Anyway here's more from the fallout of the NIE ( National Intelligence Estimate ) report which showed Iran has ceased its program to further develop nuclear weapons in 2003 .
Olbermann -
Countdown w/Keith Olbermann reports on NIE on Iran and when did Bush know about these details .
Bush thinks it proves his case that Iran may have up until 2003 been involved in a nuclear weapons development program . If so the Iranians are hypothetically a threat.
Bush claims he did not know the content of the report until a week or so ago.
The question is did Bush know the contents of the NIE report earlier then he claims that he did ?
And if during that time Bush was hyping Iran as an imminent threat when he knew it was not then he was lying & misleading the people of the United States. If this were true isn't that enough to impeach or censure Bush & his cronies in some way .
The other question is what's wrong with this guy ? Even this report doesn't throw him off his game plan. He says in fact it proves that at one time the Iranians may have been considering or may have actually had a program for developing nuclear weapons.
Which makes one wonder if he & his Neocon friends might come up with another excuse to invade Iran . The other possibility is that he will focus on another country as being EVIL & Satanic or representing the Anti-Christ & call that leader " another Hitler " ie Syria . Well he can't go after Pakistan since that country is the very model of Democracy & Freedom according to Bush & Co. And they won't go after America's friend Saudi Arabia though the majority of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudi & Bin Laden was Saudi but still they paint the Saudi Arabia's authoritarian repressive regime as being a defender of Democracy & Freedom. . Maybe he & the Neocons will just go after Russia or Venezuela who knows. Anyway they need a new villain to push forward their agenda & to consolidate more power to the Presidency.
Countdown: Nuclear Fallout
All the Democratic candidates except one were happy about the news.
The sole exception was Hilary Clinton who still sees Iran as a threat. Maybe she just wants to Nuke Iran ! Maybe ? Nuking Iran would show how tough minded she is .
Maybe like Bush she's addicted to the Fear !
She claims that her vote to make the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group is having a positive effect. But she forgets that the Intel on Iran giving support through troops & weapons to terrorists or insurgents in Iraq was & is less than convincing. Is she just in too deep to just admit she was mistaken that the Neocons tricked her once again. One wonders if Hilary is really a 'Neocon Lite' when it comes to Iran & the the WAR ON TERROR . So if she were elected she would still want to isolate & piss off Iran. I fear she made the mistake of believing that if she talks tough enough & appears hawkish this would win her the next election. She also still waffles quite a bit about the War in Iraq & tends to merely mimic the talking points of the Bush Administration & the Neocons . Hilary I'm sure is capable and intelligent & fairly well informed but I fear she is too much of a political animal to be trusted .
As I have said if she refuses to change her ways hopefully this will be her demise as a presidential candidate. There are still some feminists who might claim that Hilary is being picked upon because she is a woman. But she can not have it both ways that is that she be taken as seriously as other candidates Yet they should back-off because of her gender. If she had played a more cautious hand at least on Iran her reputation would not now be in tatters .
Barack Obama for instance also talks tough about Iran but always adds some caveats because he wasn't sure if the Bush administration was being forthright . Obama also said he wanted to open channels of communications with Iran & pursue " face to face diplomacy" .
But if Barack Obama is the best candidate for leader of the Democratic party are Americans able to see passed the color of his skin & be willing to vote him in as President next November. Are Americans willing to put their racist past behind them.
Difficult to say since many Americans still haven't accepted what injustices they have done & are still doing to African Americans. Especially since the Bush administration has been doing whatever it can to roll back what advances African Americans have made over the last fifty years or so.Many conservative Americans still argue that Jim Crow laws & segregation wasn't all that bad. Many still downplay the lynchings of African Americans which took place in the Southern United States
(Just remember Margaret Thatcher was also a woman but was extremely hawkish who had her little unnecessary war in the Falklands just when her ratings in the polls were at their lowest & were at their highest a few weeks after starting that war.
She also attacked labor unions, the working class, the working poor ,the unemployed, immigrants & the poor & any who dared question her regal authority to do whatever she wanted to . )
December 4, 2007 -Bush on Iran NIE report
( as the old joke goes :if his lips are moving , he must be lying )
Are Americans that naive ! Stupid or just indifferent !
Seymour Hersh: Bush Administration has known of Iran Intel all year
take care,
GORD.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Bush Regime Lies ,Spin & Propaganda on Iran's Nuclear Program
The Bush Regime Kept the report from publication for over a year
Once again the Bush Regime has been caught lying. Iran stopped its program in 2003 for producing nuclear weapons capability. The Bush regime knew the contents of the report for about a year & yet claimed that Iran was still actively engaged in developing nuclear weapons. They had hoped that the writers of the report would change its findings to fit with the Bush agenda . So once again the Bush regime has been feeding Americans propaganda rather than truth.
How will the Bush Regime spin this revelation ?
We also see that the Bush regime was wrong in saying that diplomacy & pressure tactics taken so far were not working with Iran when in fact they had already worked.
But the Bush Regime's agenda is to attack Iran under whatever pretext they could dream up or invent or situations they could exploit to this end.
As the report points out that these tactics had worked :
U.S.: Iran Halted Nuke Work In 2003 By Ray Locker and Richard Willing
---
As some have pointed out this report actually appears to tell the truth & not merely present us with Neocon spin as General Petraeus & others have done in the past-
A Miracle: Honest Intel on Iran Nukes By Ray McGovern
at Information Clearing House
Anyway here's a must see video:
Hilary Clinton-Fooled Again
And we see how Hawkish Hilary Clinton is & that she believes whatever propaganda the Bush Regime invents in order to justify going to war with Iran.
Hilary Clinton - What will Hilary Get wrong Next ?
and what will this mean for Hilary Clinton's campaign . She has spent a lot of time claiming Iran is an immediate threat & that action must be taken against Iran. She already went along with the Bush administration & voted on several bills which were aimed at punishing Iran for going ahead with their plans to develop nuclear weapons. So Hilary Clinton was as she now admits taken in by the phony Intel before the invasion of Iraq. Now she has been taken in again. Will she come clean & admit to making another mistake.
