October 2009 archive

Oct 02 2009

US Judge confirms torture used to obtain false confessions ( to justify war in Iraq )

Crossposted at Daily Kos

    In a startling article at huffingtonpost.com by Andy Worthington, author of “The Guantanamo Files”, puts together an absolute must read in my opinion.

False confessions obtained through torture

   The judge also noted the significance of the evidence in the record indicating that al-Rabiah “subsequently confided in interrogators [redacted] that he was being pressured to falsely confess to the allegations discussed above,” and also the significance of the fact that, although “al-Rabiah’s interrogators ultimately extracted confessions from him,” they “never believed his confessions based on the comments they included in their interrogation reports.”

    After noting — again with a palpable sense of incredulity — that “These are the confessions that the Government now asks the Court to accept as evidence in this case,” Judge Kollar-Kotelly proceeded to demolish them all . . .

From Huffingtonpost.com

Bold added by diarist

     More below the fold

Oct 02 2009

Docudharma Times Friday October 2




Friday’s Headlines:

Before the Station fire, a cost-cutting memo

Revealed: millions spent by lobby firms fighting Obama health reforms

The EU’s awkward mission in Kosovo

Writer flees after backing ‘anti-Soviet’ kebab shop

Iran ducks out of nuclear confrontation with West

Ultra-Orthodox Jews accused of fight to keep ‘Jews for Jesus’ out

Sumatra death toll rises to 1,100

‘Jurassic treasure trove’ of eggs could reveal why dinosaurs died out

Honduras: censored Radio Globo quadruples listeners by going online

White House Eyeing Narrower War Effort

Top Officials Challenge General’s Assessment

By Scott Wilson and Anne E. Kornblut

Washington Post Staff Writers

Friday, October 2, 2009

Senior White House officials have begun to make the case for a policy shift in Afghanistan that would send few, if any, new combat troops to the country and instead focus on faster military training of Afghan forces, continued assassinations of al-Qaeda leaders and support for the government of neighboring Pakistan in its fight against the Taliban.

In a three-hour meeting Wednesday at the White House, senior advisers challenged some of the key assumptions in Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s blunt assessment of the nearly eight-year-old war, which President Obama has said is being fought to destroy al-Qaeda and its allies in Afghanistan and the ungoverned border areas of Pakistan.

Herschel scans hidden Milky Way

A remarkable view of our Galaxy has been obtained by Europe’s billion-euro Herschel Space Observatory.

By Jonathan Amos

Science reporter, BBC News

The telescope was put in a special scanning mode to map a patch of sky.

The images reveal in exquisite detail the dense, contorted clouds of cold gas that are collapsing in on themselves to form new stars.

Herschel, which has the largest mirror ever put on an orbiting telescope, was launched in May as a flagship mission of the European Space Agency.

It is tuned to see far-infrared wavelengths of light and is expected to give astronomers significant insights into some of the fundamental processes that shape the cosmos.

Herschel’s great advantage is that its sensitivity allows it to see things that are beyond the vision of other space telescopes, such as Hubble.

A prime goal is to understand the mechanisms that control the earliest phases of stellar evolution.

Oct 02 2009

Muse in the Morning

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Muse in the Morning

A Transition through Poetry XXVIII

Art Link

Bleeding

Bleeding the Colors

I have bled blood red

Three decades later than

I would have liked,

aided by a surgeon’s knife,

but I have bled blood red.

I’ve bled before,

just not that color.

It’s the shade

I was missing

in my world.

I’ve bled the sickly yellow of fear

and the desolate blue of sadness,

the empty grey of loneliness

and the worn out brown of long years

of waiting.

I’ve bled the bluish purple of pain

and the emerald green of envy,

the dark scarlet of anger

and the all-consuming black

of depression.

I’ve bled the purplegreengold

sparkles in my vision

as I fell asleep

to dream of a life that

I couldn’t live.

I’ve bled the tarnished silverpink

of a love that I thought

was real but was

an illusion/delusion

and abusive and wrong.

