According to Colin Powell's former Chief of Staff, Lawrence Wilkerson, the Bush administration used torture to link Al Qaeda to Iraq. Wilerson states, "The detainee had not revealed any al-Qa’ida-Baghdad contacts yet. This ceased only after Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, under waterboarding in Egypt, “revealed” such contacts. Of course later we learned that al-Libi revealed these contacts only to get the torture to stop." As we now know there was no Iraq/Al Qaeda link. Could the Iraq war been started without this link? Either way, this was one of the main arguments to start the war in Iraq. This man was tortured until he gave the information the administration needed to start an unjust war. With all the information coming out I hope Obama has no choice but to start a criminal investigation about torture and Iraq. Certain people should be punished for war crimes but I doubt anyone of importance ever will. More on what can be summed up as this week in torture.
First the "War on Terror" ended, now it may be the "War on Drugs." In an interview White House Drug Czar, Gil Kerlikowske said, "Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them." The Obama administration has spoken of more sensible drug policies, we'll just have to wait to see how they're implemented. Will this be a drastic change or just a different choice of words? Operations in Afghanistan didn't change with the end of the "War on Terror."
An activist from Texas was sentenced 24 months in prison for preparing Molotov cocktails that were intended to be used for the 2008 Republican National Convention. I don't know what the guy's intention was, but it's people like this that really hurt progressive movements. This is fodder for the main stream media just so they can focus on the few violent people of any movement in an attempt to discredit it. Just like people who mindlessly start riots and protests, why can't these idiots realize they're doing more bad than good for the cause they claim to be supporting?
Showing posts with label torture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label torture. Show all posts
2009-05-15
2009-05-12
roundup
First I'll start with a compelling, well written story on the Angola Three, members of the Black Panther Party who were put under solitary confinement for over a combined 100 years for their peaceful protests and organization in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace were convicted of killing prison guard Brent Wallace even though there is no physical evidence linking them to the killing according to NPR.
The Angola Panthers organized non-violent hunger strikes and work strikes in retaliation to these conditions. Prison authorities put them in solitary confinement to break their influence.
U.S. manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies have dumped at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that are often municipal sources for drinking water.
Currently municipalities do not test water for trace pharmaceuticals. Last year the Associated Press did an investigation finding trace pharmaceuticals in drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas. They concluded that 46 million people have drugs in their drinking water. Now it goes a step further, with these claims that companies are dumping these chemicals in waterways. Scientific studies have proven the effects these chemicals have on wildlife. Even though there are only trace amounts, you have to consider this is a mixture of drugs and trace amounts over a lifetime add up. For these reasons I try not to regularly drink tap water. Your Britta filter won't do a thing. Of course most bottling companies are no better and it's very difficult to find their filtering process. I recommend reverse osmosis which will filter these chemicals, as well as things like fluoride that you shouldn't be ingesting. I found that Alhambra drinking water is filtered through reverse osmosis so I purchase their 2.5 gallon jugs. The ultimate goal is to get my own reverse osmosis filtration system going, or purchasing drinking water from Berkeley Bowl in Berkeley, Ca that sells reverse osmosis filtered water, therefore reducing the use of disposable plastics.
U.S. media was all over criticizing the Iranian government for detaining American/Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi. Saberi was sentenced for 8 years, accused of being a U.S. spy. An order will immediately release her. Salon's Glenn Greenwald compares this case to cases of journalists being detained by the U.S. and how little media coverage there is. The media is the first to criticize a foreign government, but when it comes to criticizing the U.S. where they have some influence, they remain silent.
In another unwelcome move the Obama administration is leaning toward a decision to make it up the Federal Reserve when a firm is "too big to fail." This is worrisome since the Federal Reserve is a private/public institution with personal interests in the financial market. I see this as consolidating this power even further from the hands of the people than it already is. Not that the people had the power already, but at least the representatives that were elected could technically be held responsible for their decisions.
Law Professor Jonathan Turley stated that intervies Dick Cheney has done can be used against him in court by admitted the Bush administration knew about the details of the torture program and authorized it. Obama has mentioned he won't prosecute Bush officials but the political winds can always change.
