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another deep trough .....

‘Five major military contractors are competing to design a
system to tackle up to two million undocumented immigrants a year in the United
States. Boeing, Ericsson, Lockheed, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are working
on proposals that focus on high technology rather than high fences, but
ignoring some of the fundamental problems of immigration.

At each checkpoint along the path
to citizenship or deportation -- from desert wilderness to urban labyrinth --
private contractors are expected to be hired to detect, apprehend, vet, detain,
process, and potentially incarcerate or deport people seeking economic and
human rights asylum in the U.S.

An indefinite delivery,
indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, estimated at $2.5 billion, for the Secure
Border Initiative Network (SBInet) will be awarded September 30th 2006, to
build a seamless web of new surveillance technology and sensors with real time
communications systems for Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The plan also
includes funds for additional personnel, vehicles and physical infrastructure
for fencing, and virtual fencing for U.S. borders.’

Border For Sale

Dumb Dubya needs one to the North

From the ABC

US draft evaders meet in Canada
Hundreds of Americans who fled to Canada to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War are meeting in the Canadian city of Castlegar this weekend.

They are being joined by soldiers who have deserted during the Iraq war and fled northward.

It is estimated as many as 60,000 Americans went to Canada in the Vietnam era to escape military service. They were welcomed with open arms.

More recently at least 25 soldiers have deserted the US military and fled to Canada.

Most have claimed refugee status, several have already been denied but appeals are in the works.

This weekend's conference is the first of its kind.

read more at the ABC

turning points that went nowhere...

From the Moscow Times

Global Eye
American Dream

By Chris Floyd
Published: July 7, 2006

In the mystic haze of midsummer, a most unlikely Oberon stepped forth last week to fling a spray of fairy light across the murk, rousing the ill-enchanted sleepers with the hope that dawn had finally come again. But as the magic glow fades, the spell-struck victims will likely find they are still caught in a curse of perpetual night.

We speak of course of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down the ludicrous and lawless "military tribunals" concocted by President George W. Bush to serve as meat grinders for the captives in his War on Terror. Led by the sprightly 86-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens, a narrow court majority delivered a stinging rebuke to Bush's assumption of imperial powers over the past five years, clearly rejecting the fundamental principle underlying the Crawford Caligula's foul misrule: that the president's unbridled will is the law.

The ruling has been hailed as a "victory for democracy," the "light at the end of the tunnel," a "turning point" in the long struggle to reclaim the republic from the usurping junta of the Bush regime. But we have seen these lights before, and watched them fade. All the previous "turning points" -- scandals, atrocities, judicial rebuffs, investigations, convictions -- have only led to more depredations; every seeming defeat of unlawful power becomes instead a springboard for its further advancement. There is no reason to think it will be any different this time...

read more at the Moscow Times