Jack's Newswatch

The Supreme Court is once again trying to clarify what the long-established Miranda rights require the police to do, with the justices on Wednesday agreeing to decide whether officers can interrogate a suspect who said he understood his rights but didn’t invoke them.

The high court agreed to hear an appeal from Michigan prosecutors who had their conviction of Van Chester Thompkins thrown out by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because police kept talking to Thompkins after reading him his rights—despite Thompkins not verbally agreeing to invoke or withdraw his Miranda rights.

Thompkins was arrested for murder in 2001 and interrogated by police for three hours. At the beginning, Thompkins was read his Miranda rights and said he understood.

The officers in the room said Thompkins said little during the interrogation, occasionally answering “yes,” “no,” “I don’t know,” nodding his head and making eye contact as his responses. But when one of the officers asked him if he prayed for forgiveness for “shooting that boy down,” Thompkins said, “Yes.”

He was convicted, but on appeal he wanted that statement thrown out because he said he invoked his Miranda rights by being uncommunicative with the interrogating officers.

The Cincinnati-based appeals court agreed and threw out his confession and conviction.

“Thompkins’ persistent silence for nearly three hours in response to questioning and repeated invitations to tell his side of the story offered a clear and unequivocal message to the officers: Thompkins did not wish to wave his rights,” the court said.

Michigan prosecutors said that would be a new addition to Miranda rights, and they want the Supreme Court to reinstate Thompkins’ conviction.

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Popularity: 18% [?]

OTTAWA — This week’s images of Prime Minister Stephen Harper riding the prow of a locomotive in Saint John, N.B., flanked by two gainfully employed rail workers, said it all about his government’s current fortunes.

The Conservatives are rolling right along with their political agenda and message of economic recovery. The opposition Liberals seem to have gone off the rails, at least for now.

The situation is tantalizing to some Conservatives, who as one party source put it are “always looking for opportunities” to elegantly orchestrate the demise of the Liberals.

Pollster Doug Anderson says his research shows that’s a dangerous game.

“The greatest significance you could project from this is, if you’re going to be the party that causes an election – or if you really want one to happen – you don’t want to suffer the blame,” said Anderson, vice-president at Harris-Decima.

“So if the government wants one to happen, they have to be very delicate in how they make it happen.”

Former Harper adviser Tom Flanagan, author of the book “Harper’s Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power,” agrees that triggering an election would most likely backfire on the Conservatives.

“Good government is good politics,” Flanagan argues.

At least for now, Conservative tacticians are of the same view: keeping their powder dry is the best strategy.

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Notes:

Maybe it’s just me but I tuned into QP on CPAC today and I lasted a whole three minutes before I changed the channel.   I’ve never seen a quieter bunch of sad sacks than that Liberal opposition.  Well that’s not true is it?  They were like that when Dion was going down the tubes, weren’t they?  Regarding an election I have no difficulty with one now but Harper knows what’s going on and I don’t.  “So” – I’ll just sit back and watch the show.

Popularity: 16% [?]

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian officials say at least 75 people have been killed and thousands more trapped under flattened buildings in a powerful earthquake off Sumatra island.

Vice-President Jusuf Kalla announced the death toll at a news conference, hours after the 7.6-magnitude quake hit off the coast of the town of Padang on Wednesday.

Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry’s crisis centre, said thousands of people were trapped under collapsed buildings. He said a field hospital was being prepared to assist the injured.

Officials said the quake triggered a landslide that cut off land transport to the area closest to the epicenter. Power and telecommunications were also cut.

The quake was along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

[Source]

Updates:

11:34 am EDT, September 30th, 2009 — Thousands trapped under rubble after powerful Indonesia earthquake

4:08 pm EDT, September 30th, 2009 — Indonesia braced for ‘very big toll’ after thousands trapped by Sumatra quake

Popularity: 16% [?]

A young soldier has been sentenced to serve four years in prison and will be kicked out of the military for fatally shooting his tentmate while they were serving together in Afghanistan.

Military judge Cmdr. Peter Lamont handed down the sentence against Cpl. Matthew Wilcox on Wednesday morning, more than two years after his tentmate, Cpl. Kevin Megeney, was killed.

Lamont said Wilcox’s actions demonstrated a pattern of negligent behaviour that led to the death of a fellow soldier.

“He violated (the) trust of his colleagues,” Lamont said in court, adding that he was obliged to give Wilcox the minimum sentence under the civilian Criminal Code.

“In this case, I’m unable to say how the offence can be considered any less grave for sentencing purposes just because it occurred overseas,” the judge said.

