George W. Bush...court rules wiretapes illegal! Bad news for President Obama...

There were quite a few cheers around the country this week when a Chief Judge i the Federal District Court put former President George W. Bush in his place at long last.

In sum, the Jurist rejected the Bush administration’s arguments in support of warrantless wiretapping of suspected terrorists (emphasis on suspected) and found in favor of the plaintiffs that Government agents had put an ear to the wall illegally in respect to a U.S.-based charitable organization.

Chief District Court Judge Vaughn Walker (currently presiding over the same-sex marriage proceedings in San Francisco) zeroed in on the heartbeat of Bush’s program which allowed agents to intercept phone calls and e-mail communications between American citizens and suspected foreign terrorists without a warrant.

When the illegal acts were initially uncovered, Bush argued that he had the authority to override a 1978 law, requiring the government obtain advance approval from the court for each separate eavesdropping attempt.

Walked noted in his opinion that “the theory of unfettered executive-branch discretion” portends the potential of government abuse and an overreach of authority.

Lawyers for the charity hailed Walker’s ruling.

“Inherent in what Walker has done in this case is a determination that President Bush’s program of warrantless surveillance was unlawful. Everybody has to follow the law, including the President.”

The court’s finding - and subsequent ruling - is a blow to the Obama administration in the final analysis, too.

The Justice Department has actively sought to have the case dismissed with the specific aim of barring a judicial review of the government’s wiretapping practices.

The main thrust of the Government’s argument dealt with National Security issues.

The Justice Department argued that the court lacked the authority to issue a ruling as to whether any alleged surveillance was legal because all  wiretapping evidence was  related to secrets that once disclosed would aid the Nation’s enemies.

To surmount that problem - which Walker labeled “nit-picking” on the part of Government lawyers - the parties were invited to take the Judge up on his offer to hear the issues in “closed-door” proceedings.

In a statement to the press, the Judge noted for the record that those legal wranglings in private proved to be fruitless.

According to Walker, the government spurned every offer to justify its conduct, hence the ruling.
At this juncture, the Government has the legal option to appeal the Court’s ruling in a higher court, within specific time frames dictated by applicable Statutes in the Federal District Court arena.

 

http://www.thetattler.biz

Beijing Olympics...China ignorant about Global Warming. "Dog meat" consumption revolting notion!

China's last gleaming...

Protests in San Francisco...

In anticipation of a host of swarming masses descending on the Olympics in the next few weeks, China has issued some ultimatums to create a "greener" setting for the games.

For example, Officials have restricted the use of private automobiles on the streets over the next few weeks to reduce smog.

And, have increased mass transit in a bold-faced effort to alleviate the problem as well.

What a joke!

According to recent statistics, at least sixteen of the twenty most polluted cities are in China.

And - in spite of the fact the Chinese government has recently begun to relocate factories, haul old clunkers off the street, and plant trees to get a jump on global warming - it's all a little too late, isn't it?

The 11th hour actions should have been prompted by concerns about the environment, not by a deceitful attempt to gloss over the obvious - and in the process - conjure up a superficial image to the Nations of the world!

In essence, the whole bold-faced ploy is a white-wash.

In fact, China's efforts are akin to slapping a band-aid on a deep wound that has been hemorrhaging for years.

Indeed - some of the damage caused to the environment - is undoubtedly permanent.

The idea that restricting vehicle traffic for the next three weeks will rid the skies of green house gases is a ludicrous notion!

What really turned my stomach, though, was the announcement that a popular entree - "dog meat" - would be taken off the menu during the duration of the games to ensure foreign visitors were not offended during the course of the athletic celebration.

Are they going to allow a few stray dogs to wander the streets for appearances sake, too, before they herd them back to the chopping block at the close of the Olympics?

Talk about inhumane conduct!

This is a country populated by savages, in my estimation.

The arguments for "Boycott" are ripe!

Dalai Lama...Congressional Medal rankles Chinese!

When the Bush Administration announced that the Dalai Lama would be honored with the Congressional Medal - the highest Civilian Honor - political big-wigs expected a fall out, but not of the magnitude which unfolded in recent days.

On the eve of the ceremony, Chinese Officials released a stern statement expressing their disapproval.

Arguing that relations between the United States and China would be threatened, demands were made that the Medal be "revoked".

When it was determined that President Bush would also meet with the Dalai Lama at the White House, Chinese Foreign Minister Yan Jiechi lamented to reporters that the arrangements were "extremely wrong".

He vigorously asserted that,

"It seriously violates the norm of international relations and seriously wounds the feelings of the Chinese people and is interfering with China's Internal Affairs."

Not by any stretch of the imagination!

Imagine, the audacity!

In spite of the fact his Holiness has been exiled from Tibet for many decades, his existence at large - and the fact he is so exalted around the globe - stirs up deep-seated anxiety in the Chinese.

Because the issue was expected to be a touchy one, the Oval Office made it quite clear that the U.S. Government action was not based on "political issues"; indeed, Bush's aides fervently noted that the Dalai Lama was being accorded the honor because, in the words of the administration, Mr. Bush felt,

"He should be honored as a great spiritual leader."

The harsh stance of Chinese officials is rooted in their misguided belief that the Dalai Lama is a "splittest", intent on undermining the Chinese rule by working for the independence of Tibet.