Lawmakers in the lower house in France have passed a bill that would allow Internet connections to be cut of those who repeatedly download illegal music and movies. This is the first time such a bill has been passed. Critics say the bill would not allow offenders to challenge charges against them.
A U.S. soldier gunned down 5 fellow troops at a stress clinic in Baghdad. Hopefully this will further bring to light the stresses soldiers are facing these days from lengthy deployments. Will we see a resurgence of the post Vietnam years where soldiers are thrown to the streets to deal with their PTSD by themselves? I recommend watching Battle for Haditha which addresses this topic and stresses U.S. troops are under.
Conservative talk show host Michael Savage has been banned from Britain. What I find most interesting is that Savage is based in San Francisco and was part of leftist circles in his youth and at one time discussed medicinal benefits of marijuana. I think this shows how he is just an opportunist playing an act to make money.
After a year of President Medvedev Amnesty International says there have been no improvements with justice in Russia despite Medvedev's commitment to restore the rule of law. More interestingly, Medvedev has a LiveJournal. I would totally add him as my friend if it weren't all in Russian.
An 18,000-acre former slave plantation in rural Louisiana, Angola is the largest prison in the US. Today, with African Americans composing over 75% of Angola’s 5,108 prisoners, prison guards known as “free men,” a forced 40-hour workweek, and four cents an hour as minimum wage, the resemblance to antebellum US slavery is striking.
[...]
Prison authorities sanctioned prisoner rape, and according to former Prison Warden Murray Henderson, the prison guards actually helped facilitate a brutal system of sexual slavery where the younger and physically weaker prisoners were bought and sold into submission. As part of the notorious “inmate trusty guard” system, responsible for killing 40 prisoners and seriously maiming 350 from 1972-75, some prisoners were given state-issued weapons and ordered to enforce this sexual slavery, as well as the prison’s many other injustices. Life at Angola was living hell—a 20th century slave plantation.
The Angola Panthers organized non-violent hunger strikes and work strikes in retaliation to these conditions. Prison authorities put them in solitary confinement to break their influence.
U.S. manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies have dumped at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that are often municipal sources for drinking water.
As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Currently municipalities do not test water for trace pharmaceuticals. Last year the Associated Press did an investigation finding trace pharmaceuticals in drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas. They concluded that 46 million people have drugs in their drinking water. Now it goes a step further, with these claims that companies are dumping these chemicals in waterways. Scientific studies have proven the effects these chemicals have on wildlife. Even though there are only trace amounts, you have to consider this is a mixture of drugs and trace amounts over a lifetime add up. For these reasons I try not to regularly drink tap water. Your Britta filter won't do a thing. Of course most bottling companies are no better and it's very difficult to find their filtering process. I recommend reverse osmosis which will filter these chemicals, as well as things like fluoride that you shouldn't be ingesting. I found that Alhambra drinking water is filtered through reverse osmosis so I purchase their 2.5 gallon jugs. The ultimate goal is to get my own reverse osmosis filtration system going, or purchasing drinking water from Berkeley Bowl in Berkeley, Ca that sells reverse osmosis filtered water, therefore reducing the use of disposable plastics.
U.S. media was all over criticizing the Iranian government for detaining American/Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi. Saberi was sentenced for 8 years, accused of being a U.S. spy. An order will immediately release her. Salon's Glenn Greenwald compares this case to cases of journalists being detained by the U.S. and how little media coverage there is. The media is the first to criticize a foreign government, but when it comes to criticizing the U.S. where they have some influence, they remain silent.
In another unwelcome move the Obama administration is leaning toward a decision to make it up the Federal Reserve when a firm is "too big to fail." This is worrisome since the Federal Reserve is a private/public institution with personal interests in the financial market. I see this as consolidating this power even further from the hands of the people than it already is. Not that the people had the power already, but at least the representatives that were elected could technically be held responsible for their decisions.
Law Professor Jonathan Turley stated that intervies Dick Cheney has done can be used against him in court by admitted the Bush administration knew about the details of the torture program and authorized it. Obama has mentioned he won't prosecute Bush officials but the political winds can always change.
