So Khaled al-Masri had his day in court, and the charges were thrown-out because it poses a risk to U.S. Security. I am shocked and appalled that the US government can trample an individual's rights so easily. Let's say this guy was an American... The courts would basically be saying "We cannot give you the right to a fair trial because it is a risk to our national security, which is a violation of your constitutional rights, but the security of the nation comes first, so fuck you." It is a dangerous day when a government states that the protection of one person's rights is a risk to the rights of many others. The US government, in effect, is pleading the 5th (which it can't legally do) over human rights and multiple international treaty violations in the name of "national security". By this same logic, any person that GWB decides to label as a terrorist can be stripped of their rights and 'disappeared' by the CIA. Where does it end? Who is to say that GWB isn't a terrorist for knowingly authorizing the illegal extradition and torture of hundreds of people? In other news, Gen. Hayden wants to keep the CIA and NSA quiet, because quiet is good. Quiet is listening to your calls, documenting your call history. Every motherfucker at the NSA would love to listen in on every american's phone calls, because they don't trust anyone. For some wild reason, though, we should trust them. The last time someone fucking trusted a president, Nixon fucked it all up. Now we want oversight, and their excuse is national security... for everything. This has become a rather incoherent bitch-fest, so I will end by saying that my government has failed the people when the rights of you and I are trumped by the rights of the people elected and appointed to serve us.

Today I was sitting at my desk, and I wondered: What in the hell does my supervisor do? He's the Engineering Manager, but I don't see him manage, and I don't see him engineer. This lead me into a much more dark and dangerous thought process, chock-full of questions without answers. The ultimate conclusion being that a lack of oversight on a person's job leads them to fuck-around all day, and also gives employees a lack of faith in their organization. If he actually managed, there might be some progress at the corporation here. Instead, employees are designated to oversee a geographic area of the plant, with no system for coordinating projects or information. Management is fucked, and I'm killing time until my next job.

It amazes me how the media (and most Americans, I assume) can eat up the crap shoveled out by any presidency. Maybe I am giving the Bush administration too much credit when I say that they are masters of deception and FUD, when they are in fact as gullible as the rest of the country and there is some sinister conspiracy behind the scenes. CNN reported that the flu pandemic this year could be likened to a war or terrorist attack. Another source (which I don't recall) talked about quarantine plans for universities. The administration has been keeping the public afraid of something for the past 5 years, and this is no different. Let us assume the worst-case scenario here: They are actually right... These are the same people that told us that Iraq harbored terrorists, that Katrina could overflow levees, that the U.S. is at risk for another terrorist attack, etc. If you haven't discovered it yet, this administration is in the business of making dreams a reality. For them to tell us that we need more flu vaccines, they must be doing something to fuck-up our production of vaccine. I'm sure G-Dub will save us yet again from certain peril, just like he did by attacking the wrong fucking country. The only reason I haven't lost faith in the USA and the American people is simply this: 2 generations before me, people were saying the same things. Maybe one day we'll all be on the money, but if history truly does repeat itself, we'll survive this jackass too.

It amazes me what people post. I'm sure I am guilty of this offense as well, but I sometimes feel that people will reply to a post without the slightest understanding of what the original poster was trying to say. Such people go against all rational thought, both of the poster and themselves. This can be likened to a child who sticks their finger in the light socket after knowing that it's going to shock them.