In fact, the Dalai Lama has asserted publicly that he is only "seeking to expand autonomy", not establish a separate state.

Bush's administration turned a deaf ear to China's arguments that the scheduled ceremony was essentially a slap in the face.

In an effort to calm the waters, officials at the White house noted that the President often holds private meetings with spiritual leaders - like the Pope, for instance.

His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, was born Lhamo Thondup on July 6th, 1935, to a poor family in the small village of Taktser in the province of Amdo.

The name, Lhamo Thondup, literally means ‘Wish-Fulfilling Goddess’.

His Holiness is held to be the reincarnation of each of the previous thirteen Dalai Lamas of Tibet (the first having been born in 1351 AD), who are in turn considered to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara, or Chenrezig, Bodhisattva of Compassion, holder of the White Lotus.

Thus, His Holiness is also believed to be a manifestation of Chenrezig; in fact, the seventy-fourth in a lineage that can be traced back to a Brahmin boy who lived in the time of Buddha Shakyamuni.

When Lhamo Thondup was barely three years old, a search party that had been sent out by the Tibetan government to find the new incarnation of the Dalai Lama, arrived at Kumbum monastery after it was discerned there had been a number of auspicious signs.

One of these concerned the embalmed body of his predecessor, Thupten Gyatso, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, who had died aged fifty-seven in 1933. During its period of sitting in state, the head was discovered to have turned from facing south to northeast.

Shortly after that - the Regent, himself a senior lama - had a vision.

Looking into the waters of the sacred lake, Lhamo Lhatso, in southern Tibet, he clearly saw the Tibetan letters Ah, Ka and Ma float into view. These were followed by the image of a three-storied monastery with a turquoise and gold roof and a path running from it to a hill. Finally, he saw a small house with strangely shaped guttering.

He was sure that the letter Ah referred to Amdo, the Northeastern Province, so it was there that the search party was sent.

By the time they reached Kumbum, the members of the search party felt that they were on the right track. It seemed likely that if the letter Ah referred to Amdo, then Ka must indicate the monastery at Kumbum, which was indeed three-storied and turquoise-roofed.

Now, they needed to locate a hill and a house with peculiar guttering. So they began to search the neighbouring villages. When they saw the gnarled branches of juniper wood on the roof of the His Holiness’ parent’s house, they were certain that the new Dalai Lama would not be far away.

Nevertheless, rather than reveal the purpose of their visit, the group asked only to stay the night.

The leader of the party, Kewtsang Rinpoche, then pretended to be a servant and spent much of the evening observing and playing with the youngest child in the house.

The child recognised him and called out ‘Sera lama, Sera lama’.

Sera was Kewtsang Rinpoche's monastery.

The next day they left only to return a few days later as a formal deputation.

This time they brought with them a number of things that had belonged to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, together with several similar items that did not.

In every case, the infant correctly identified those belonging to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama saying, “It’s mine. It’s mine.”

The search party was jubilant; the boy was taken to Kumbum monastery, and later recognized at the new incarnation of the Dalai Lama.

At 15, the Dalai Lama found himself the undisputed leader of six million people facing the threat of a full-scale war.

For nine troublesome years, His Holiness tried to evade a full-scale military takeover of Tibet by China on the one hand - and the bold-faced effort to placate the growing resentment among Tibetan resistance fighters against the Chinese aggressors, on the other.

His Holiness made a historic visit to China from July 1954 to June 1955 for peace talks, and met with Mao Zadong, and Chinese leaders Chou En-lai, Chu Teh and Deng Xiaoping.

One winter day in 1959, General Chiang Chin-wu of Communist China, extended a seemingly innocent invitation to the Tibetan leader to attend a theatrical show by a Chinese dance troupe. When the invitation was repeated with new conditions that no Tibetan soldiers were to accompany the Dalai Lama, and that his bodyguards be unarmed, an acute anxiety befell the Lhasa populace.

Soon a crowd of tens of thousands of Tibetans gathered around the Norbulingka Palace, determined to thwart any threat to their young leader's life.

On March 17th, 1959 - during a consultation with Nechung Oracle - His Holiness was given an explicit instruction to leave the country.

The Oracle's decision was further confirmed when a divinity performed by His Holiness produced the same answer, even though the odds against making a successful break seemed terrifyingly high.

A few minutes before ten o'clock His Holiness, now disguised as a common soldier, slipped past the massive throng of people along with a small escort and proceeded towards Kyichu river, where he was joined by the rest of the entourage, including his immediate family members.

He's been in exile ever since.

Over the years, the Dalai Lama has published a number of books based on Buddhist teachings.

Generally, the scriptures have been simplified somewhat, to make them more palpable to the West...where eager practitioners have been anxious to seek the truth and wisdom of a philosophy that resonates just as soundly in the modern-day as it did when the Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree, attaining enlightenment centuries ago.

A favorite quote of the Dalai Lama,

"There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness."

In the final analysis, China has no authority over the Dalai Lama - or any other, spiritual leader or religious being, for that matter; in general, they are not bound by man's laws...all rise above the din, and life's petty, daily skirmishes - buoyed by God's infinite Grace.

The Chinese Military - and juntas like those in Myanmar - can strip a person of status and rights; starve, humiliate, and imprison the body; but, cannot diminish the spirit.

It springs eternal...