Columnist and human rights attorney Joanne Mariner of FindLaw reports on what she calls A Guantanamo Index.

The FindLaw teaser says the following about the article:

[She] offers an index, much like the famous Harper’s Magazine “Harper’s Index,” that provides a quantitative perspective on the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and the fates of the detainees there. The figures she compiles range from the shocking (the total days of the longest detentions without charge; the age of the youngest prisoner), to the deeply upsetting (number of apparent and attempted suicides; estimated number of detentions of farmers, aid workers, missionaries, and refugees totally unconnected to terrorism), to the appalling (hours for which, according to an FBI agent, two detainees were left chained in a fetal position). 

The article is worth the read.

Yeah, the Bush Administration doesn’t torture … it also believes we spread freedom, provide an example of the rule of law … *sigh*

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From the Los Angeles Times comes the story China Bans Exports of Drug-Tainted Toy:

China’s government has suspended exports of toys covered with a toxic chemical that have been subject to recalls from Australia to the United States after sickening children, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

China’s move came as seven more U.S. children were reported ailing after ingesting Chinese-made toy beads because of the toxic chemical coating, bringing the total of U.S. children sickened to nine, according to a spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The Chinese government’s quality control administration issued the export ban, sealed the toys at the sites where they were produced and ordered an investigation, Xinhua said in a brief report.

Millions of units of the popular toys, which are sold as Aqua Dots in the United States and as Bindeez in Australia, were recalled in those countries as well as in Britain, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere this past week after children began falling sick from swallowing the toy’s bead-like parts.

Tests showed they were coated with the industrial chemical 1,4-butanediol. When ingested the chemical metabolizes into the “date-rape” drug gamma hydroxy butyrate, and may cause breathing problems, loss of consciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death. In addition to the nine in the U.S., three children in Australia have taken sick.

Wow.

Thank goodness our Consumer Product Safety Commission has been keeping us safe from dangerous, cheap Chinese toys! … Well, not really, but we can engage in playing pretend and wish it were so.

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[Montgomery County Council acts to quell protests over transgender bill; Cows falling from the sky; Water conservation tips - all after the break]Montgomery County Council acts to quell protests over transgender bill;
Protests prompt committee to remove public accommodations section of the antidiscrimination bill; a vote is set for Tuesday:

After a vigorous e-mail campaign attacking the public accommodations section of a bill designed to protect transgender people from discrimination, a Montgomery County Council committee has decided to remove that portion of the bill.

Critics have inundated the council and local news media for weeks over their concerns that women and girls would have be confronted by male nakedness in locker rooms and bathrooms if the bill is passed. They argue that the bill would put girls and women at risk.

The committee’s decision came late Thursday evening and was not announced publicly. The Gazette learned of the change on Friday.

The bill as amended would prohibit discrimination in housing, employment, cable television service and taxi service.

A vote on the bill, which is expected to pass, is set for Tuesday.

”The committee decided it was simpler not to include the public accommodations part. At this point, the purpose is to provide equal rights for transgender individuals,” said Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, who proposed the bill in September and wrote it with the help of an aide who is a transgender woman. ”I think it’s unfortunate that a small group of individuals sought to create a campaign of fear about the legislation.”

Activism works well on the local level — PFOX’s scare tactics involving over the nonexistent threat of cross-dressing rapists won the day.

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Related:
* We Have A Weiner — I mean A “Winner”
* Latest Attacks Of Teh HomoSEXual Agenda’s Transgenderededs’s Bullet Points

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My City Councilwoman, Toni Atkins, sent out her monthly Toni Times. As you can imagine, as a local e-blast it has a lot of boring stuff in it about renaming parks, street lighting wiring, and community thank you’s.

This week’s letter also had some useful water saving tips — California is also experiencing serious drought, much like the nation’s south:

WATER CONSERVATION TIPS
Water is our most valuable resource. California’s main water sources have been severely impacted by dry record dry conditions. In San Diego, we need to be prepared should these weather conditions continue. As part of a region-wide effort to step up voluntary water conservation, the City of San Diego Water Department, in conjunction with the San Diego County Water Authority, is issuing a 20-Gallon Challenge. San Diegans are each being asked to conserve 20-gallons of water a day.

There are many ways that businesses and residents can voluntarily conserve water. Here are a few of the some simple things you can do to conserve 20 gallons per day:

INDOOR
* Save 2.5 gallons per minute by shortening showers
* Save 2 gallons per minute by turning off water when brushing teeth
* Save 15-50 gallons per load by washing only full loads of clothes
* Save 100 gallons per week by hand washing dishes at least once a day, using less detergent to cut down on rinsing

LANDSCAPE IIRRIGATION
* Save 20-25 gallons per day by watering before 6 a.m. and after 8 p.m.
* Save 15-25 gallons per minute by not over watering-cut irrigation cycles by 1-3 minutes
* Save 15-25 per day gallons by adjusting sprinklers to prevent overspray

OTHER OUTDOOR
* Save 8-18 gallons per minute by using a broom instead of a hose to clean driveway & sidewalks
* Save 15-20 gallons per day per leak by repairing leaking hose bibs
* Save 30 gallons per day by installing covers on pools and spas

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Related:
* If people don’t stop wasting water…

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HOLY COW, BATMAN! A cow falls 200 feet off a cliff and lands on a minivan in Manson, Washington.

Charles and Linda Everson were driving back to their hotel when their minivan was struck by a falling object – a 600-pound cow. The Eversons were unhurt but the cow, which had fallen off a cliff, had to be euthanized.

The year-old cow fell about 200 feet from the cliff and landed on the hood of the couple’s minivan, causing heavy damage.

A Chelan County fire chief, Arnold Baker, said the couple missed being killed by a matter of inches in the accident Sunday on a highway near Manson.

The Eversons, visiting the area from their home in Westland, Mich., to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, were checked at Lake Chelan Community Hospital as a precaution.

Everson, 49, said he didn’t see the cow falling and didn’t know what happened until afterward.

He said he kept repeating: “I don’t believe this. I don’t believe this.”

Well, at least it’s not pigs that are doing the flying here. 

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