I’ve bled the dusky rainbows

of confusion and turmoil

and the toxic hues

of insanity and dis-ease

and death.

I’ve bled the colors

until they ceased existing

and I would have joined them,

but I finally bled

the blood red of life.

I’ve bled red twice now

and the colors are back,

sharp and crisp

and bright and airy

and joyful.

I’ve bled red twice now

and the colors are real,

and they don’t need me

to bleed them,

for I have bled blood red.

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–March, 1995

Oct 02 2009

here you all are, the people

I keep seeing you coming here, over and over again.

I cannot tell you what that means. The names I know, over and over.

I cannot know how to talk about this, other than to say; “I notice, I notice!”

I sit in my half-assed chair, and I write and I watch and I listen to the best songs.

And I watch your names as they appear and I say “Hey!”

There are the people, we are not invisible.

And of course we do not need to be overriding here. But it’s so hard to be invisible so thank you!

for helping us not be invisible here!

Thank you for your coming over

and getting your shoes on and being the friends

of the peoples

who are kind of vague and weary at times

and at other times sort of confused

but always really, really wanting

to be the peoples

all together now

all together now.

thanks.

miep

Oct 02 2009

Overnight Caption Contest

Oct 02 2009

Prison News Highlights

Prisoners’ Rights

NYT editorial

September 23, 2009

In 1996, Congress passed a law that made it much harder for inmates to challenge abusive treatment. It has contributed significantly to the bad conditions – including the desperate overcrowding – that prevail today. The law must be fixed.

In the name of clamping down on frivolous lawsuits, the Prison Reform Litigation Act barred prisoners from suing prisons and jails unless they could show that they had suffered a physical injury. Prison officials have used this requirement to block lawsuits challenging all sorts of horrific conditions, including sexual abuse.

Oct 01 2009

noise. lots and lots of noise.

There’s too much going on. Too many issues. Too many fuck ups. Too many know-it-alls. Far too many experts. Too much of too little.

What am I left with? Huh. It was more fun fighting George W. Bush.

Cross-posted at Daily Kos

Oct 01 2009

Answering a few questions

I do hope this is the only time I’ll have to address this meta. Over on Daily Kos, a user has stated that I, stormchaser, am both a Daily Kos user that goes by another nick and a sock of former Daily Kos user who was banned.    

I’m writing this both because I’ve been called out on that Daily Kos thread (which I shall not link) and to clear up an over two-year disinformation campaign against someone who is a dear friend.

More below the fold (please don’t jump if you’ve come to perpetuate strife…)

Oct 01 2009

Four at Four

  1. The NY Tims reports the EPA moves to cut greenhouse gas emissions. “Unwilling to wait for Congress to act, the Obama administration announced on Wednesday that it was moving forward on new rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from hundreds of power plants and large industrial facilities.”

    “We are not going to continue with business as usual,” Lisa P. Jackson, the E.P.A. administrator, said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. “We have the tools and the technology to move forward today, and we are using them.”

    The proposed rules, which could take effect as early as 2011, would place the greatest burden on 400 power plants, new ones and those undergoing substantial renovation, by requiring them to prove that they have applied the best available technology to reduce emissions or face penalties.

    The LA Times adds the New rules would force industrial plants to minimize emissions. The rules “would cover the sources responsible for 70% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., the EPA said”.

    Meanwhile, The Guardian reports Senate Democrats unveil climate bill calling for a 20% cut in emissions. Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer unveiled on Wednesday legislation titled the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act. The bill “would push for a 20% reduction from 2005 levels by 2020 and an 83% reduction by 2050” which is “more ambitious” that the 17% cut passed by the House in June.

Four at Four continues with UN fires American diplomat in Afghanistan, Obama’s war in Afghanistan, and ‘homegrown’ terrorists.

