Born in 1963 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, Rebecca Schneider grew up in rural western Pennsylvania in a middle class neighborhood.  Rebecca graduated from Mars High School in 1982 and Slippery Rock University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.  During the course of attending College and working two, sometimes three jobs to pay her way, she set the course of her career when she began working in the library and currently works as a Library Supervisor for Arizona State University.

By Dave Lindorff

Is anyone surprised that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that the Bush/Cheney administration’s authorization of torture of captives has been consistently legal and in compliance with all treaties the US has signed, including the Geneva Conventions?

After all, she was at the meetings in the White House in 2001 at which various acts of torture, ranging from waterboarding to exposure to extreme heat and cold, to enforced long periods in stress positions, and to treatments which have not been disclosed (no doubt because they are so outrageous and offensive to common decency) were dreamed up, proposed and approved for use—meetings that were manifestly criminal in nature and in violation of international and US law.

Protect your right to Biological privacy! Oppose DNA Database Act!

By Dave Lindorff

With a viral campaign underway via email, right-wing radio, and on the street suggesting that Barack Obama is a black “Manchurian Candidate,” secretly trained as a Muslim fanatic who will insinuate himself into the White House, thence to undermine all that we hold dear, perhaps it is time to look at the Manchurian Candidate we already have in the White House, who, together with his handler over in Blair House, has pretty much done all the damage already.

George Bush came to office in 2001 promising a new era of integrity, civility and “compassionate conservatism,” an era of humble American foreign policy, and a bi-partisan approach to government.

What did we actually get?

 I would like to know why Barry Frank feels the need to split the GBLT community ? Doesn't he know  the quickest way to distroy any force is to divide it. He has sold out to please New speaker of the house so she will have this great human rights victory to announce at the HRC gaila since she is the key note speaker. The gay commuinty has stepped on the backs of the trans community once again to improve thier standing in society. I feel like if the timing isn't right to pass an ALL INCLUSIVE ENDA bill that we should way until after the 2008 election when we will surely have a Democrat pres. We should stand together or fall together.

                                                                 Sincerely

Senator Chris Dodd is leading the fight to pass the "Habeas Corpus Restoration Act" and he needs our help immediately because the Senate vote could be tomorrow. Below is the vote tally - where do your Senators stand?
http://restore-habeas.org/whip/total.php

If they have not promised to vote for Dodd's bill call them today at 202-225-3121 and also use our petition:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/113

 I recieved an e-mail from my Representative today on the issue of the Military Commissions Act and what it pertains to, particularly with those at Guantanamo Bay.  I thought I would copy it down for you to read as I found it a very important subject.  These days there is a lot of talk about it in just about anyplace you look.  Below is the e-mail from Representative Ron Kind.

 Thank you for contacting me about the Military Commission Act.  I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

"One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic."

Joseph Stalin's infamous words.

This certainly seems to reflect corporate media's attitude to the ongoing slaughter in Iraq.

It is the 4th anniversary of Operation Iraqi Liberation (O.I.L) - the invasion was later renamed for PR reasons - and despite the US military's reluctance to 'do body counts' a number of other organizations are aware of the level of carnage. Rather than being described as an 'insurgency' it should more accurately be described as a 'holocaust'.

Milan Court Indicts 26 Americans In Abduction - CIA Operatives May Be Tried in Absentia
ROME, Feb. 16 -- An Italian judge gave approval Friday for what will be the first overseas criminal trial of CIA officers involved in a covert counterterrorism operation, as a court in Milan indicted more than two dozen Americans on charges of kidnapping a radical Muslim cleric four years ago. (more)

The Nation's Ari Melber raises a hugely important question: can the netroots restore Habeas Corpus?

Just before its implosion last November, the Republican Congress passed the Military Commissions Act (MCA), one of the worst legislative setbacks to human rights policy since World War II. The law dilutes restrictions against torture; provides new immunity for war criminals; eliminates habeas corpus, the sacrosanct right to go to court and challenge government detention, for US residents; and authorizes rigged military trials for people captured on and off the battlefield, without any oversight by American courts.