After a brief two month hiatus due to family illness, the Minor Talk blog returns.

-Zach Jones

Well finals somewhat swamped all of us so we weren't able to make as many new posts in the last week. However, finals are now over so we now have unlimited time to spare. We have just finished creating our first podcast and are in the process of making another. Hope you enjoy!

-Zach Jones

I'd like to take this opportunity to assure our regular listeners that today's show was not necessarily an typical example of our program's quality. We did have a great deal of fun bashing Mr. W., and his current confession of illegal wire taps on phone calls since 2002, which we felt directly violated the Fourth amendment to the United States Constitution. But we do usually try to present an accurate cross section of our country's opinions. Unfortunately, this week Matt Murray is in Ohio, and Matt Houston is snowboarding, so our two very own devil's advocates weren't here, and Zach, hard as he tried, just couldn't bring himself to be one. He's just that kind of person. It wasn't a bad show, but it wasn't by any means a good one, and for that, we apologize. We tried to argue, but we just ranted about the general incompetence, arrogance, and unconstitutional ideals of our great dicta...president.

We do hope you enjoyed Will Ferrell's rendition of the Crawford Ranch in Texas, or the Beastie Boy's comment on impeaching "Tex." Next week you can look forward to this, and a great rebuttal (although if you listen to this show at 5:30 on Christmas eve, you need more to cheer you up than some Bush jokes).

-Spencer Lindstrom

Contrary to popular belief, not just Republicans are being sucked into the annals of the Abramoff scandal. As of recent, such progressive figures as Senators Byron L. Dorgan and Harry Reid have been found to have had ties to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Dorgan has publicly announced that he will return the $67,000 he received in contributions from Indian tribes represented by Abramoff. He was quoted in The Washington Post as saying:

"I have returned all contributions to my campaign committee and my leadership political action committee from tribes represented by Mr. Abramoff's law firm and from individuals employed by his law firm during the time he was at the firm...Even though those contributions were legal and fully reported as required by law, I will not knowingly keep even one dollar in contributions if there is even a remote possibility that they could have been the result of any action Mr. Abramoff might have taken."

One of our faux political values in this country is bi-partisanship. Finally, something both sides can agree on: accepting "donations." Donations such as the golfing vacations, tickets to football and hockey games that Rep. Tom Delay, the former House Majority Leader. Besides the Abramoff scandal, Delay is already fighting off charges of money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Other charges claiming Delay and two associates conspired to violate Texas state election code were dropped from the case by a judge. A spokesperson for Delay made his case to the Houston Chronicle:

"[The] judge's decision to swiftly dismiss Ronnie Earle's baseless and manufactured indictment last week was the correct decision then, and it will be the correct decision when this hopeless attempt to appeal is ultimately rejected."

The term "manufactured" in this instance doesn't necessarily mean "innocent."

"The judge found the state conspiracy law did not apply to the election code until a year after the 2002 elections when the alleged violations occurred."

Meanwhile, Delay's controversial Texas redistricting plan is going to be brought before the Supreme Court. The Justices will decide whether the plan violated the Voting Rights Act by intentionally breaking up concentrations of minority voters in order to give Republicans an extra six congressional seats.

Don't we all just wish that these were the good times of yester-year, when you could almost get impeached because of a dress, and Pokemon cards were still cool?

-Zach Jones

One day after the President commented, in a rare moment of semi-consciousness and recognition of reality, about the number of civilians killed during the war in Iraq, the American ambassador to Iraq answered questions about the status of abused prisoners. As of now, the US has confirmed that between 120 and 170 detainees, all of whom were held in secret or semi-secret detention centers in Iraq, were abused. Many of those detained were admitted to hospitals for injuries apparently sustained from abuse. According to the New York Times,

Mr. Khalilzad was asked about two Iraqi detention facilities from which some detainees had been transferred to the hospital, and to comment on remarks from some Iraqi interior ministry officials characterizing the handling of the detainees as slapping.

And for those who think that abuse and horrible prison conditions are as passe as the infamous picture of Lyndie England:

Another facility inspected three days ago was, according to reports he had received, "overcrowded and not in good conditions."

Added support for claims that the CIA used European airports to illegally transport detainees has been provided by the Council of Europe. The Council came to the conclusion that "the information gathered to date reinforced the credibility of the allegations concerning the transport and temporary detention of detainees outside all judicial procedure in European countries." There have also been further claims that the intelligence agencies of several yet unnamed European nations may have aided the CIA in its actions, without informing their governments.

All of this has come in the wake of Iraqi parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for Thursday. What, preytell, would the run up to elections be without the death of more US soldiers, or the denouncing of elections by Al Qaeda In Iraq and other militant organizations? It just wouldn't be Iraqi-style democracy.

Finally, 16 portions of the Patriot Act, are set to expire on the 31st. This has led Bush Administration officials to call for renewal of the act, which some see as a pillar of homeland security. Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, the sole original opponent of the act when it was first voted on in 2001, has stated his intentions to block the renewal of the act. Feingold cites privacy and civil rights violations as a basis for his opposition. He is joined in his opinion by several other senators, including Dick Durbin of Illinois and Colorado's own Ken Salazar. *Click here for full text of the Patriot Act*

-Zach Jones

Wow, aparently I missed a great Save Tookie event, but I am a bit miffed that one of these people was a keynote speaker for the event. Read Below in entry on Save Tookie website:

Denver, CO: Join The Save Stan "Tookie" Williams Campaign, and The Armstrong (Romero) Family, in Our Quest for Justice and Ending OfficialBrutality, Torture, and Murder in America Block Party Protest Colorado State Capital 15th and Colfax Monday December 12, 2005, 3:00pm-6:00pmKeynote Speakers: Ernesto Vigil (Crusade for Justice), Ward Churchill(American Indian Movement), and Ramona Africa (MOVE). For more information, or to volunteer, contact Earl Armstrong (303)208-9138, Shareef Aleem (720) 436-7606, or Steve Nash (720) 309-1418.

Yeah, he's a lunatic, but he's our lunatic. Well, CU's at least.

Stanley "Tookie" Williams

1951-2005

Sometimes even redemption isn't enough

-Zach Jones