So Much For The Bad Apple Theory Of Torture In The Military

You may want to skip over about the first part of this report, but you should perk up your ears at around t=1:40. Rachel Maddow does a brilliant job laying out geometrically the involvement of the administration in the development of the torture programs. Then examining the timeline with Ron Suskind, an alternative motivation for the program emerges.

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Jason Linkins reported on the interview Rachel Maddow conducted with Ron Suskind.

Suskind noted that the "impetus was not to foil potential al Qaeda attacks. The impetus here was largely political and diplomatic. The White House had a political/diplomatic problem. It wanted it solved in the run up to the war."

People were tortured, FOR THE SAKE OF "SPIN."

So much for ticking bombs and bad apples!

Amazing Tree Houses In A New Book

According to the LA Times, a new book on elaborate tree houses will be coming out soon. ( You can see more of their pics if you click the LA Times link.) I was kind of half expecting to see Gritty Pretty's tree house there as well! It's pretty amazing too. (I'll try to post a link when I find her best tree house post.)

Just For Fun (Or 25 Random Things One At A Time; This Is The First)

I found this at the Daily Dish. It gets much better in the middle (t=1.21) when Kouric has her duet with......whoever made this. (Does everyone but me know who these artists are?)

Torture On Trial

The Daily Kos has an interesting post on just how extreme the use of water-boarding was in certain cases, and the conflicting records of the CIA on some "facts". They also have a handy-dandy petition to sign if you want to encourage the Obama administration to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the 'legal' shenanigans that made torture possible.

Torture defenders (Scalia defends his position by citing episodes of 24!) like to refer to the ticking bomb scenario and ask, "If you were in a room with someone who knew where a ticking nuclear bomb was hidden, and when it would go off, would you be willing to torture that person to get the information?"

Of course I would!!!!!! And I would accept the fact that it was totally ILLEGAL. I would be happy to face prosecution to save the lives of so many people. Just like if I was taking someone to the hospital in an emergency, I would be fine with running a red light-----I would still acknowledge the illegality of my behavior and accept any consequences.

But I would only be willing to torture if I truly had reason to be certain that the person I had control over really had the timely life-or-death information. I agree that in such very narrow circumstances, torture is the way to go. But I also think it should only be used in that sort of rare circumstance and that keeping torture illegal helps keep it very rare.

It appears that torture was being used with alarming frequency under the Bush administration. Furthermore, the fact that they subjected the same people to torture over prolonged periods of time (months!) totally undercuts the argument that they were using it under extreme time pressure----as in the ticking-bomb scenario. The 'legal' excuses cooked up by Yoo and Bybee to make allowances for this activity also paved the way for it to be used routinely, and on fishing expeditions.

There are a lot of other techniques available for getting information, and many CIA officers have repudiated the efficacy of torture. In addition casting such a wide net with torture has to reduce the willingness of people to report suspicious activity to the authorities. We must make sure not to dry up that most important source of information in our communities.

Obama must be careful to not let it appear that he is merely making a partisan attack on the last administration. Broad citizen support for an investigation will be necessary. So do please look into signing the petition!

Nom nom nom. It turns out Anti-Gay Marriage and Lolcats have something in common. I am totally stoked

In six (6) minutes, Stephen Colbert makes the unassailable case against gay marriage, plus totally rocking abs--not to mention the dangers of pink lightning. Watch and learn.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

Plus extra noms, because we always need those.

Surprise, Surprise......

It turns out you don't have to be a slender, gorgeous, young blonde to be able to sing.
I'm glad the audience was willing to change their minds and give this talented woman her due after their initial sniggering reception of her onstage. Check out the derisive expressions of some of the audience members right before her number. The embed was disabled, so you will have to click here!

A day late, a song short

I am the spring, the holy ground,
the endless seed of mystery,
the thorn, the veil, the face of grace,
the brazen image, the thief of sleep,
the ambassador of dreams, the prince of peace.
I am the sword, the wound, the stain.
Scorned transfigured child of Cain.

Portugal finds drug decriminalization works!

Scientific American has an article up, here, about Portugal's five year experience with decriminalizing all formerly illegal drugs. Short answer, all good.

