June 9, 2009

Gitmo Detainee Arrives In US, Turns Out Not to Have Superpowers

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Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani arrived in New York today to face 286 counts related to the 1998 embassy bombing in Tanzania. Despite widespread warnings from conservatives that bringing Guantanamo detainees to US shores might mean the end of western civilization, New Yorkers escaped without harm. (The National Security Network issued a press release headlined “World Does Not End As Gitmo Detainee Finally Brought to Face Justice.”) Either Ghailani did not have the superpowers conservatives seem to think terrorist suspects have, or the fact that there are already lots of terrorists in US prisons (355, according to one count) gave US authorities the experience they needed to deal with Ghailani’s super-strength and X-ray vision.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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