Will Hilary now finally start talking tough when it comes to how the Bush administration has lied to the American People & the world over & over again. Will she & other democrats step up to the plate & start insisting on more investigations of this administration. Maybe she could start using the "I " word that is Impeachment. Is Hilary too entrenched in the system to want to take on this administration. Or does she herself if she were to become president want to maintain all the power the Bush regime has granted itself . Does she too want to be just another dictator like Bush.
Maybe Hilary Clinton needs to be investigated along with the members of the Bush Regime for what she knew or did not Know. Was she too part of this conspiracy to lie to the Congress & the public about Iran's nuclear program.
The other part of this is that both Barack Obama & John Edwards & others were right to criticize Hilary for being too Gungho in her support of the administration in regards to Iran.
and:
Washington Wire: Wall Street Journal Online October 15, 2007, 12:40 pm
Clinton: No Nukes for Iran
Unfortunately there many Americans who support Hilary Clinton not so much based on her policies but because they think it is time for a woman to be president . What sense does this make if for the most part if the female candidate is no better than Bush & the Neocons. If she were to take a stand & insist that torture , renditions , spying on the American people & the abuse of power & that expansionist foreign policy should end then she may be seen as an alternative to Bush & Co. - so will she take a stand or continue to ignore how corrupt this administration is !
And here's a video in which Senator Edwards discusses how his policy in regards to Iraq & Iran is different from Hilary Clinton:
John Edwards on Situation Room CNN - his position on Iraq & Iran
Barack Obama is not nearly as Hawkish as Hilary Clinton on going to war with Iran. His positon is less strident & more reasonable as he questions the Intel the Bush Regime has been spinning about Iran .
For example in this video -
Barack Obama says that George Bush and Dick Cheney must hear from the American people: "You don't have our support, and you don't have our authorization for another war" in Iran.
and here's another example of Obama's opposition to the Iraq War which shows he would be better as a president of the United States than Hilary Clinton:
Obama opposition to the war from the beginning
Take care,
GORD.
Once again the Bush Regime has been caught lying. Iran stopped its program in 2003 for producing nuclear weapons capability. The Bush regime knew the contents of the report for about a year & yet claimed that Iran was still actively engaged in developing nuclear weapons. They had hoped that the writers of the report would change its findings to fit with the Bush agenda . So once again the Bush regime has been feeding Americans propaganda rather than truth.
How will the Bush Regime spin this revelation ?
We also see that the Bush regime was wrong in saying that diplomacy & pressure tactics taken so far were not working with Iran when in fact they had already worked.
But the Bush Regime's agenda is to attack Iran under whatever pretext they could dream up or invent or situations they could exploit to this end.
As the report points out that these tactics had worked :
U.S.: Iran Halted Nuke Work In 2003 By Ray Locker and Richard Willing
12/03/07 "USA TODAY" -- -- WASHINGTON — Iran ceased its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and has not resumed work toward building nuclear weapons, a National Intelligence Estimate released Monday said.
The estimate, reflecting the collective judgment of the nation's 16 intelligence agencies, also concludes that Tehran likely is "keeping open the option" to develop nuclear weapons in the future by continuing to build missiles and pursue a civilian nuclear power program.
The estimate reverses claims made two years ago that Iran appeared "determined to develop" a nuclear weapons program.
"Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," the report said. "Our assessment that the program probably was halted primarily in response to international pressure suggests Iran may be more vulnerable to influence on the issue than we judged previously."
President Bush was briefed on the findings Wednesday. The Bush administration, which has vigorously claimed Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, called the estimate good news, although it undercut some of the administration's claims.
---
As some have pointed out this report actually appears to tell the truth & not merely present us with Neocon spin as General Petraeus & others have done in the past-
A Miracle: Honest Intel on Iran Nukes By Ray McGovern
at Information Clearing House
12/04/07 "ICH" -- -- For those who have doubts about miracles, a double one occurred today. An honest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear program has been issued, and its "Key Judgments" were made public.
With redraft after redraft, it was what the Germans call eine schwere Geburt – a difficult birth, 10 months in gestation.
I do not know how often Vice President Dick Cheney visited CIA headquarters during the gestation period, but I am told he voiced his displeasure as soon as he saw the first sonogram/draft very early this year and is so displeased with what issued that he has refused to be the godfather.
This time Cheney and his neocon colleagues were unable to abort the process. And after delivery to the press, this child is going to be very hard to explain – the more so since it is legitimate.
The main points of the NIE:
"We judge that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program…
"We assess with moderate confidence Tehran has not restarted its nuclear weapons program as of mid-2007.
"We do not have sufficient intelligence to judge confidently whether Tehran is willing to maintain the halt of its nuclear weapons program indefinitely…
"We judge with moderate confidence Iran probably would be technically capable of producing enough highly enriched uranium sometime during the 2010-2015 time frame.
"We judge with high confidence that Iran will not be technically capable of producing and reprocessing enough plutonium for a weapon before about 2015."
Having reached these conclusions, it is not surprising that the NIE's authors make a point of saying up front (in bold type), "This NIE does not [italics in original] assume that Iran intends to acquire nuclear weapons."
This, of course, pulls out the rug from under Cheney's claim of a "fairly robust new nuclear program" in Iran and President Bush's inaccurate assertion that Iranian leaders have even admitted they are developing nuclear weapons.
-------------
Anyway here's a must see video:
Hilary Clinton-Fooled Again
And we see how Hawkish Hilary Clinton is & that she believes whatever propaganda the Bush Regime invents in order to justify going to war with Iran.
Hilary Clinton - What will Hilary Get wrong Next ?
and what will this mean for Hilary Clinton's campaign . She has spent a lot of time claiming Iran is an immediate threat & that action must be taken against Iran. She already went along with the Bush administration & voted on several bills which were aimed at punishing Iran for going ahead with their plans to develop nuclear weapons. So Hilary Clinton was as she now admits taken in by the phony Intel before the invasion of Iraq. Now she has been taken in again. Will she come clean & admit to making another mistake.
