients to send commands to a computer simply by thinking about them.

Cattle Feed Rules Unchanged -- Earlier this year, the FDA announced major cattle feed rule changes in the wake of the mad cow case.  Now, almost three months later, the existing rules have not been changed.

Mo. House Votes to Raise Newspaper Tax -- An editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described the Republican-led Missouri House as a "House of Hypocrites."  Now, the House has retaliated by voting to repeal a sales tax exemption on the Post-Dispatch and the Kansas City Star.  The bill's Republican sponsor claims that it wasn't retaliation; he was simply "closing corporate tax loopholes."

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• #4 Comment from ondinemonet 
  4/21/04 11:51 PM | Permalink

  All one has to do is visit the official Justice department website and look at the numbers. It's not about innocent or guilty it's about getting home in time for dinner here in the "free" United States. Sad, very sad. Take care, Carly :)
• #3 Comment from newsun68 
  4/21/04 10:24 PM | Permalink

  boring
  
• #2 Comment from coffywoman 
  4/21/04 2:49 PM | Permalink

  I was particularly interested in the Cyberkinetics article. That's probably the only article amongst the many good ones you ref here that I read on my own since it's directly relevant to people I know...Thanks for the great links!
• #1 Comment from musenla 
  4/20/04 2:32 PM | Permalink

  We've been flying by the seat of our pants since 9-11.  That's what incendiary, fear-based policies can do.  All talk, no substance.
  
  As for the false convictions, the court system has become a sport where prosecutors and judges can score notoriety points at the expense of true justice.  Disgusting.