Thank God some senators have come to their senses. Bush and his right-wing cohorts have used 9/11 as a cover for their nefarious plans to reduce big time the liberty of Americans. Isn't it ironic that while Bush champions liberty and freedom for Iraqis, he's doing his damndest to curtail it at home.

apnews.myway.com/article/...J6M81.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate on Friday refused to reauthorize major portions of the USA Patriot Act after critics complained they infringed too much on Americans' privacy and liberty, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush administration and Republican leaders.

In a crucial vote early Friday, the bill's Senate supporters were not able to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and their allies. The final vote was 52-47.

President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Republicans congressional leaders had lobbied fiercely to make most of the expiring Patriot Act provisions permanent.

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Lord Have Mercy on Jamaica! How does Commissioner Lucius
Thomas feel now when he virtually poo poohed the extent of the poor man's injuries.

From RJR

Corporal Grantley Waite, the policeman who was battered, allegedly by his colleagues, is dead.

The policeman died Friday morning at the Kingston Public Hospital where he had been admitted for more than three weeks.


The beating of the policeman sparked public outrage which intensified when Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas claimed that the severity of the injuries was being blown out of proportion.

The Commissioner based his claim on reports he said he had received from medical personnel at the Cornwall Regional Hospital where Corporal Waite was admitted after he was beaten at the Salem Police Station.

The Commissioner was forced to clarify his statement after family members of the policeman insisted that the injuries were severe.

At the time, the policeman's daughter, Saskia Waite, said she was told by doctors that the damage to her father's spine was consistent with him having been hit on the back of the head.

Commissioner Thomas, who had ordered an investigation into the beating, has not yet released details of that probe nor has he provided an update from Corporal Waite's doctors.

Corporal Waite suffered serious spinal injuries during a reported altercation in the barracks at the Mount Salem Police Station on November 16.

It is understood that the persons who inflicted the injuries did not know that he was a policeman.

He was taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital and later transferred to a Kingston hospital.

Meanwhile, Corporal Waite's daughter Saskia says she is saddened by the fact that her father's colleagues contributed to his death.

And Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas says he will be handing over the files relating the attack on Corporal Waite to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Mr. Thomas says he expects the DPP to rule on the matter by December 21.

The Police Commissioner is now meeting with some members of Corporal Waite's family.
One one coco full basket.