Torture, American-Style

Torture, American-Style

the CIA has a list of acceptable interrogation methods, including soaking naked prisoners with water in 50-degree rooms and making them stand for 40 hours handcuffed and shackled to an eyebolt in the floor.

"Palestinian hanging," where a prisoner's arms are twisted behind his back and his wrists are chained five feet above the floor.

Waterboarding (in which a prisoner is made to believe he is drowning) and withholding pain medication for bullet wounds

blasting detainees with high-volume "futility music" (the report's phrase) by Metallica and Britney Spears, dressing a detainee in a bra, and making him do dog tricks

In the Bush lexicon, therefore, sexual humiliation, acute sleep deprivation and threats to have a detainee's mother kidnapped and imprisoned are humane.

18- to 20-hour-a-day questioning for 48 out of 54 days, blasting prisoners with strobe lights and ear-splitting rock music, menacing them with snarling dogs, threatening to hurt their mothers, and humiliations such as leading them around on leashes Pfc. Lynndie England-style, stripping them naked in front of women, or holding them down while a female interrogator straddles them and whispers that we've killed their comrades.

Huh. Leader of the free world.

The US government, on torture by its clients

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that it was "united" with the Iraqi government in deploring the mistreatment of detainees.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top12nov17,0,2672377.story

huh. sounds like milspec U.S. government issued male cow manure to me. And no, I'm not referring to Abu Ghraib, I'm referring to the U.S. Vice President's vigorous, shameless and (so far) successful attempts to give certain U.S. arms the right to torture non-citizens, on their own soil or elsewhere.

"Detainee abuse is not and will not be tolerated by either the Iraqi government or the Multi-National Forces in Iraq," it said.

Which implies that it's the U.S. government that calls the shots in the Iraqi Government. Not particularly surprising in this context since, certainly, the U.S. government *does* call the shots in Iraq, but any competent hypocrite would mask the blatant insensitivity to a sovereign nation's decisions. But then one should not be surprised, amazed or otherwise discombobulated by such hubris.

I would wait for the gods to make U.S. leaders mad, but it seems that has already been accomplished.

refreshing conservatism

I took some quotes for my sig quotes file from an article on the decline in parental guidance in the U.S.. Some quotes though are too juicy even for me, e.g.,

Not that I’m laboring under the illusion that modern girls are all sugar and spice and everything nice. Owing to feminism, which liberated the fairer sex from common-sense, morality, restraint, and chastity, quasi-harlotry now infects much of contemporary womanhood. A lady close to my heart said it best: “Forty years ago you knew who the bad girls were; now you know who the good girls are.” And now we have a whole generation of girls-gone-wild.

Altogether a good article, very useful point. It doesn't address the issues with old-time conservatism though (some repression is a good thing, excessive paternalistic repression is, well, excessive and oppressive). Some sort of middle ground moderated and guided by love (rather than fear and punishment, as of old) is certainly the better way, but I can see that that middle ground would be difficult to maintain. Possibly it takes more goodness and wisdom than is normally available. It's something sort of like the rhythm method a good idea but too difficult for normal persons.

I think they should make them glow in the dark!

Cockeyed has a an article on The Military Applications of Silly String.

I don't know if that's a hoax. It probably isn't. I think they could enhance the product a bit by making it glow in the dark :-). Does mentioning the concept make it unpatentable? Or do I actually have to create some silly string that glows in the dark and then document that somewhere? :-).

tiger

Bad show, Funny wmv

Like my mom (she was scandalized by scenes involving toilets and activities therein) I can't stand Pinoy Big Brother. I'm not as sensitive as my mom, but stupidity bothers me. Hmmm, that link says that Willie Revillame is in there, that might be why it's so shallow then. Although maybe that has to do with Asia Agcaoili too. I wasn't very clear on who Asia Agcaoili was, but a quick google image search on her name reminds me that she's the Sex guru on one or another soft pr0n magazine sold publicly hereabouts. I wasn't going to give her much respect anyway, since she works on the show, but now my already negative impression of the show drops to new lows. huh. morons.

On the other hand, a friend sent me a link to a (no doubt unauthorized) video of the Pinoy Big Brother theme song and that's freaking funny. Hahahah, highly recommended.

The song itself is reasonable. The lyrics are upbeat and although it isn't particularly gripping, the song works well enough. But since it's related to the show, well, I can't like it. Not that it matters though. I'm not anyone's target market for anything.