Lawmakers in the lower house in France have passed a bill that would allow Internet connections to be cut of those who repeatedly download illegal music and movies. This is the first time such a bill has been passed. Critics say the bill would not allow offenders to challenge charges against them.
A U.S. soldier gunned down 5 fellow troops at a stress clinic in Baghdad. Hopefully this will further bring to light the stresses soldiers are facing these days from lengthy deployments. Will we see a resurgence of the post Vietnam years where soldiers are thrown to the streets to deal with their PTSD by themselves? I recommend watching Battle for Haditha which addresses this topic and stresses U.S. troops are under.
Conservative talk show host Michael Savage has been banned from Britain. What I find most interesting is that Savage is based in San Francisco and was part of leftist circles in his youth and at one time discussed medicinal benefits of marijuana. I think this shows how he is just an opportunist playing an act to make money.
After a year of President Medvedev Amnesty International says there have been no improvements with justice in Russia despite Medvedev's commitment to restore the rule of law. More interestingly, Medvedev has a LiveJournal. I would totally add him as my friend if it weren't all in Russian.
2009-05-08
Obama won't prosecute Bush officials on torture and the reason why
White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel has announced that the administration will not prosecute Bush officials that authorized torture. When the torture memos were released a few weeks ago Obama stated, "it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution." With that statement some still had a hope that those authorizing the torture would be prosecuted for breaking the law.
Now the reason for the Obama administration's hesitation comes to light. Under President Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder authorized the CIA's rendition program as Clinton's deputy attorney general. The rendition program moved suspected terrorists from one country to another that cooperated with the U.S. If the Obama administration were to pursue criminal action on the Bush administration democrats under Clinton could easily be brought into the prosecution. Another interesting detail mentioned in that article is that Obama signed an executive order on January 22 allowing rendition despite condemnation around the world.
On another note, a prison in northeastern Poland was used as a transfer note for terrorist suspects. But this isn't a surprise since the Polish government is always sucking up to the U.S.
In another scary move, the Obama legal team is asking the Supreme Court to overrule a law that gives defendants' the right to a lawyer before police questioning. Most of the troubling decisions from the Obama administration lately have come from the Department of Justice. An explanation may be that Republicans are blocking Obama's choice for his choice for the Office of Legal Council. I don't know what the relation of the OLC to the DOJ is, but this could be part of the reason for some of the administrations decisions.
On the environmental front, the current administration is still doing things to upset activists. They have decided to stick with the Bush-era decision to not allow the Endangered Species Act to be used to impose limits on greenhouse gases. Business groups had expressed concern regarding the ESA to be used to impose the limits, so business got their way.
My friend Max posted an interesting connection relating the world of Dune to the past two administrations. In Dune, first a cruel and evil nephew gets put into power, who the people hate and detest. Then the plan is to replace him with the good, fair nephew that the people will love. Interesting thing to think about.
Now the reason for the Obama administration's hesitation comes to light. Under President Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder authorized the CIA's rendition program as Clinton's deputy attorney general. The rendition program moved suspected terrorists from one country to another that cooperated with the U.S. If the Obama administration were to pursue criminal action on the Bush administration democrats under Clinton could easily be brought into the prosecution. Another interesting detail mentioned in that article is that Obama signed an executive order on January 22 allowing rendition despite condemnation around the world.
On another note, a prison in northeastern Poland was used as a transfer note for terrorist suspects. But this isn't a surprise since the Polish government is always sucking up to the U.S.
In another scary move, the Obama legal team is asking the Supreme Court to overrule a law that gives defendants' the right to a lawyer before police questioning. Most of the troubling decisions from the Obama administration lately have come from the Department of Justice. An explanation may be that Republicans are blocking Obama's choice for his choice for the Office of Legal Council. I don't know what the relation of the OLC to the DOJ is, but this could be part of the reason for some of the administrations decisions.
On the environmental front, the current administration is still doing things to upset activists. They have decided to stick with the Bush-era decision to not allow the Endangered Species Act to be used to impose limits on greenhouse gases. Business groups had expressed concern regarding the ESA to be used to impose the limits, so business got their way.
My friend Max posted an interesting connection relating the world of Dune to the past two administrations. In Dune, first a cruel and evil nephew gets put into power, who the people hate and detest. Then the plan is to replace him with the good, fair nephew that the people will love. Interesting thing to think about.