Will Hilary now finally start talking tough when it comes to how the Bush administration has lied to the American People & the world over & over again. Will she & other democrats step up to the plate & start insisting on more investigations of this administration. Maybe she could start using the "I " word that is Impeachment. Is Hilary too entrenched in the system to want to take on this administration. Or does she herself if she were to become president want to maintain all the power the Bush regime has granted itself . Does she too want to be just another dictator like Bush.
Maybe Hilary Clinton needs to be investigated along with the members of the Bush Regime for what she knew or did not Know. Was she too part of this conspiracy to lie to the Congress & the public about Iran's nuclear program.
The other part of this is that both Barack Obama & John Edwards & others were right to criticize Hilary for being too Gungho in her support of the administration in regards to Iran.
and:
Washington Wire: Wall Street Journal Online October 15, 2007, 12:40 pm
Clinton: No Nukes for Iran
Jay Solomon reports on Clinton and Iran.
Unbowed by her political rivals, Sen. Hillary Clinton is continuing to take a hard line on Iran and its pursuit of nuclear technologies.
The Democratic front-runner, in outlining her key foreign policy objectives in the coming issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, argues that her administration would be unwilling to accept an Iran with the capability to produce nuclear weapons, according to her aides.
If Iran fails to comply with the international community’s demand that it desist form developing a nuclear fuel cycle, Clinton believes that “all options must remain on the table” to confront Tehran, says the Clinton campaign’s national security director, Lee Feinstein.
Should Iran comply, however, Clinton believes the U.S. and international community should be willing to provide Tehran “with a carefully calibrated package of incentives,” says Feinstein. He outlined the key points of Clinton’s Foreign Affairs article for reporters today.
Clinton’s Democratic rivals, particularly Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, have been stepping up attacks on the former first lady’s Iran position in recent days.
Last month, Clinton supported a Bush administration initiative to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s elite military unit, as a terrorist organization. Her critics say this position could be used by the White House to authorize military strikes against Iran.
Unfortunately there many Americans who support Hilary Clinton not so much based on her policies but because they think it is time for a woman to be president . What sense does this make if for the most part if the female candidate is no better than Bush & the Neocons. If she were to take a stand & insist that torture , renditions , spying on the American people & the abuse of power & that expansionist foreign policy should end then she may be seen as an alternative to Bush & Co. - so will she take a stand or continue to ignore how corrupt this administration is !
And here's a video in which Senator Edwards discusses how his policy in regards to Iraq & Iran is different from Hilary Clinton:
John Edwards on Situation Room CNN - his position on Iraq & Iran
Barack Obama is not nearly as Hawkish as Hilary Clinton on going to war with Iran. His positon is less strident & more reasonable as he questions the Intel the Bush Regime has been spinning about Iran .
For example in this video -
Barack Obama says that George Bush and Dick Cheney must hear from the American people: "You don't have our support, and you don't have our authorization for another war" in Iran.
and here's another example of Obama's opposition to the Iraq War which shows he would be better as a president of the United States than Hilary Clinton:
Obama opposition to the war from the beginning
Take care,
GORD.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
In The Dark Ages
Anyway, Here's a decent cover of Bruce Cockburn's " Call It Democracy "
check out his other videos at :GilsMusic
" History ... is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind."
EDWARD GIBBON, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
And here's a reminder of where we are at : stuck in a New Dark Age as my brother Blaine keeps reminding me . ( see: Trapped in a Dark Age
But I sometimes I think we never left that age . We are still as ignorant & superstitious & bigoted & racist as we ever were.
All our so-called scientific & technological progress just means we have more toys & more way to kill & destroy one another all in the name of one fairytale or another.
And sometimes I imagine that all the old Gods have as much validity as any other Gods. For who is to say that the Old Fearful Gods are not the real Gods. Some assume that the movement towards a single God or a Trinity of Gods away from a multitude of God is progress . Progress is then replacing a multitude of imaginary Gods with just one imaginary God. One delusion replacing another .
From Youtube Carmina Burana- Carl Orff
Richard Dawkins in his book "The God Delusion" that religion is based on a delusion but that progress is being made as human beings become more enlightened. He believes that the evolutionary processes are still at work in such a way that humans are becoming better in some way. It may be that humans are becoming more intelligent that our raw intelligence as in IQ are rising with succeeding generations but that does not mean we are becoming more humane in our treatment of one another.
But I consider this too to be another delusion which humanists & atheists grab for as if clutching at straws. They wish to believe this. There is little in human history to give any substance to the claim that our consciousness is in some way evolving towards a higher or better state.
The more recent history of the last one hundred years if anything might be proof that we are either no better than we were or possibly worse.
For instance two thousand years of anti-Semitism which culminated in the Holocaust/ Shoah is this an example of progress. The killing fields of two world wars and those in the Soviet Union, China , Cambodia , Rwanda , Vietnam, Korea , Iraq & Burma seem to suggest we may in fact be devolving or regressing into the beast we really are.
As Stephen Daedalus says at the beginning of Joyce's Ulysses " History is the nightmare from which I am trying to awake."
We cling tenaciously to our prejudices & our lust for war .
" WAR " is the ultimate aphrodisiac . " WAR " in all its drama , tragedy , tears , horror, defeat & victory give humanity a sense of purpose. We are that animal which thrives on conflict . We proclaim our truth to be the only truth & destroy all who oppose us.
As for religion it has more often than not brought us conflict , war , massacres, pogroms, bloody Crusades one Holy War after another willing to kill our fellow human beings over various forms of nonsense. As in the centuries of arguments over The Holy Trinity . Is Jesus part of God or a separate being from God or Co-eternal with God the Father or different in some way . And where does the Holy Spirit reside.
Is Jesus a mere prophet or the Messiah ; is he the Son of God or is he God . Is Jesus a mortal & fully a human being or more of the substance of the Spirit or was he just pretending to be mortal.