The 24-year-old Wilcox will also be dismissed from the military and banned from owning a weapon for five years.

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Updates:

4:34 pm EDT, September 30th, 2009 — Wilcox to appeal sentence for killing soldier

Popularity: 16% [?]

TWELVE years ago, Britain was crying out for change from a divided, exhausted Government. Today we are there again.

In 1997, “New” Labour, shorn of its destructive hard-Left doctrines and with an energetic and charismatic leader, seemed the answer.

Tony Blair said things could only get better, and few doubted him. But did they get better? Well, you could point to investment in schools and shorter hospital waiting lists and say yes, some things did – a little.

But the real story of the Labour years is one of under-achievement, rank failure and a vast expansion of wasteful government interference in everyone’s lives.

Nobody can doubt the dedication of Gordon Brown – or the love and loyalty of his wife Sarah, who delivered a moving plea on his behalf yesterday.

But nor can they disguise the failures of Labour in Government over the last 12 years, many of them embarrassingly laid bare by the PM’s own words yesterday.

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Updates:

11:29 am EDT, September 30th, 2009 – Brown loses his cool

Popularity: 18% [?]

Stoney Brook, N.Y. (CBS) — They’re upset over an ultimatum from the health department.

Workers are being told to either get the swine flu vaccine or lose their jobs.

New York is the first state in the country to mandate flu vaccinations for its health care workers. The first doses of swine flu vaccine will be available beginning next week. Much of it is reserved for state health care workers, but there is growing opposition to required innoculations.

Health care workers in Hauppauge screamed “No forced shots!” as they rallied Tuesday against the state regulation requiring them to roll up their sleeves.

“I don’t even tend to the sick. I am in the nutrition field. They are telling me I must get the shot because I work in a health clinic setting,” said Paula Small, a Women, Infants and Children health care worker.

Small said she will refuse, worried the vaccine is untested and unproven, leaving her vulnerable. In 1976, there were some deaths associated with a swine flu vaccination.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

For Michael Ignatieff, September has been the cruellest month, and can’t end soon enough. But the potentially fatal political wounds he has suffered this month are entirely self-inflicted.

He began the month by declaring at a Liberal caucus meeting: “Mr. Harper, your time is up,” a quote he couldn’t climb down from, and which he gave as a hostage to fortune.

He set the Liberal Party on course for an election it wasn’t ready for, and set the country on the road to an election it doesn’t want. This time, Canadians really, really mean it when they say they don’t want an election. Just to quantify that, a Nanos Research poll for Policy Options, being released tonight, shows that three Canadians out of four, and even two Liberal voters out of three, don’t want an election. As pollster Nik Nanos comments: “That’s a very hard number.”

Question: How come Ignatieff’s pollster didn’t give him that information a month ago, before his Sudbury declaration of war on the minority Conservative government?

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Popularity: 17% [?]

#1 — BBC | Deadly tsunamis strike in Pacific

Tsunamis triggered by a strong quake in the South Pacific have killed more than 100 people across a number of islands.

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CNN | Dozens dead as tsunami slams into Samoan islands

#2 — BBC | New Czech move to block EU treaty

Czech senators opposed to the EU’s Lisbon Treaty have filed a new complaint against it with the country’s constitutional court.

[...]

#3 — CNN | Toyota warns on potentially deadly floormats

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Lexus and Toyota advised drivers of 3.8 million of its cars to remove floor mats or risk a forced-down accelerator pedal that could lead to a fatal crash.

[...]

#4 — Fox | Liberals Refuse to Give Up on Gov’t Health Option

WASHINGTON — A sweeping health overhaul bill has survived a major challenge from the left, but onslaughts loom from the right on thorny issues including abortion and insurance coverage for illegal immigrants.

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#5 — DM | Riot police tear down illegal camps AGAIN

Britain must sign up to an agreement that would open its borders to anyone travelling from Europe without a passport or visa, the mayor of Calais has insisted.

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#6 — Times | Gordon Brown pleads to voters as The Sun withdraws support

Gordon Brown played down the damage to his electoral prospects today after The Sun withdrew its support for the Labour Party.

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#7 — Times | Tony Blair ‘will end exile’ to campaign for Labour at general election

Tony Blair will end his exile from British politics at the next general election to “fight hard for Labour” in its toughest battle for almost 20 years.

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#8 — Times | Michael O’Leary accused of grubby deal as Irish prepare for Lisbon vote

The gloves came off yesterday in the final round of the Irish referendum campaign on the Lisbon treaty as the opposing camps traded insults and sought to land the knockout punch.

