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Showing posts from January 9, 2005
On Torture: Questioning and torture There seems to be this insistence that people are only being treated humanely if they are afforded every one of the Geneva protections. This is simply not so. There are many things you want to prevent terrorists from doing such as sending and recieving mail which may indicate who has been captured, who is talking and sending other signal messages. Similarly you don't want to allow them to fraternize openly as this will only raise their level of resistance and give them an opportunity to shank the squealers. It is not only important but vital to remember they are not, in any way, covered by international law. They are literally subject to summary execution. This is a gaping hole in the Conventions. That sort of problem tends to crop up with 19th century documents in the 21st century. US law should be filling in the gaps here and for the most part it is. The Bybee memo notwithstanding there is a real difference between agressive
I'm just thinking....Isn't it interesting that the same people who insist we cover terrorists under the Geneva Conventions are the same people denying bloggers be included as journalists in the eyes of the court. Seems to me the case for the latter is far far stronger than the former.
Project Pluto Does anyone miss the Cold War? Not me. Gotta love American scientists gusto for creating machines capable of unleashing global horror. Gives me the chills.
Coming home For the uninitiated I'm a daddy of three. They're all under 5 and they're all boys. At one point I actually had 3 under 3 years old. Yes, they're that close and no, there are no multiples. My wife and I are, however, convinced we know what it's like to have triplets. After all #2 (Connor) and #3 (Ian) are only 10 months apart. They are so close in age that people often ask us if they are twins. This is not an unreasonable assumption as Connor is average sized for his age but Ian is a big boy. I was explaining what it's like to come home at the end of the day. On the receiving end of this tale was my single, childless friend. Essentially, I live in a world he doesn't understand and he lives in a world I hardly remember. After my workday I have a modest commute home. Usually it takes me about half an hour. Not bad but it can be frustrating. When I walk in the door I immediately hear cries of "Dad-eeeeee!"
Sutton Impact This encapsulates how the Dean wing of the Democratic party sees the people in the red states. Sutton has managed to include every possible negative stereotype in one cartoon. I'm amazed at the vitriol of which people like him are capable. As anyone who reads this site (You mean IF anyone actually read this site -ed.) knows I'm no Democrat. I used to call myself Libertarian and am registered as such but the total lack of a serious party or foreign policy has soured me to the Libertarian Party on a national basis. Locally, I still support them but not nationally. As such, I identify more closely with free-market Republicans. While I disagree (sometimes vehemently) with much of what Democrats are promoting I don't think they are all lemmings or evil or whatever. Mostly I think they're well intentioned but misguided. Democrats are the ones always talking about the need for "healing" and telling us we should "come together" or "
FOXBlocker I was going to say, "Words fail me." Actually, they don't. This device should be called "Seal My Echo Chamber." If you cannot manage to use a remote control to either skip FoxNews or delete the channel from the list of channels how are you supposed to figure out how to install this? Is there really a market for this thing? Are there people who's sensibilities so fragile they would be psychologically damaged by micro-exposure to a non-leftist viewpoint?
The Secret Lives of Just About Everybody : "'In a very deep sense, you don't have a self unless you have a secret, " Interesting article about secrets. According to the author, we all have them and we all keep them. Even from our spouses or most trusted confidants. I'm inclined to agree. I think most people have some aspect of themselves they're afraid to reveal to anyone lest they be seen as a lunatic or a pervert. There has been a noticable trend in the last 20 years for people to air all the things that, in the past, would have been regarded as secrets if not simply private. Emotions were private things and not readily displayed in public. This held true for grief (think Jackie O or the British Royals pre-Diana's death), love and the possible lone exception, happiness. Some of the erosion on that front is good thing. People are less likely to hide things that were considered shameful that are not (mentally ill or physically disabled
Varifrank: Today, I was "Unprofessional"... Three cheers for "unprofessionalism"!
"And we wonder why we have all but lost this war." Andrew is getting the vapors again. Every time something goes "boom" in Iraq he shrieks and cowers under the nearest potted plant. Seriously. It's be something to behold watching him slide from fearsome hawk to chicken little inside of a year. I wonder if he knew what war was before we had one. He's not a dumb guy by any stretch but I think the entirety of his understanding of war is shaped by Gulf War 1. That was a truly remarkable feat at its time but it's not even in the same ballpark as what we're up against now. The casualty rates we're seeing now pale in comparison to Vietnam, Korean War, World War II and so on. The Iron Lady once remarked "Don't go all wobbly on me now George." I feel the same way. This is an ugly business and whether you supported the war or not, whether you believe it's connected to the GWOT or not, you have to admit that we c