Was Jesus' message as simple as loving one another, respecting all others & even loving your enemies or did he say to kill all who don't believe in him.
Did Jesus teach that just by believing in him was all that mattered . So how one acts & what one does therefore doesn't matter- just do as you please but have faith in Jesus.
Are we to believe if we are Christian that all those who do not accept Christianity are already condemned to Hell & that they are EVIL & need to be converted or killed as it seems many radical Evangelical Christians numbering in their millions believe. How then can there be peace among the religions & the nations of the world.
As Gandhi once said : "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Take care,
GORD.
check out his other videos at :GilsMusic
" History ... is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind."
EDWARD GIBBON, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
And here's a reminder of where we are at : stuck in a New Dark Age as my brother Blaine keeps reminding me . ( see: Trapped in a Dark Age
But I sometimes I think we never left that age . We are still as ignorant & superstitious & bigoted & racist as we ever were.
All our so-called scientific & technological progress just means we have more toys & more way to kill & destroy one another all in the name of one fairytale or another.
And sometimes I imagine that all the old Gods have as much validity as any other Gods. For who is to say that the Old Fearful Gods are not the real Gods. Some assume that the movement towards a single God or a Trinity of Gods away from a multitude of God is progress . Progress is then replacing a multitude of imaginary Gods with just one imaginary God. One delusion replacing another .
From Youtube Carmina Burana- Carl Orff
Richard Dawkins in his book "The God Delusion" that religion is based on a delusion but that progress is being made as human beings become more enlightened. He believes that the evolutionary processes are still at work in such a way that humans are becoming better in some way. It may be that humans are becoming more intelligent that our raw intelligence as in IQ are rising with succeeding generations but that does not mean we are becoming more humane in our treatment of one another.
But I consider this too to be another delusion which humanists & atheists grab for as if clutching at straws. They wish to believe this. There is little in human history to give any substance to the claim that our consciousness is in some way evolving towards a higher or better state.
The more recent history of the last one hundred years if anything might be proof that we are either no better than we were or possibly worse.
For instance two thousand years of anti-Semitism which culminated in the Holocaust/ Shoah is this an example of progress. The killing fields of two world wars and those in the Soviet Union, China , Cambodia , Rwanda , Vietnam, Korea , Iraq & Burma seem to suggest we may in fact be devolving or regressing into the beast we really are.
As Stephen Daedalus says at the beginning of Joyce's Ulysses " History is the nightmare from which I am trying to awake."
We cling tenaciously to our prejudices & our lust for war .
" WAR " is the ultimate aphrodisiac . " WAR " in all its drama , tragedy , tears , horror, defeat & victory give humanity a sense of purpose. We are that animal which thrives on conflict . We proclaim our truth to be the only truth & destroy all who oppose us.
As for religion it has more often than not brought us conflict , war , massacres, pogroms, bloody Crusades one Holy War after another willing to kill our fellow human beings over various forms of nonsense. As in the centuries of arguments over The Holy Trinity . Is Jesus part of God or a separate being from God or Co-eternal with God the Father or different in some way . And where does the Holy Spirit reside.
Is Jesus a mere prophet or the Messiah ; is he the Son of God or is he God . Is Jesus a mortal & fully a human being or more of the substance of the Spirit or was he just pretending to be mortal.
Was Jesus' message as simple as loving one another, respecting all others & even loving your enemies or did he say to kill all who don't believe in him.
Did Jesus teach that just by believing in him was all that mattered . So how one acts & what one does therefore doesn't matter- just do as you please but have faith in Jesus.
Are we to believe if we are Christian that all those who do not accept Christianity are already condemned to Hell & that they are EVIL & need to be converted or killed as it seems many radical Evangelical Christians numbering in their millions believe. How then can there be peace among the religions & the nations of the world.
As Gandhi once said : "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Take care,
GORD.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Perfected: The Ann Coulter Song
The song here refers to Ann Coulter's remark that Jews need to be " perfected " by becoming Christians.She does not see that this attitude towards Jews is one of the oldest forms of Christian anti-Semitism .It is the belief that Christianity supersedes the religion of Judaism with the coming of Jesus as the Christ & Messiah.
Here's a song for ann coulter.
Perfected: The Ann Coulter Song
From: barelypolitical
Created by Ben Relles Vocals: Leah Kauffman Lyrics: Leah Kauffman, Rusty Ward
Director: Tom Small
Sunday, December 02, 2007
TASERING : HUMANE WEAPON , LETHAL FORCE OR TORTURE
" The danger of Tasers is that they seem safe, they seem easy and therefore I think it's natural that police will be inclined to use them much more quickly than they would ever use a gun."
. "Nobody really knows exactly why these people are dying, we only know that people are dying after they're tasered," he said. "It's nearly 300 people who have died in the United States - they're tasered, and then they die.
"It may be because they have a heart condition. It may be because they're on drugs. It may be because of some other factor that we don't know about. The important thing is, they are dying after they are tasered. That cannot be denied, no matter how you spin the language."
Larry Cox, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA
There are a number of issues concerning the use of tasers which need to be looked at . For example :
Is the taser too dangerous ? Is the problem that some police officers use them more than they should that is when it unnecessary ? Do some police officers use them in a manner which they were not meant to be used ? Are police officers adequately trained in their use ? Is the use of tasers equivalent to torture?
In several of the videos posted here the victims are tasered a number of times or for no apparent reason.
One individual was an epileptic in need of medical care but instead was arrested - why ?
This raises the question about police procedures on the one hand & on the other about the effect the taser may have on people with various medical conditions or taking medications.In some of the videos available on the Net show people being tasered while police officers shout at them giving the victim little or no time to actually settle down or just as the person does settle down they are tasered again wouldn't that just piss someone off. In The Nova Scotia case the individual was schizophrenic - does his illness have something to do with his reaction to the tasering.
