Well, that should settle it. All the Bush administration claptrap about the need for secret prisons, indefinite detentions, military commissions, restrictions on evidence and the like. It was all put to rest when accused terrorist Jose Padilla was convicted last week on terror-related charges.

In regular old federal district court. With the benefit of a defense attorney, the ability to confront witnesses and a jury of his peers.

You know, the justice system.

Padilla was held 3-1/2 years as an "enemy combatant," during which time he allegedly confessed to planning to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States. Alas, he was never charged with that offense, since he was in a military brig and had not been read his Miranda rights prior to making the confession. Instead, the government nailed him on conspiracy to commit murder, and two counts of providing material support to terrorists.

Who knows? If his jailers were FBI agents and not soldiers, perhaps his confession could have been properly and legally obtained, and he’d be going away for what the government alleges he actually did. But the fact is, he’s going away, and in the right way.

"This verdict once again demonstrates that federal courts are perfectly capable of handling terrorism cases," says Miami defense attorney Neal Sonnett. Amen to that.

The system — our current system, the one that’s served this nation so well for 231 years — works. And that means there’s no need to abandon it, the way President George W. Bush and some in his administration, think we should do. But that’s not the American way.

So let’s get around to charging the rest of the people in our custody, and rid ourselves of the secret jails and indefinite detentions of accused terrorists. Those tactics are a stain against democracy, human rights and international law.

And now, on with the Quick Hits!

» Hey, maybe the government of Mexico can provide some magic beans that we can use to grow a giant beanstalk, which we can then climb into the heavens, where we will find a giant pot of gold with which to pay for the health care of Mexican immigrant workers.

No, Gov. Jim Gibbons didn’t actually endorse that idea, although he did come up with something not too far off. Still, give him some time on that whole beanstalk thing.

» Where have we heard this before? Republic Services wants to try a "pilot program" in which they’ll pick up trash only once a week, but move recycling pickups to once a week, too. Oh, that’s right: When it was rejected last year after an outcry from angry residents. Yet, the trash company returns with another variation of the same idea. Who knew? (Actually, as it turns out, we did.)

This time around, instead of just one pilot program, the company has a few on that table, including one that would keep twice weekly trash pickup and add a weekly recycling pickup. The company wants the county to approve trying three different options for a year, to see which one is most effective. (Our prediction: Whichever one reduces Republic’s costs the most.)

Hey, at least they asked permission, instead of just going ahead and doing it, which Republic has an outrageous history of doing.

Look, if Republic wants to increase its recycling pickups out of the goodness of its heart (and commitment to the environment, if you can forget that whole Sunrise landfill thing) fine. Good for them.

But if Republic wants to be able to change its franchise agreement, that’s another matter altogether. And since the company has recycled its proposal, we’ll recycle what we said the last time it did: Go out to bid with another RFP and let competing trash companies vie for the lucrative agreement. If Republic isn’t willing to do that, the company should be held to its existing relationship for the term of the agreement, which, after all, it insisted on getting from the city and the county in the first place.

» Regular readers know that we think state Sen. Mark Amodei should quit his "other day job" (i.e. being a state senator) if he’s going to move forward with his plan to head up the Nevada Mining Association starting Oct. 1. The conflicts are too huge to overcome simply by disclosing and abstaining from votes. (For that matter, we don’t think any lawmaker should seek or accept any job that would tend to cause them to become less effective in office, as we said in a recent post.)

But now comes word that Amodei actually sought out the mining job during a legislative session! This turns a blatant conflict of interest into something much worse. We haven’t been through law school, so perhaps we’re wrong, but it looks to us that soliciting the mining job comes within a few nanometers of violating the provisions of NRS 281.481(1) and (2).

Now, more than ever, we think Amodei must resign from his elected job, and he must do so forthwith. He sat as a member of the Natural Resources Committee while having secretly expressed interest in a job in the industry that the committee regulates! That’s simply unjustifiable, no matter how lax the standard.

» Will new businesses shun Nevada because of taxes? The Jennifer Robison of 2005 reports a story that says yes. The Jennifer Robison of 2007 reports a story that says no. Since there have been no new taxes in that time, who’s right?

» Well, that proves it. Our corporate overlord Sherm Frederick must be branching out into the traffic camera business.

» You’ve got to be shitting us! "Entertainer" Jerry Lewis gets a $20,000 fee for his interviews? People pay the price of a nice new Honda to hear him talk about himself? No way. No way in hell. Do you get to punch him in the face at the end of the interview? We might consider the 20 grand if we get to punch him in the face. Let us know about that…

» And finally today, it looks as if Gov. Jim Gibbons hasn’t really raised his stature with Nevada voters. According to Reno Gazette-Journal reporter Anjeanette Damon’s most excellent blog, just 33 percent of people say they approve of the job he’s doing. And 49 percent say they disapprove. He got a whopping 74 percent of Democrats saying they disapprove, and just 51 percent of Republicans approve of his performance in office.

Like we said back in June when Gibbons reached 49 percent approval in one poll (up from 28 percent and 30 percent in other surveys): Gibbons is Gibbons, and the peculiar personality traits that led to that 28 percent aren’t going away just because he’s managed to avoid making a mistake for the last … uh … few hours.

U.S. Rep. Jon Porter has hired longtime Henderson City Manager Phil Speight as his chief of staff, effective in October. Speight will replace current Chief of Staff Mike Hesse, who has been in the job for two years and is returning to his native Colorado.