Comments on: Chapter 3

By: Alex B

Alex B — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:25:57 +0000

“Enemy Combatant”, in this case, refers to the legal definition of an unlawful combatant, a civilian who engages in war in direct violation of International Humanitarian Law. Unlawful combatants are not entitled to any of the protections of prisoners of war, nor are they necessarily entitled to the protections of the law in the country they are tried in.

What this means for Marcus is exactly the threat displayed against him – if he is determined to be a terrorist, then he can simply be vanished from existence and held indefinitely, with no chance of seeing the outside world again, without the rights customarily accorded criminals, including lawyers and the right to a swift trial.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unlawful_combatant

By: Alex B

Alex B — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:14:44 +0000

From here to the end of the chapter, Marcus is trying to establish whether he is under the legal framework of a United States citizen having been arrested for a crime – if he is, he is entitled to the protections of the law, including the requirement that he be charged with a crime if he is to be detained past a certain amount of time, and those rights most famously spelled out in the United States Supreme court Case Miranda v. Arizona: the right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination and the right to have an attorney present during questioning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_Rights

By: Alex B

Alex B — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:07:13 +0000

The Department of Homeland Security officially came into existence in 2002, a few months after the 11 September 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. It is intended to be a single Cabinet-level department of the United States government that could “prepare for, prevent, and respond to domestic emergencies”.

By: Alex B

Alex B — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:00:05 +0000

Most likely, the animated hand is giving a gesture known as digitus impudicus, “flipping the bird”, or “flipping someone off”, with the hand upright and the second (middle) finger extended in the air. It is the equivalent of saying “f**k off” or “f**k you”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_%28gesture%29

By: tiptoe

tiptoe — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:55:59 +0000

Borderlands Books is an actual bookstore in San Francisco, specializing in science fiction, fantasy and horror literature. Its Web site can be found here: http://www.borderlands-books.com/. As for how a real bookstore could be located across the street from a fictional school, that may be better left to the imagination, but I found, after a lengthy struggle with various mapping systems, that John O’Connell Technical High School appears to be “basically across the street” from Borderlands and therefore might very well be the inspiration for Cesar Chavez High School. For a quick overview of the school, click here: http://orb.sfusd.k12.ca.us/sarcs2/hilights/sahl-651.pdf. For a map, click here: http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=San+Francisco&1s=CA&1y=US&1l=37.775002&1g=-122.418297&1v=CITY&2qn=Borderlands+Books&2c=San+Francisco&2s=CA&2a=866+Valencia+St&2z=94110&2y=US&2l=37.759074&2g=-122.421311&2v=ADDRESS&2id=11771630#a/maps/l:::San+Francisco:CA::US:37.775002:-122.418297:city::1/l:Borderlands+Books:866+Valencia+St:San+Francisco:CA:94110:US:37.759074:-122.421311:address::1/m:::::0:::::1:1:1::/io:1:::::f:EN:M:/e

By: shesnameless

shesnameless — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:45:58 +0000

Claustrophobia is an intense fear of closed spaces. The Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders classifies it as an anxiety disorder defined by a marked and persistent fear of having no escape and being closed in. When the individual is exposed to the phobic object they experience an immediate anxiety response, which can take the form of a panic attack.

By: shesnameless

shesnameless — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:39:13 +0000

The danger of getting trampled in a crowd is real. This New York Times article reports how a Wal-Mart employee in Valley Stream, N.Y was trampled to death during a mob rush for holiday bargains in November 2008.

By: ssm1

ssm1 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:09:20 +0000

Yes, that is scary… Those designated enemy combatants, “could be held indefinitely without charges being filed against him or her, without a court hearing, and without entitlement to a legal consultant.” (1)

“Under the law of armed conflict, captured enemy combatants have no right to counsel, or of access to a court, to challenge their detention during hostilities.” (2) Therefore his repeated attempts to speak to a lawyer are futile.

Not even being a teenager can help him. Minors can also be detained as enemy combatants and a number of them have in the Iraq war, approximately 2,500 as of May 2008 (3)

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus

2) http://cryptome.org/osce091803.htm

3) http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/05/dod-to-verify-number-of-juvenile-enemy.php

By: Carly Nartowicz

Carly Nartowicz — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:23:02 +0000

Fun Facts about this American Pastime – who knew it had lost ground in its market.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s

By: Carly Nartowicz

Carly Nartowicz — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:21:13 +0000

Since 9/11 and tragedies such as the Virginia Tech massacre schools and companies across the United States have put for emergency call and/or text lists to allow quick relay of information regarding disaster situations. Here, it seems likely that the physical tower or connector is what failed, as mobile phone companies have well equipped themselves and their customers for these kinds of situations.

For more information about how and why mobile technology is important to the US – http://bit.ly/6IofU