My Rights Versus Yours
From today's Chicago Tribune:

A military judge on Monday dismissed two of the most serious charges against the only officer accused of abusing detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison after an investigator acknowledged he failed to read the defendant his rights.

I Can't Talk About It
Also from the Trib, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations has cancelled a forum to talk about a book. Good. Books are dangerous. They contain thoughts and ideas.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs' decision to cancel a forum about a controversial upcoming book on the influence of the pro-Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy has sparked a heated debate about free speech.

"The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," a book due out in September by University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer and Harvard University professor Stephen Walt, argues that the pro-Israel lobby has had a negative effect on U.S. foreign policy.

Expanding on a previous academic article that caused uproar and protest, Mearsheimer and Walt argue that the Israel lobby -- including Jewish organizations, Christian fundamentalists and neo-conservatives -- helped, among other actions, to stop diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Syria and hampered efforts to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

This Nearly Was Mine
Richard Stickler, the head of the Mine and Health Safety Administration, previously was an executive for a mining firm with an accident rate twice the national average. Republican Senators objected to his appointment. Leading to yet another of the President's recess appointments.

Labels: Go ahead - fear the Reaper