I'm not that sure how being tasered is supposed to calm down someone who is being belligerent. It's like being prodded with a pointed stick every couple of minutes and this supposedly calms one down .
As for Amnesty International raising the matter as an issue of torture will it make an impact on the public .
It seems that the public in general has been told that one should not question those in authority .According to the Harper & Bush regimes questioning authorities is tantamount to sedition & treason since we are told everyday that we are at war. Bush & his followers in the United States & here in Canada claim that the laws regarding torture are too vague & ill defined. So they are not sure what amounts to " torture " as defined by cruel & inhumane or humiliating & degrading treatment .
The other issue here in regard to Bush & torture is that he & others have sent the wrong message by quibbling over the definition of torture . This may now be trickling down as it were from the military to local police forces which they may have taken as a green light for using more force on suspects.
U.N.: Tasers Are A Form Of Torture "Stun Guns" Are Under Fire After Six Deaths This Week; Rallies Held Demanding They Be Banned
CBS NEWS NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2007
and: " Black leaders held a rally Tuesday calling for the department to ban Tasers, at least until there is a clear policy on how they are used. The NAACP says it appears the sheriff's office is using Tasers routinely, rather than as a weapon of last resort.
Last Sunday, in Frederick, Md., a sheriff's deputy trying to break up a late-night brawl tased 20-year-old Jarrel Grey. He died on the spot."
N.S. orders Taser review after inmate's death Halifax police reluctant to link 45-year-old man's death to weapon
November 22, 2007 CBC.ca|
but..." No curb on Taser use contemplated
Burbridge said the police force will continue to use Tasers despite the death.
Nova Scotia Justice Minister Cecil Clarke is not banning the weapons, though he has ordered an immediate review of how police use them "
and: " NDP( New Democratic Party ) justice critic Bill Estabrooks said an independent look at the overall use of Tasers in Nova Scotia is needed. However, neither Estabrooks nor Michel Samson, the Liberals' justice critic, is calling for a moratorium on Taser use.
Hyde is the latest person to die in Canada after being stunned by a Taser.
Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after being shocked by a stun gun at the Vancouver airport five weeks ago, prompting the federal government to order a review of the RCMP's Taser policy.
That review will not include other police forces.
In Montreal, Quilem Registre died in mid-October after being shocked by a Taser at a police station where he had been brought for questioning. He had been stopped as a result of a traffic violation, and officers said he appeared to be intoxicated. "
---
And this points to another issue which is that it is not enough for a police force to investigate itself whether its the use of tasers or questions about using unnecessary force - There is a need for independent inquiries over such incidents & not just a lot of spin .
And here a few examples of tasering caught on tape from LIVELEAK
woman tasered from liveleak
184 dead in ten years
Taser torture execution USA- How many officers does it take to subdue an individual while tasering them ?
Tasering student in library.
The crowd of students tell police to stop since the individual is trying to leave but the police keep tasering the victim while shouting at him .
woman repeatedly tasered - the officer does not pause to allow her to cooperate-
take care,
GORD.
. "Nobody really knows exactly why these people are dying, we only know that people are dying after they're tasered," he said. "It's nearly 300 people who have died in the United States - they're tasered, and then they die.
"It may be because they have a heart condition. It may be because they're on drugs. It may be because of some other factor that we don't know about. The important thing is, they are dying after they are tasered. That cannot be denied, no matter how you spin the language."
Larry Cox, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA
There are a number of issues concerning the use of tasers which need to be looked at . For example :
Is the taser too dangerous ? Is the problem that some police officers use them more than they should that is when it unnecessary ? Do some police officers use them in a manner which they were not meant to be used ? Are police officers adequately trained in their use ? Is the use of tasers equivalent to torture?
In several of the videos posted here the victims are tasered a number of times or for no apparent reason.
One individual was an epileptic in need of medical care but instead was arrested - why ?
This raises the question about police procedures on the one hand & on the other about the effect the taser may have on people with various medical conditions or taking medications.In some of the videos available on the Net show people being tasered while police officers shout at them giving the victim little or no time to actually settle down or just as the person does settle down they are tasered again wouldn't that just piss someone off. In The Nova Scotia case the individual was schizophrenic - does his illness have something to do with his reaction to the tasering.
I'm not that sure how being tasered is supposed to calm down someone who is being belligerent. It's like being prodded with a pointed stick every couple of minutes and this supposedly calms one down .
As for Amnesty International raising the matter as an issue of torture will it make an impact on the public .
It seems that the public in general has been told that one should not question those in authority .According to the Harper & Bush regimes questioning authorities is tantamount to sedition & treason since we are told everyday that we are at war. Bush & his followers in the United States & here in Canada claim that the laws regarding torture are too vague & ill defined. So they are not sure what amounts to " torture " as defined by cruel & inhumane or humiliating & degrading treatment .
The other issue here in regard to Bush & torture is that he & others have sent the wrong message by quibbling over the definition of torture . This may now be trickling down as it were from the military to local police forces which they may have taken as a green light for using more force on suspects.
U.N.: Tasers Are A Form Of Torture "Stun Guns" Are Under Fire After Six Deaths This Week; Rallies Held Demanding They Be Banned
CBS NEWS NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2007
A United Nations committee said Friday that use of Taser weapons can be a form of torture, in violation of the U.N. Convention Against Torture.
Use of the electronic stun devices by police has been marked with a sudden rise in deaths - including four men in the United States and two in Canada within the last week.
Canadian authorities are taking a second look at them, and in the United States, there is a wave of demands to BAN them.
The U.N. Committee Against Torture referred Friday to the use of TaserX26 weapons which Portuguese police has acquired. An expert had testified to the committee that use of the weapons had "proven risks of harm or death."
"The use of TaserX26 weapons, provoking extreme pain, constituted a form of torture, and that in certain cases it could also cause death, as shown by several reliable studies and by certain cases that had happened after practical use," the committee said in a statement.
"Well, it means that it's a very serious thing," Amnesty International USA Executive Director Larry Cox told CBS Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. "These are people that have seen torture around the world, all kinds of torture. So they don't use the word lightly."
