|
Written by joni
|
|
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 22:35 |
|
I challenge anyone to read this article in Salon in full and to still maintain that waterboarding that the CIA used was not torture.
Interrogators pumped detainees full of so much water that the CIA turned to a special saline solution to minimize the risk of death, the documents show. The agency used a gurney "specially designed" to tilt backwards at a perfect angle to maximize the water entering the prisoner's nose and mouth, intensifying the sense of choking – and to be lifted upright quickly in the event that a prisoner stopped breathing.
Some on here started with a position that no torture took place as it was only the "hearsay" of inmates. When the evidence became substantiated by officials, the defence changed to "what is torture'. Let's stop that meme in it's tracks.
In 1947, the U.S. charged a Japanese officer, Yukio Asano, with war crimes for waterboarding a U.S. civilian. Asano was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
If the US thought it was a "war crime" then, it must be a war crime now.
Let's remember that Cheney thought that a "dunk in the water" was OK. Also remember that the Army Field Manual says that waterboarding is "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment". Not my words, the Army Field Manual's words.
The evidence in the article is clear. Absolutely clear. It is not hearsay from "goat herders". It is the CIA's own accounts.
These acts were torture, and those who authorised, condoned and permitted the torture should be held accountable.
Will those who asked for evidence now admit that it was torture? |
|
|
Written by joni
|
|
Monday, 08 March 2010 13:44 |
|
I had no idea that homosexuality could be a threat to someone who is comfortable with their sexuality.
But it seems that Tony Abbott is:
Asked about his views on homosexuality he replied: "I probably feel a bit threatened, as so many people do... (but) it's a fact of life. I try to treat people as people and not to put them in pigeon holes.''
I wonder if this is like the politicians in the US who are vehemently opposed to homosexuality and then get caught in, um, compromising situations.
(hat tips to Min and ME) |
|
Written by joni
|
|
Thursday, 04 March 2010 11:58 |
|
Pink News (in the UK) is reporting on the Lithuanian law that was passed past week that "bans the promotion of gay marriage". Yep - just mentioning gay marriage in Lithuania can get you into trouble now.
The law now classifies any information which "denigrates family values" or which "encourages a concept of marriage and family other than stipulated in the Constitution" as detrimental to children and bans it from places accessible to them.
John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's expert on discrimination, said: "This law will violate the freedom of expression and will directly discriminate against people on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity".
And what is the punishment for breaking the law? No one knows because the law does not define the punishment.
So just as Fiji decriminalised homosexuality, Lithuania takes a backward step. |
|
|
Written by joni
|
|
Tuesday, 02 March 2010 22:22 |
|
The two lawyers responsible for the torture memos, John Yoo and Jay Bybee, were originally judged by an internal Department of Justice enquiry to have committed "professional misconduct". This was then overruled and changed to have been guilty of "poor judgement". The official did say that the lawyers "mangled legal reasoning".
I - and others - have been saying all along that those responsible should be held accountable for their actions.
Last week, the NY Times published an editorial which slammed the DoJ decision to let Yoo and Bybee off.
As the dealings outlined in the original report underscore, the lawyers did not offer what most people think of as “legal advice.” Mr. Yoo and Mr. Bybee were not acting as fair-minded analysts of the law but as facilitators of a scheme to evade it. The White House decision to brutalize detainees already had been made. Mr. Yoo and Mr. Bybee provided legal cover.
Exactly - they were just giving the Bush administration the cover to do what they were already doing - which was torturing detainees.
The editorial concludes:
The quest for real accountability must continue. The alternative is to leave torture open as a policy option for future administrations.
It seems that we are not alone in wanting accountability. And so the quest will continue - no matter how much some wish that it will not. |
|
Written by joni
|
|
Saturday, 27 February 2010 08:59 |
|
On the eve of Mardi Gras the senate voted 45-5 to continue the practice of marriage inequality, reports The Age:
THE Senate has comprehensively defeated a bid to legalise gay marriage, although a third of the senators did not turn up for the vote.
The bill was a private members bill by Senator Hanson-Young - who has been a great advocate for marriage equality. As she said:
"There may have been a group of senators voting to keep discrimination against same-sex couples being able to marry the one they love, but well over one-third of all senators were absent for the final vote, presumably the only form of protest open to them,"
Here is the list of senators (hat tip to Anonymous Lefty for the list) who believe that my relationship is not worthy of equality (after jump):
|
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 14 |
