Torture and US Law

I have always thought that the enhanced interrogation techniques appeared to be effective and legal techniques. They were drawn up by lawyers, very specific, and did not involve anymore than minimal physical trauma. To call them "torture" seems to be over-using the word, similar to calling everything racist. Now the Justice Dept has finally agreed, apparently, and will not pursue actions against the lawyers who drew up the legal justification for them and hopefully will soon stop any actions against the CIA agents who carried out the techniques as written.

This action should have been done a year ago. To call these techniques torture is to demean all those people who have really been tortured.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/244171

SodaHead dialogue

Me: "As Winston Churchill once said "Any 20 year-old who isn't a liberal doesn't have a heart, and any 40 year-old who isn't a conservative doesn't have a brain.

It is rather sad that Gen Y'ers would need a spokesman, someone to follow. I would have hoped that they would think for themselves and not be followers.

And I would urge any Gen Y type to understand that you can be a liberal personally but when it comes to public policy you should use science and think about what public policy best leads to the results that you want. Many conservatives are liberal in the traditional definition of liberal but they believe, based on study and experience, that liberal utopian public policies do not work very well.

We are spending tons of money. My generation (60 and over) are getting all the advantages while you are getting the bill. I am opposed to deficit spending not because of any personal advantage to me but because I don't want to leave a huge debt to my children and grandchildren. You are the ones most affected by the policies done today."


Reply: "The first part is bogus contardiness. Can't argue with that last part though. You kids can thank Bush when your generation has to pick up the tab for his mess."


Me: "You may want to review the Constitution, esp. Article 1, Sec 8, Powers of Congress, and compare it to Article 2, Powers of the President. Congress controls the budget. Under the 8 "Bush" budgets, the debt went from $6.2 trillion to $11.9 trillion but about half of that increase happened after Dems took over Congress. ($2.9 trillion increase in the first 6 years and $2.8 trillion increase the last 2 years.)

In 2008, the Congressional Budget Office projected a total 10 year SURPLUS of $274 billion. In 2010, the same CBO projected a 10 year deficit of $6,047 billion.

As to the first part, unfortunately many people like the definition of liberal as "generous" and "open-minded" and have trouble when applying that to public policy. Most can't handle cognitive dissonance. Of course, most people do not pick their party based on data or facts but rather on social considerations such as who their friends are. That was the underlying purpose of the posting-people need social support for their beliefs."

D'oh Canada

"VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — D'oh, Canada!

"What should have been the crowning moment of an opening ceremony years in the planning lost some of its glitter when one of the four pillars supporting the Olympic cauldron failed to rise from the floor of the stadium Friday night.

"While the four Canadian sports heroes bearing torches — hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, basketball All-Star Steve Nash, skier Nancy Greene and speedskater Catriona LeMay Doan — stood by helplessly at center stage, there was an awkward two-minute pause while flashbulbs popped and the crowd murmured in anticipation.

"The slam-bang ending went on, but LeMay Doan never got the chance to light the flame. Because of a mechanical glitch, her pillar didn't get out of the trap door that was supposed to open and release it."

There have now been 4 deaths in the long history of the Winter Olympic Games. Two of those deaths occurred during the two times that Canada hosted the games. Do they know what they are doing?

And why are they continuing the Luge competition? Why not suspend it?

Obama and Success in Iraq

On Feb 10, 2010, Vice President Joe Biden was on with Larry King. During the conversation Vice President Biden, a cut-and-runner, said that Iraq was one of the great accomplishments of the Obama Administration.

BIDEN: "Well, you’ve heard me say that for the last 10 years. I think it’s the — it’s a big country. It has nuclear weapons that are able to be deployed. It has a real significant minority of radicalized population. It is — it is not a completely functional democracy in the sense we think about it. And so it’s — it — that’s my greatest concern.

I am very optimistic about — about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You’re going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer.

You’re going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government. I spent — I’ve been there 17 times now. I go about every two months — three months. I know every one of the major players in all the segments of that society.

It’s impressed me. I’ve been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences."

Can't believe that he actually said that. Obama likes to talk about inheriting 2 wars. Prior to leaving office, Bush signed the Force Agreement with Iraq, removing the US from any active, independent, military role-we would be there to assist in Iraqi led operations. Seems that would have basically ended the war. (Although Obama violated that agreement and meddled in Iraqi sovereignty:)

http://ayfs.wordpress.com/2009/07/25/iraq-investigates-obama-administration-meetings-violated-iraqi-sovereignty-and-showed-tolerance-for-terrorists/

On a related front, it is beginning to look like the recession may have ended in July, 2009. At this point, we have had 2 quarters of growth. Now, I understand that Obama supporters are right in saying that it takes time to change direction and fix problems. But if the recession ended in July, 2009, less than 6 months after Obama took office, should he get any credit for ending it? What measures did he take to end it? I guess that the $787 billion stimulus had an impact but to this day I am hearing that hardly any of that money has been spent even now. How much of it was spent prior to July, 2009 and could this realistically have a impact that soon on the economy?

World's most popular sporting events.

What are the most watched sports in the world? In 2009, the top event, with over 100 million viewers, was the UEFA Champions League final. (Soccer- Barcelona defeated Manchester United 2-0).

Somewhat surprisingly, here is the top 20 list, by sport:

2. Super Bowl-American football
3. Grand Prix formula 1 racing
4. Athletics (100 m final IAAF world cup)
5. Wimbleton final-tennis
6. Baseball (World Baseball Classic game between Japan and South Korea) (Not the "World Series)
7. Basketball-NBA finals
8. Golf-Master's
9.Badminton
10. Motorcycling
11. Cycling (Tour d'France)
12. Ice Hockey (IIHF World Championships-Russia versus Canada with Russia winning)(Not Stanley Cup)
13. Team Handball
14.NASCAR-Daytona
15.Cricket

http://www.economist.com/daily/chartgallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15491106&fsrc=rss

National Identity

France requires newcomers to France to sign a declaration of national values.
What a concept.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8505751.stm

Avatar in Reality

A British company is going against the wishes of some locals and attempting to extract ores in India.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/09/india.avatar.tribe/index.html?eref=rss_world&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_world+%28RSS%3A+World%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Obama and Assassinations

Not only is Obama pursuing a policy of drone attacks on Pakistan (started by Bush) which target suspected Al Qaeda but usually kill innocent civilians as collateral damage. Not only has Obama expanded the war on terror by sending US troops into Pakistan. But Obama has also continued a policy that makes it OK to assassinate US citizens overseas, with any "due process".

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/9/obama_administration_us_forces_can_assassinate
It is astonishing really. Here is a President, elected by many who condemn Bush for "torture" (scaring people-arguably without any physical trauma), who supports assassinations of US citizens. Where is the outrage?

Birthers

I am not a birther and secretly wish that they would just go away as anti-conservatives use them to define conseratives. But apparently the roots of the Birther conspiracy theory is from the Hilary Clinton supporters who tried to smear Obama with it in 2008.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-08/the-secret-history-of-the-birthers/full/