Tasers have become increasingly controversial in the United States, particularly after several notorious cases where their use by police to disable suspects was questioned as being excessive. Especially disturbing is the fact that six adults died after being tased by police in the span of a week.
and: " Black leaders held a rally Tuesday calling for the department to ban Tasers, at least until there is a clear policy on how they are used. The NAACP says it appears the sheriff's office is using Tasers routinely, rather than as a weapon of last resort.
Last Sunday, in Frederick, Md., a sheriff's deputy trying to break up a late-night brawl tased 20-year-old Jarrel Grey. He died on the spot."
N.S. orders Taser review after inmate's death Halifax police reluctant to link 45-year-old man's death to weapon
November 22, 2007 CBC.ca|
A man has died in a Dartmouth jail about 30 hours after he was jolted by a Taser, prompting Nova Scotia's justice minister to order a review of police use of the weapon.
But Halifax Regional Police said Thursday that it's too early to speculate about whether the Taser hit killed the man.
"It's premature to draw any conclusion that the Taser contributed to this man's death," Tony Burbridge, Halifax's deputy police chief, told reporters.
The 45-year-old man died Thursday morning at the Burnside correctional facility, about 30 hours after officers used a stun gun to subdue him. Police haven't released his name, but Joanna Hyde identified him as her brother, Howard Hyde.
but..." No curb on Taser use contemplated
Burbridge said the police force will continue to use Tasers despite the death.
Nova Scotia Justice Minister Cecil Clarke is not banning the weapons, though he has ordered an immediate review of how police use them "
and: " NDP( New Democratic Party ) justice critic Bill Estabrooks said an independent look at the overall use of Tasers in Nova Scotia is needed. However, neither Estabrooks nor Michel Samson, the Liberals' justice critic, is calling for a moratorium on Taser use.
Hyde is the latest person to die in Canada after being stunned by a Taser.
Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after being shocked by a stun gun at the Vancouver airport five weeks ago, prompting the federal government to order a review of the RCMP's Taser policy.
That review will not include other police forces.
In Montreal, Quilem Registre died in mid-October after being shocked by a Taser at a police station where he had been brought for questioning. He had been stopped as a result of a traffic violation, and officers said he appeared to be intoxicated. "
---
And this points to another issue which is that it is not enough for a police force to investigate itself whether its the use of tasers or questions about using unnecessary force - There is a need for independent inquiries over such incidents & not just a lot of spin .
And here a few examples of tasering caught on tape from LIVELEAK
woman tasered from liveleak
184 dead in ten years
Taser torture execution USA- How many officers does it take to subdue an individual while tasering them ?
Tasering student in library.
The crowd of students tell police to stop since the individual is trying to leave but the police keep tasering the victim while shouting at him .
woman repeatedly tasered - the officer does not pause to allow her to cooperate-
take care,
GORD.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Radical Christian Missionaries in Iraq - To Conquer & Convert
The Soup Comes With a Sermon- To Conquer & Convert
" This is a Religious War "
In the video below we get a glimpse at how Christian Missionaries are helped by the American military to preach to Iraqis. The American occupying force seems unable or unwilling to rebuild the infrastructure in Iraq & to provide schools & hospitals or basic medical care for Iraqis but the Americans have no problem delivering a few million Bibles to Iraqis.
Much of American Humanitarian Aid to Iraqis is delivered through Faith Based Organizations who are aggressively proselytizing to convert Muslim Iraqis to Christianity while defaming & insulting Islam & Characterizing Islam as " Evil ".
So much for democracy & tolerance . Radical Christians can no more tolerate people of a different religion than can Radical Muslims like the Taliban can tolerate any who dare not believe in their brand of Islam .
One version of the video is from from Omaribnalalbani at YouTube who makes the following comment:
American Plans to Convert Iraq into Christianity
In the second version of this video the Youtube user has this to say :While innocent people are getting killed everyday in Iraq Christian missionaries are trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.
(from HUMANOo )
Deaths of converted Iraqi Muslims to Christianity of little concern since they are among the SAVED & that's all that really matters & by dying because of their faith in Jesus makes them Martyrs for Christ -
Many American soldiers & their officers seem to believe that To kill a Muslim is not a crime since it is a killing of the bad "Malicide" which is typical of so called Christian Charity & love -( see my post Thursday November 22 )*
So much for Iraqis deciding on their own fate. People are encouraged to convert or starve or do without medical help or have their neighborhood or village shot to pieces over & over again.
This is like the Nazis insisting that those countries whom they invade accept their racist & religious political ideology
* Note: Augustine developed The Doctrine of The Just War whereby under certain conditions Christians could go to war out of self-defense or for the defense of the Faith & the Church .
" The code of the Just War called for good faith with the enemy, regard for non-combatants , respect for hostages and prisoners. But all such restraints were abandoned in dealing with the infidel. The warrant for this view of warfare was found in the biblical account of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua " ( p. 174, Bainton - Horizon History )
And St. Bernard explained that " The soldier may securely Kill, Kill for Christ and more securely die. He benefits himself if he dies and Christ if he Kills. To Kill a malefactor is not homicide but malicide ( the killing of the bad ). In the death of the Pagan the Christian is glorified because Christ is glorified ." ( p. 194, Bainton)
In this way the Christian Church could justify the unnecessary & brutal Crusades to attempt to conquer & convert or wipe out the Muslims & they believed they were justified in the killing of heretics & oppressing & murdering the Jews.
(from post Nov. 22,2007 )
take care,
GORD.
" This is a Religious War "
In the video below we get a glimpse at how Christian Missionaries are helped by the American military to preach to Iraqis. The American occupying force seems unable or unwilling to rebuild the infrastructure in Iraq & to provide schools & hospitals or basic medical care for Iraqis but the Americans have no problem delivering a few million Bibles to Iraqis.
Much of American Humanitarian Aid to Iraqis is delivered through Faith Based Organizations who are aggressively proselytizing to convert Muslim Iraqis to Christianity while defaming & insulting Islam & Characterizing Islam as " Evil ".
