good news from Oregon

[jfb]

From Notes on the Atrocities:

You all recall one Oregon legislator's brilliant effort to turn protesting into terrorism, right? It was in all the blogs. Well, turns out the lunatics aren't running the asylum. Yesterday, the legislature atoned by offering two nice bills that would actually protect civil liberties.

Under House Bill 2047, police officers would be required to warn foreign nationals of their rights to communicate with their consulate, as described in the Vienna Convention. A second, related bill "requires notification to a foreign consulate when a child who is not a U.S. citizen is taken into protective custody," (of which 400 are annually). Now, the great part. Unlike Senator Minnis's bumble, which aroused mainly derision, these bills passed the house 55-3 and 58-0, respectively. You go, Oregon.

Hooray!

Emma's previous post is good reading for a lot of us:

Say what you will about pacifism, but this much is true: the war’s been magnificent for creating anger. I know I’ve sunk into a kind of torpid rage—something like being sleep-deprived but simultaneously jittery from too much coffee. Last week I pored over the news, ostensibly trying to “stay informed,” but aware that I was looking for evidence to support my growing hatred over the arrogance and stupidity of our administration’s actions.

Comments

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

Dammit! What is with all of these Other Emmas appearing in my world? I'm supposed to be the Only One.

[jfb.livejournal.com]

Cheer up! It's not her real name.

There Can Be Only One

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

Say what you will about pacifism, but this much is true: the war’s been magnificent for creating anger.

I really hope she's not trying to say this is a positive thing. I've never found anger, rage or resentment to be particularly useful things. Some people sometimes do useful things while angry about something, I don't think it is itself positive.

Re: There Can Be Only One

[jfb.livejournal.com]

Seriously, guys, when I post excerpts from these links, they're just excerpts, not summaries--what I really want you to do is read the articles. Do the excerpts make that more or less likely? Should I stop?

Re: There Can Be Only One

[greyaenigma.livejournal.com]

Maybe an eensy little bit less likely.

Sorry, I should have read the article before writing a comment like that, but I am at work, and can't really afford to do much other than pop a window up, look, close it again, repeat.

Re: There Can Be Only One

[dkw.livejournal.com]

I like the excerpts; please keep them. The excerpt is just enough of a teaser to give people a good sense of whether they want to follow the pointer. I've been trying to follow your good example when I send out a URL in email.