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#9 — Telegraph | Nato chief tells US to stop attacking European allies

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the new Secretary-General of Nato, has accused America of talking down European countries’ commitment to Afghanistan.

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#10 — Telegraph | Farmer’s daughter disarms terrorist and shoots him dead with AK47

An Indian farmer’s daughter disarmed a terrorist leader who broke into her home, attacked him with an axe and shot him dead with his own gun.

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Popularity: 18% [?]

#1 — CBC | Buy American exemption deal in the works

A deal may be imminent that will exempt Canada from the controversial Buy American provision included in the U.S. stimulus package, CBC News has learned.

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#2 — CBC | Ont. launches $50B tobacco lawsuit

Ontario says it is going to sue the big tobacco companies — for $50 billion.

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#3 — CBC | Troops may stay in Afghanistan, MacKay hints

Canada could still have soldiers in Afghanistan beyond 2011, although the government maintains that combat operations will cease.

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#4 — CBC | Canada will obey softwood ruling: Harper

Canada is not pleased with its recent loss on softwood lumber duties, but the government will follow the decision of an international trade tribunal.

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#5 — CTV | Lawyers seek to gag witnesses in Afghan prisoner inquiry

OTTAWA — Federal lawyers are trying to block government witnesses from testifying before a military watchdog investigating the treatment of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan, The Canadian Press has learned.

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#6 — CTV | Quebec Liberal MPs downplay Coderre controversy

OTTAWA — Quebec Liberal MPs scrambled Tuesday to smother the political stink bomb lobbed by Denis Coderre, saying their colleague put his ego ahead of the party.

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#7 — Globe | Wounded Ignatieff faces test of leadership

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff took direct control of his party in Quebec after his lieutenant reignited infighting Monday by quitting over interference from unnamed “Toronto advisers.”

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#8 — NP | Health workers balk at mandatory flu vaccines

As most Canadian hospitals and other health-care organizations prod their workers to get the influenza vaccine, some institutions have taken the aggressive stance of making the flu shot mandatory for nurses and other employees.

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#9 — Star | EHealth operation bled $1B

The cost of Ontario’s bungled push toward electronic health records for every patient ballooned to more than $1 billion as successive Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments scrambled to bring the system online, says a critical new auditor general’s report into the eHealth Ontario spending scandal.

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#10 — Star | Why Ottawa saw an ‘imposter’ in Mohamud case

The first Canadian official to interview a woman detained in Kenya for not looking like her passport photo says he suspected the woman to be Suaad Hagi Mohamud’s sister.

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Popularity: 21% [?]

Four cities are going for the 2016 Summer Olympics, and on Monday, Chicago heard the big addition to its team will be President Barack Obama.

On Thursday, the president is to fly to Copenhagen, Denmark, to make the pitch for the Windy City. It’s the first time a U.S. president has lobbied the selection committee on deadline — and in person.

Obama’s presence could give Chicago a boost in a tight race with Madrid, Spain; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Tokyo. Chicago and Rio are considered the front-runners. Rio is bidding to bring the Olympics to South America for the first time.

Rio is to have Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Denmark. While Madrid is to have King Juan Carlos of Spain, and Tokyo is to get Japan’s prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama.

The committee is to vote Friday.

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Notes:

“Some people are so wise they’re otherwise” my father was often heard to mutter.  So true:

“The Olympics were a financial disaster for Montreal, as the city faced debts for 30 years after the Games had finished. The Quebec provincial government took over construction when it became evident in 1975 that work had fallen far behind schedule; work was still under way just weeks before the opening date, and the tower was not built. Mayor Jean Drapeau had confidently predicted in 1970 that “the Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby”, but the debt racked up to a billion dollars that the Quebec government mandated the city pay in full.

The Olympic Stadium, a daring design of French architect Roger Taillibert, remains a lasting monument to the huge deficit and as such is known as the Big Owe; it never had an effective retractable roof, and the tower was completed only after the Olympics. In December 2006 the stadium’s costs were finally paid in full.^[5] The total expenditure (including repairs, renovations, construction, interest, and inflation) amounted to C$1.61 billion. Today, despite its huge cost, the stadium is devoid of a major tenant, after the Montreal Expos moved in 2005.

The boycott by African nations over the inclusion of New Zealand, whose rugby team had played in South Africa that year, was a contributing factor in the massive protests and civil disobedience that occurred during the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand. Official sporting contacts between South Africa and New Zealand did not occur again until after the fall of apartheid.”

Popularity: 18% [?]