So much for democracy & tolerance . Radical Christians can no more tolerate people of a different religion than can Radical Muslims like the Taliban can tolerate any who dare not believe in their brand of Islam .
One version of the video is from from Omaribnalalbani at YouTube who makes the following comment:
American Plans to Convert Iraq into Christianity
American Missionaries and Generals in the American Military are working together in order to convert Helpless Muslims in Iraq to Christianity. Many of these Missionaries which are Supported by the Bush Administration are from Evangelical Christian Groups Such as Southern Baptist Convention, World Help and other Evangelical Christian Organizations. They go into Iraq as aid workers in Disguise or as American Private Contractors working in Iraq. Many of these people have been given support and Protection from American Generals in Iraq by providing them Housings in Americans Bases in Iraq to work from. When ever the American Military goes into a Village or a Town in search and destroy Mission these missionaries follow them and hand out Pamphlets promoting Christianity and also Also Anti-Islamic material to the helpless Muslims in Iraq.
Many of them follow the American Military as well in their routine Night raids where the American Soldiers Kills or detains Muslim males from the families, Iraq is a traditional Society and most of the Support a family receives is from the Male, and once there is no Male guardian for the Family the family does not have a chance for survival.
Many Muslim Women and families are being taken advantage of by these American Christians, since they provide them with food and Shelter or Money in Exchange for the Bible and Christianity the most Vulnerable of these families are Muslim women with children whose husbands and Sons have been killed or been detained by the Americans
In the second version of this video the Youtube user has this to say :While innocent people are getting killed everyday in Iraq Christian missionaries are trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.
(from HUMANOo )
Deaths of converted Iraqi Muslims to Christianity of little concern since they are among the SAVED & that's all that really matters & by dying because of their faith in Jesus makes them Martyrs for Christ -
Many American soldiers & their officers seem to believe that To kill a Muslim is not a crime since it is a killing of the bad "Malicide" which is typical of so called Christian Charity & love -( see my post Thursday November 22 )*
So much for Iraqis deciding on their own fate. People are encouraged to convert or starve or do without medical help or have their neighborhood or village shot to pieces over & over again.
This is like the Nazis insisting that those countries whom they invade accept their racist & religious political ideology
* Note: Augustine developed The Doctrine of The Just War whereby under certain conditions Christians could go to war out of self-defense or for the defense of the Faith & the Church .
" The code of the Just War called for good faith with the enemy, regard for non-combatants , respect for hostages and prisoners. But all such restraints were abandoned in dealing with the infidel. The warrant for this view of warfare was found in the biblical account of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua " ( p. 174, Bainton - Horizon History )
And St. Bernard explained that " The soldier may securely Kill, Kill for Christ and more securely die. He benefits himself if he dies and Christ if he Kills. To Kill a malefactor is not homicide but malicide ( the killing of the bad ). In the death of the Pagan the Christian is glorified because Christ is glorified ." ( p. 194, Bainton)
In this way the Christian Church could justify the unnecessary & brutal Crusades to attempt to conquer & convert or wipe out the Muslims & they believed they were justified in the killing of heretics & oppressing & murdering the Jews.
(from post Nov. 22,2007 )
take care,
GORD.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
CRUSADES CONTINUE- LET's BOMB IRAN & Wounded Soldiers Made to Pay Back Signing Bonuses
Anyway here's a funny bit about how The Bush Regime Supports The Troops ???
The Bush Regime & its supporters claim that they support American troops but the evidence suggest that this is not always the case. For instance there was the scandal over the Walter Reid Hospital that it was a disgrace & that parts of it were dire of need of repair or should be torn down & replaced. There have been scandals & questions about the lack of equipment or that the equipment given to the American troops were inadequate ie body armor & personnel carriers . There are also questions about the decrease in military morale when it comes to successive involuntary re-deployments to Iraq & Afghanistan. There have been further criticisms about the training of new recruits & of members of the National Guard as to whether or not the training is adequate or not. -paying signing bonuses if that are wounded - You gotta read the fine print - so this is another insult to the troops. So all their talk about " Support The Troops " tends to ring hollow & is just more phony " Bumper Sticker Patriotism ".
Adding insult to injury the soldiers who make a modest salary just barely a living wage get to watch the 150,000 Mercenaries stationed in Iraq as private contractors pulling down better salaries without being accountable for their actions.
There have also been stories that psychological illnesses which soldiers have developed while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder may not get the intensive treatment they need . It appears that the military under Bush have developed the attitude that PTSD is just a made up illness & is just a lot of " Psycho-Babble " . And as the article below claims that soldiers who have been wounded or have for psychological reasons are unable to complete their tour of duty are being told they must return to the government their signing bonuses . It seems the Bush regime is more interested in cost cutting measures than spending the resources necessary to properly equip soldiers & to take care of their medical needs where necessary or even to pay the average soldier a better & more reasonable salary. The article below this one shows that the military & the administration are downplaying the numbers of suicides of those troops who have returned to American soil after fighting in the war on terror.
Wounded Vets Asked to Pay Up, Monday 26 November 2007 AP & TRUTHOUT
Also see: CBS NEWS INVESTIGATION :Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans-A CBS News Investigation Uncovers A Suicide Rate For Veterans Twice That Of Other Americans NOVEMBER 13, 2007
And update at Alternet on suicide rates:
120 War Vets Commit Suicide Each Week on Average
By Penny Coleman AlterNet Monday 26 November 2007
From the Real News Network:
Noam Chomsky on U.S. policy towards Iran
November 19, 2007
American Manifest Destiny continues with an all out Christian Crusade against the Middle East & the Islamic World as it were and so it goes... What Would Jesus Do ? The God of love says " Kill Them ALL "
Chomsky: Do the Democrats have a different answer on Iran?
Democrats the " ME TOO PARTY " wants to invade Iran while the Media Elite cheer them on -
Hilary & Bush can you tell them apart ?
