Holder vs Humanitarian law and Arar vs Ashcroft both pass in Govt favour

[LMNO]

CTC, Chapter 27:

A good mindfuck leaves no reasons;
A good sabateur leaves no evidence;
A good artist leaves new questions;
A good barstool removes much idle speculation;
The perfect prison cell looks like the environment;
A nice tie opens many doors.

So a wise spag knows how to blend in,
and takes their freedom once inside.
They understand the people around them,
and know how to get things done.
This is called "Tweaking the Machine™".

Those who proclaim their individuality by following rebels
are still grey, though their fingernails be black.
Such things bring my palms to my face.

The Machine™ cannot be stopped.
But you can gradually redesign it
part by part,
party by party.










[Note: once again, I am speaking for no one but myself]

[Doktor Howl]

CTC, Chapter 27:

A good mindfuck leaves no reasons;
A good sabateur leaves no evidence;
A good artist leaves new questions;
A good barstool removes much idle speculation;
The perfect prison cell looks like the environment;
A nice tie opens many doors.

So a wise spag knows how to blend in,
and takes their freedom once inside.
They understand the people around them,
and know how to get things done.
This is called "Tweaking the Machine™".

Those who proclaim their individuality by following rebels
are still grey, though their fingernails be black.
Such things bring my palms to my face.

The Machine™ cannot be stopped.
But you can gradually redesign it
part by part,
party by party.

Also, never return to the scene of the crime.  And KYFMS.

[Zyzyx]

Looks like a trip to my local Alfa Male Clothing Co. is in order. It's a pity, my face looks better with a beard.

[LMNO]

Oh, you can still find style.  Just like everything else, you go for it.

There's a reason a nice suit costs a lot.  When done right, it makes you look GOOD.

[Zyzyx]

Then the memetic artillery flies while I stand back in my nice suit looking as bewildered as everyone else.

Excellent. This will be perfect, and I have my work cut out for me when I return to college in August. Thread forthcoming.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Oh, you can still find style.  Just like everything else, you go for it.

There's a reason a nice suit costs a lot.  When done right, it makes you look GOOD.

Truth.

Even a simple tie and a button down does a lot.

[Zyzyx]

Cool. I posted a new thread in Operation Mindfuck, explaining myself, the situation I am currently in. You'll find plenty to pick apart there, but prank/effective mindfuck suggestions from the senior citizens of prankdom would be greatly appreciated.

[Triple Zero]

Oh, you can still find style.  Just like everything else, you go for it.

There's a reason a nice suit costs a lot.  When done right, it makes you look GOOD.

This is why you should be paying particular attention to those that look REALLY GOOD.

For if they might be someone wearing sheep's clothing, apparently they are fucking GOOD at it

[Doktor Howl]

You don't even have to look "formally" good, especially if it's not appropriate.  You want to dress so that you look invested in the system.  Sometimes that means a clean pair of jeans, a dickey shirt, and steel toe boots.

[LMNO]

Good point: Context dictates.

[Doktor Howl]

Good point: Context dictates.

Can't count how many times I've been the outraged fine upstandin' Amurrican, goddammit I PAY my taxes, I shouldn't have to worry about my kids seein' shit like THAT!

[Zyzyx]

Then it seems a Closet of Archetypes is in order. I wonder what I can pull together with what is on hand. Likely a lot more than I might think just standing here. I have clean jeans, button-downs, a belt and steel-toes. That fits down here. The suit, not so much, but I /do/ have a tux. Just have to become less of a slob so that I can fit inside it again. 

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Then it seems a Closet of Archetypes is in order. I wonder what I can pull together with what is on hand. Likely a lot more than I might think just standing here. I have clean jeans, button-downs, a belt and steel-toes. That fits down here. The suit, not so much, but I /do/ have a tux. Just have to become less of a slob so that I can fit inside it again. 

The jeans and button down combo is probably a good all purpose all occasion blend in look.

[Halfbaked1]

In my area, jeans and a t-shirt are my perfect disguise.  But I also have slacks and several polo shirts that match the style of several local houses of retail.  Please note, no logos, or name tags.  Just a similar colouration and no admission of actual ownership.  Simply make the appearance of belonging and smile like you are them...or in some cases don't smile.

[Cain]

/rejack

Filing suits on behalf of Awlaki is now a criminal offence:

A major legal challenge to one of the Obama administration's most radical assertions of executive power began this morning in a federal courthouse in Washington, DC.  Early last month, the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights were retained by Nasser al-Awlaki, the father of Obama assassination target (and U.S. citizen) Anwar al-Awlaki, to seek a federal court order restraining the Obama administration from killing his son without due process of law.  But then, a significant and extraordinary problem arose:   regulations promulgated several years ago by the Treasury Department prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with individuals labeled by the Government as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist," and those regulations specifically bar lawyers from providing legal services to such individuals without a special "license" from the Treasury Department specifically allowing such representation.

On July 16 -- roughly two weeks after Awlaki's father retained the ACLU and CCR to file suit -- the Treasury Department slapped that label on Awlaki.  That action would have made it a criminal offense for those organizations to file suit on behalf of Awlaki or otherwise provide legal representation to him without express permission from the U.S. Government.  On July 23, the two groups submitted a request for such a license with the Treasury Department, and when doing so, conveyed the extreme time-urgency involved:  namely, that there is an ongoing governmental effort to kill Awlaki and any delay in granting this "license" could cause him to be killed without these claims being heard by a court.  Despite that, the Treasury Department failed even to respond to the request.

Left with no choice, the ACLU and CCR this morning filed a lawsuit on their own behalf against Timothy Geithner and the Treasury Department.  The suit argues that Treasury has no statutory authority under the law it invokes -- The International Emergency Economic Powers Act  -- to bar American lawyers from representing American citizens on an uncompensated basis.  It further argues what ought to be a completely uncontroversial point:  that even if Congress had vested Treasury with this authority, it is blatantly unconstitutional to deny American citizens the right to have a lawyer, and to deny American lawyers the right to represent clients, without first obtaining a permission slip from Executive Branch officials (the Complaint is here).  As the ACLU/CCR Brief puts it:  "The notion that the government can compel a citizen to seek its permission before challenging the constitutionality of its actions in court is wholly foreign to our constitutional system" and "[a]s non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting civil liberties and human rights, Plaintiffs have a First Amendment right to represent clients in litigation consistent with their organizational missions."  The Brief also argues that it is a violation of Separation of Powers to allow the Executive Branch to determine in its sole discretion who can and cannot appear in and have access to a federal court.

Today's lawsuit seeks, on an emergency basis, an Order declaring the Treasury Department's asserted power to be without statutory authority and/or in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and to bar the U.S. Government from imposing any penalties whatsoever (criminal or otherwise) on the ACLU and CCR for providing legal representation to Awlaki.  Assuming the court issues such an order, the next step will be for a lawsuit to be quickly filed on Awlaki's behalf to enjoin his targeted assassination.

It's rather amazing that the Federal Government asserts the right to require U.S. citizens and American lawyers to obtain government permission before entering into an attorney-client relationship -- all because these officials decided on their own, with no process, to call the citizen a "Global Terrorist."  It's difficult to imagine a more blatantly unconstitutional power than that.  What kind of an American would think the Government has the power to decide whether citizens may or may not be represented by lawyers?  Then again, this is an administration that asserts the power to choose American citizens for targeted killings far from any battlefield with no due process of any kind -- and plenty of its supporters are perfectly content with this -- so nothing should really be surprising.