Oct 01 2009

If You Still Think That Fox News Is Not Racist…

This summer has seen an abundance of animosity directed at America’s new president. Town brawlers congregated at local Shriner’s clubs shouting to take “their” country back. Tea Baggers descended on Washington with posters of the President as an African witch doctor. When we weren’t marching toward Socialism we were euthanizing our grandparents. And through it all there was an overbearing stench of racism. It was stench that emanated most noticeably from Fox News, who went to extraordinary lengths to deny it. They complained that they were vilified as racist just for disagreeing with a black President – who himself was a racist according to Glenn Beck.

So if Fox News was not race-baiting, what would you say these folks have in common?

Pictured above (left to right) are Barack Obama (President), Van Jones (former White House Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation), Mark Lloyd (FCC General Counsel/Chief Diversity Officer), Valerie Jarrett (Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement), and Patrick Gaspard (Director of the White House Office of Political Affairs). And their obvious commonality is that they are all patriotic public servants with records of distinction and achievement, right?. Oh yeah…they are also all targets of Fox News conspiracy mongers like Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity.

Hmm…Any other similarities?

Oct 01 2009

BrokenRoots: Heros for Homeless: Free Screenings of Michael Moore’s Movie Tonight

Movie marques in cities across America tonight showcase “free admission” to Michael Moore’s latest film,”Capitalism: A Love Story” for anyone who’s “fallen on hard times.”

“To kick off the national release of “Capitalism: A Love Story,” I’ve asked the studio to offer a number of screenings in the nation’s hardest hit cities — the ones with the highest unemployment rates and highest foreclosure rates — where those who’ve lost their jobs or who are in foreclosure (or have already been evicted) may attend my film free of charge,” Moore writes.  “They’ve agreed, and so tonight (Thursday), the night before our opening day, ten cities will grant you free admission if you have fallen on hard times. The list of theaters and cities is below. You don’t need to bring any proof of your situation — just show up — it’s the honor system, no questions asked. Link

The free 7:30 p.m. screenings are scheduled in Saginaw, Michigan; Elkhart Indiana;Peoria, Illinois; Las Vegas, Nevada, Fresno, California, Phoenix, Arizona, Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina;Baltimore, Maryland, Tampa/St. Pete/Florida and Cleveland, Ohio. For information on theater locations, click here.

“Capitalism, A Love Story” debuts tomorrow.



(from dmott9’s flickr photostream

Oct 01 2009

Polanski: Too Many Men Just Don’t Get It.

In 1977 I was 14. I was one year older than Roman Polanski’s victim. That summer, I had my first ever viewing of a man’s penis. He had a knife against my neck.

I broke a bottle and held it against his, and told him he would certainly kill me, but he had better be ready to bleed first.

I cannot tell you how much weight that incident put on my young, Catholic schoolgirl, innocent shoulders. I cannot tell you how long it took for the fear of “any man may be a predator” took to recede. I cannot tell you how my own reaction, being capable of committing the most grievous “sin” of murder, hurt my soul. Until then I had a hard time even coming up with anything to tell the priest during weekly confessions. I lived my life trying to avoid sin at any cost. There was no such thing as sex ed in Catholic School. All I knew is that we weren’t supposed to think about it, and that it was holy and for marriage.

I do know there was a code of silence, and a tremendous feeling of guilt. It instilled in me a feeling that men were natural beasts, and that perhaps I had done something wrong, daring to ride my horse to a park with my friend, then laying out in the sun in our bathing suits, drinking Pepsi, eating pretzels and Reeses Cups and playing backgammon. Mentally, emotionally, I was a child. I was no sexual being. It threw me off sex until I was 19, and in love for over a year and a half, long after I had lost my religion, I finally lost my virginity.

That was not the last time I was victimized either. Later a rapist broke into my house, but thats a story for another day.

I still carry scars, from attempted rapes and domestic violence. My fear factor can still be triggered to where I cringe and run, or stand and fight. I will never be able to have casual sex, I need an extreme trust and love level. Tell me there is no baggage.

Would I have created this street chick, badass, cursing persona had I not needed armor? Who would I have been had this not happened to me? Is that person still inside me somewhere?

The backlash to Polanski’s arrest says three things to me, things that my own life has proven:

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