Take care,
GORD.
The Bush Regime & its supporters claim that they support American troops but the evidence suggest that this is not always the case. For instance there was the scandal over the Walter Reid Hospital that it was a disgrace & that parts of it were dire of need of repair or should be torn down & replaced. There have been scandals & questions about the lack of equipment or that the equipment given to the American troops were inadequate ie body armor & personnel carriers . There are also questions about the decrease in military morale when it comes to successive involuntary re-deployments to Iraq & Afghanistan. There have been further criticisms about the training of new recruits & of members of the National Guard as to whether or not the training is adequate or not. -paying signing bonuses if that are wounded - You gotta read the fine print - so this is another insult to the troops. So all their talk about " Support The Troops " tends to ring hollow & is just more phony " Bumper Sticker Patriotism ".
Adding insult to injury the soldiers who make a modest salary just barely a living wage get to watch the 150,000 Mercenaries stationed in Iraq as private contractors pulling down better salaries without being accountable for their actions.
There have also been stories that psychological illnesses which soldiers have developed while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder may not get the intensive treatment they need . It appears that the military under Bush have developed the attitude that PTSD is just a made up illness & is just a lot of " Psycho-Babble " . And as the article below claims that soldiers who have been wounded or have for psychological reasons are unable to complete their tour of duty are being told they must return to the government their signing bonuses . It seems the Bush regime is more interested in cost cutting measures than spending the resources necessary to properly equip soldiers & to take care of their medical needs where necessary or even to pay the average soldier a better & more reasonable salary. The article below this one shows that the military & the administration are downplaying the numbers of suicides of those troops who have returned to American soil after fighting in the war on terror.
Wounded Vets Asked to Pay Up, Monday 26 November 2007 AP & TRUTHOUT
New York - Service members seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan after they received a $10,000 bonus for enlisting are being asked by the Pentagon to repay portions of the incentive money, says a U.S. senator who calls the practice an example of military policy gone wrong.
"A bill in the mail is not the kind of present our soldiers deserve in this holiday season," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. said. "Our veterans are not being treated with the dignity, respect and thanks that they deserve. It's just a disgrace."
At a news conference Sunday, he said the policy remained in effect despite a report last July by a presidential commission that wounded veterans were being unfairly penalized by a requirement that enlistees must fulfill their entire term of service or lose a pro-rated portion of their bonus.
"This policy and early discharge as a result of service-related injury is now preventing thousands of combat-wounded warriors from getting the bonuses they have earned," Schumer said. "This includes several hundred New Yorkers who suffered wounds or catastrophic injuries before concluding their duty."
He said that when the case of Jordan Fox, an Army sniper partially blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, was called to the Pentagon's attention, officials replied that the demand for him to repay $2,800 was a "clerical error" and canceled the debt.
If the Mount Lebanon, Pa., soldier's case was an isolated incident, there has been no explanation of why hundreds of other wounded veterans have also received letters demanding repayment, Schumer said. "When you talk to the Pentagon, you get different answers from different people," he said.
Also see: CBS NEWS INVESTIGATION :Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans-A CBS News Investigation Uncovers A Suicide Rate For Veterans Twice That Of Other Americans NOVEMBER 13, 2007
And update at Alternet on suicide rates:
120 War Vets Commit Suicide Each Week on Average
By Penny Coleman AlterNet Monday 26 November 2007
The military refuses to come clean, insisting the high rates are due to "personal problems," not experience in combat.
Earlier this year, using the clout that only major broadcast networks seem capable of mustering, CBS News contacted the governments of all 50 states requesting their official records of death by suicide going back 12 years. They heard back from 45 of the 50. From the mountains of gathered information, they sifted out the suicides of those Americans who had served in the armed forces. What they discovered is that in 2005 alone - and remember, this is just in 45 states - there were at least 6,256 veteran suicides, 120 every week for a year and an average of 17 every day.
As the widow of a Vietnam vet who killed himself after coming home, and as the author of a book for which I interviewed dozens of other women who had also lost husbands (or sons or fathers) to PTSD and suicide in the aftermath of the war in Vietnam, I am deeply grateful to CBS for undertaking this long overdue investigation. I am also heartbroken that the numbers are so astonishingly high and tentatively optimistic that perhaps now that there are hard numbers to attest to the magnitude of the problem, it will finally be taken seriously. I say tentatively because this is an administration that melts hard numbers on their tongues like communion wafers.
Since these new wars began, and in spite of a continuous flood of alarming reports, the Department of Defense has managed to keep what has clearly become an epidemic of death beneath the radar of public awareness by systematically concealing statistics about soldier suicides. They have done everything from burying them on official casualty lists in a category they call "accidental noncombat deaths" to outright lying to the parents of dead soldiers. And the Department of Veterans Affairs has rubber-stamped their disinformation, continuing to insist that their studies indicate that soldiers are killing themselves, not because of their combat experiences, but because they have "personal problems."
Active-duty soldiers, however, are only part of the story. One of the well-known characteristics of post-traumatic stress injuries is that the onset of symptoms is often delayed, sometimes for decades. Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam are still taking their own lives because new PTSD symptoms have been triggered, or old ones retriggered, by stories and images from these new wars. Their deaths, like the deaths of more recent veterans, are written up in hometown newspapers; they are locally mourned, but officially ignored. The VA doesn't track or count them. It never has. Both the VA and the Pentagon deny that the problem exists and sanctimoniously point to a lack of evidence they have refused to gather.
From the Real News Network:
Noam Chomsky on U.S. policy towards Iran
November 19, 2007
American Manifest Destiny continues with an all out Christian Crusade against the Middle East & the Islamic World as it were and so it goes... What Would Jesus Do ? The God of love says " Kill Them ALL "
Chomsky: Do the Democrats have a different answer on Iran?
Democrats the " ME TOO PARTY " wants to invade Iran while the Media Elite cheer them on -
Hilary & Bush can you tell them apart ?
Take care,
GORD.
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