"Now instead of being put into prison, addicts are going to treatment centers and they're learning how to control their drug usage or getting off drugs entirely," report author Glenn Greenwald, a former New York State constitutional litigator, said during a press briefing at Cato last week.

Under the Portuguese plan, penalties for people caught dealing and trafficking drugs are unchanged; dealers are still jailed and subjected to fines depending on the crime. But people caught using or possessing small amounts—defined as the amount needed for 10 days of personal use—are brought before what's known as a "Dissuasion Commission," an administrative body created by the 2001 law.

But the results are much more positive than the article indicates. Glenn Greenwald also talks about Portugal's success here.

For every drug that was in use since 2001 -- every one -- absolute drug usage rates declined in the five years following decriminalization, and that occurred as drug usage rates in most other EU member-states was increasing, often severely.

We here in the United States are bankrupting ourselves with the money used to house non-violent drug users. For example, California spends 9 Billion dollars annually on prisons (with a recidivism rate of 70%! You learn how to be an even better criminal in prison, who would have thunk?)

The Pew Center report reveals that, nationwide, corrections spending outpaces funding for education, transportation and public assistance.

Not to mention our fourth amendment rights, which have atropied to close-to-noexistence due to the aforementioned drug war. And (there's always an 'and'), people in the US caught with drugs often then have their lives thrown away even after they've done their time; yet another casualty of the drug war.

Additionally, (one does get tired of 'and' occasionally) let's not even talk about the growing problem of the spillover violence from Mexican drug cartels that would disappear instantly (for all practical purposes)if drugs were legal--see our own dalliance with alcohol prohibition for support.

So, decriminalizing drugs would lead to less addicts, less money burned up in the prison system and less violence. Any possibility we'd implement this? I'm guessing Naaaaah.

Happy Easter singalong

Stand By Me from aubreysanchez DOT com on Vimeo.
This video (originally from (RED)wire video musical magazine) is for a world-wide rendition of "Stand by me." Stunning. Really. It starts with an old guitarist-singer in California; he's joined in by (just a sampling) a slide guitarist, a Russian cellist, a South African choir, a Congolese drummer, a Brazilian ukeleleist... the list goes on.

Happy Easter all, plus my new favorite song.

I'm no diplomat,
but you look better fat
Kate Winslet.

I bring you the Silver Brazilians. Thank you, thank you Little Steven for showing me the way to this great garage song.

Moral of the story, eat up all.

A New Threat-----Coming To A Neighborhood Near You.

EMBED-Strange Cat Door Surprise - Watch more free videos

I can't help but wonder what the home owner would be allowed to do----although pretty clearly this one was complicit.

Deer hunter, not just a band.

I heard rumors that certain neighborhoods infested with deer are having trouble talking people into allowing reasonable culling. It turns out, the muppets may be to blame.



And, as my attention has been momentarily caught by muppets, simply for sheer awesomness, I must include this clip--Johnny Cash (with a little help from Gonzo and assorted cows) singing "Ghostriders in the sky." I must say, I prefer Johnny Cash -Gonzo duets over the Johnny Cash - Bob Dylan ones.

What's for dinner?

To simultaneously delight and horrify your friends and enemies try this--donut bacon burgers! If only chocolate were involved these would be the perfect food.



Notice the extra touch--two donuts per sandwich; none of that sissy slicing.

If your arteries aren't yet completely blocked, try

A New Threat-----Coming To A Neighborhood Near You.

EMBED-Strange Cat Door Surprise - Watch more free videos

I can't help but wonder what the home owner would be allowed to do----although pretty clearly this one was complicit.

Spring Fashion Update

Even a super expensive handbag cannot save this look! YIKES! Her face makes clear how painful her shoes are. She's not the only one hurting------MY EYES, MY EYES!

(This picture was in the Dailymail.co.uk, but I can't track down the URL. The woman is the mother of a British football star who has launched his own fashion line------she is wearing a shirt from his line! What advertising! It reminds me somehow of a funny comment about ads that I read recently. "With a name like Smuckers, it's got to smuck.")