Glenn Greenwald reports on the US assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen in Yemen, who had not been charged with (or convicted of) any crime. Al-Awlaki was "far from any battlefield," and no judge or jury considered any accusations that had been levelled against him, nor did he have the opportunity to face his accusers nor offer a defense. Whether or not al-Awlaki was a terrorist (something no court can determine now), this sets a new precedent: the US can assassinate its own citizens on presidential order without any due process or accountability.
After several unsuccessful efforts to assassinate its own citizen, the U.S. succeeded today (and it was the U.S.). It almost certainly was able to find and kill Awlaki with the help of its long-time close friend President Saleh, who took a little time off from murdering his own citizens to help the U.S. murder its. The U.S. thus transformed someone who was, at best, a marginal figure into a martyr, and again showed its true face to the world. The government and media search for The Next bin Laden has undoubtedly already commenced.
What's most striking about this is not that the U.S. Government has seized and exercised exactly the power the Fifth Amendment was designed to bar ("No person shall be deprived of life without due process of law"), and did so in a way that almost certainly violates core First Amendment protections (questions that will now never be decided in a court of law). What's most amazing is that its citizens will not merely refrain from objecting, but will stand and cheer the U.S. Government's new power to assassinate their fellow citizens, far from any battlefield, literally without a shred of due process from the U.S. Government. Many will celebrate the strong, decisive, Tough President's ability to eradicate the life of Anwar al-Awlaki -- including many who just so righteously condemned those Republican audience members as so terribly barbaric and crass for cheering Governor Perry's execution of scores of serial murderers and rapists -- criminals who were at least given a trial and appeals and the other trappings of due process before being killed.
The due-process-free assassination of U.S. citizens is now reality [salon.com] Tags: carousel, law, politics, war
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Yatzer discovered an exceptional two-piece collection by a fashion design student from the Berlin University of Arts; Alba Prat. Despite the fact that the particular work was limited in terms of quantity, one could see the potential of this particular designer. Her work involved two designs made in laser-cut, neoprene fabric, following clean lines and creating 3-D-like, cubic effects. The small collection took the name ''The Synthetic Oceans''. Today, Alba makes her much-expected step forward. She presents us with a larger collection of garments made for women, always stamped with her signature elements. Describing it in a few words, the collection features clean lines, sole colours and optical effects. Yet this time the collection takes the name ''Digitalized''. 
by Edwin - on August 18th, 2011
The iPhone is able to do a whole lot of stuff – not just over the screen itself, but you can also use it to control remote controlled helicopters as well. This extreme versatility that had never been seen before in any phone prior to it has made it a hugely desirable handset, so you can more or less expect the frenzy that will surround the iPhone 5's release. Well, for the moment, you might as well as add another job description to the already long list on the iPhone 4's resume – the iPhone Virtual Reality Viewer.