2009-04-18
children tortured under bush administration
In a positive step the Obama administration has released four Bush administration memos sanctioning torture. Attorney General Eric Holder has stated that low-level CIA personnel will not be charged for the crimes. There was no mention of pressing charges on those that sanctioned the torture. "This is a time for reflection, not retribution," President Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "I respect the strong views and emotions that these issues evoke. We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history. But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past."
In a "Special Comment" on his show Countdown, Keith Olbermann says the president is wrong. "Mr. Obama deserves our praise and our thanks for that," Olbermann stated. "And yet he has gone but half-way. And, in this case, in far too many respects, half the distance is worse than standing still." Olbermann responds to Obama's comments, "Mr. President, you are wrong. What you describe would be not "spent energy" but catharsis."
The memos released included the tactic of placing insects in a closed box as a form of torture. A following CIA memo released claimed the method was never used, but it supports claims that insect torture was used on the children of the alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. It is not known if insect torture was used on the children, but according to Human Rights Watch, the children, then aged seven and nine, were captured and held in Pakistan while being questioned about their father's whereabouts for four months. Let me reiterate that; a seven and nine year old child were held by U.S. authorities for four months while being questions. Reports indicate they were placed in cramped cells where they did not have room to stand up or stretch their feet. I hope this is investigated and those responsible for this are heavily prosecuted because this goes beyond anything that has come out of the war on terror so far.
Here are a few more bits from the past days' news. The New York Times' James Risen stated independent oversight of the NSA's wiretapping program "doesn't really exist." Additionally there were efforts to monitor a U.S. congressman without a court approval while on an overseas trip. Congress has said they will launch an investigation under claims by the Department of Justice that the NSA broke the law.
A post-mortem examination on Ian Tomlinson, who was thought to have died of a heart attack after being shoved by London Police during the G20 protests has found that he really died from abdominal bleeding. This shows that the man, who was not a protester, but simply walking home was killed by police.
Pirate Bay operators were sentenced a year in prison by Swedish courts. They will appeal and as of last night Pirate Bay was still operational. With the ruling the Swedish Pirate Party is exploding with new membership.
A study has linked child obesity to chemicals found in plastics.
On a lighter note, snakes on a plane!
In a "Special Comment" on his show Countdown, Keith Olbermann says the president is wrong. "Mr. Obama deserves our praise and our thanks for that," Olbermann stated. "And yet he has gone but half-way. And, in this case, in far too many respects, half the distance is worse than standing still." Olbermann responds to Obama's comments, "Mr. President, you are wrong. What you describe would be not "spent energy" but catharsis."
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The memos released included the tactic of placing insects in a closed box as a form of torture. A following CIA memo released claimed the method was never used, but it supports claims that insect torture was used on the children of the alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. It is not known if insect torture was used on the children, but according to Human Rights Watch, the children, then aged seven and nine, were captured and held in Pakistan while being questioned about their father's whereabouts for four months. Let me reiterate that; a seven and nine year old child were held by U.S. authorities for four months while being questions. Reports indicate they were placed in cramped cells where they did not have room to stand up or stretch their feet. I hope this is investigated and those responsible for this are heavily prosecuted because this goes beyond anything that has come out of the war on terror so far.
Here are a few more bits from the past days' news. The New York Times' James Risen stated independent oversight of the NSA's wiretapping program "doesn't really exist." Additionally there were efforts to monitor a U.S. congressman without a court approval while on an overseas trip. Congress has said they will launch an investigation under claims by the Department of Justice that the NSA broke the law.
A post-mortem examination on Ian Tomlinson, who was thought to have died of a heart attack after being shoved by London Police during the G20 protests has found that he really died from abdominal bleeding. This shows that the man, who was not a protester, but simply walking home was killed by police.
Pirate Bay operators were sentenced a year in prison by Swedish courts. They will appeal and as of last night Pirate Bay was still operational. With the ruling the Swedish Pirate Party is exploding with new membership.
A study has linked child obesity to chemicals found in plastics.
On a lighter note, snakes on a plane!
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