Self Evident...

The song affected me the first time I heard it, and every time since. This collage video from dysprod1975 does it all over again, in a whole new way...

With all due props to On the Wilder Side where I first saw the video, & from whom I'm blatently copying the post. (This is the second time this week he's been the victim of my cut-n-paste. I hope that he shares the view that "immitation is the sincerest form..." and knows that he's fully welcome to "steal" from me, should I ever happen to get there first... which I hope to do, should he ever give a guy a break & slow down....)

ACLU Blog: When "Torture" Is the Only Way to Describe It

"When 'enhanced interrogation techniques' are discussed in abstract and generalized terms, it's much easier to trivialize human suffering, or to ignore it. Abu Ghraib has been universally condemned--or almost universally, anyway--not because the abuses there were any more brutal than elsewhere, but because the ghoulish photos of human beings on leashes, or stacked naked in a pyramid, or standing hooded on a box, were tangible and real in a way that words on a page simply cannot be."

"But the most profound and lasting legacy of the Bush Administration's morbid embrace of torture may lie not in the injuries to detainees or their interrogators, but in the harm to this country's reputation and standing — and its security. By bringing the words of the victims into U.S. courtrooms, we begin the long and difficult process of restoring America's legal and moral standing. We can only hope that some federal judges will see past our clients' words to their humanity."

Follow the link for the whole posting.

UPDATE: And go to this link for more on the story: The Black Sites: A rare look inside the C.I.A.’s secret interrogation program.

The enemy of our enemy is not always our friend

First off, I need a scorecard to keep up with the players in the Middle East and how the US feels about them on any given day...

Second, it'd be really nice if the US would stop working with/supporting terrorists of any kind--even if those terrorists are fighting these terrorists--as a guiding fundamental principle.

Found this over at the Kind of Cares Bear blog. It's a repost from last February. While I'm sure it's not quite as simple geopolitically as she makes it sound, maybe it should be, ya know?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* We start with the idea that the US government should protect Americans' safety. For example, no more 9/11s.

* Iran wants to get the bomb, and the theory is that once Iran has the bomb, it will give it to Hezbollah to blow up in the US. So, Iran's bomb intentions must be fought to protect Americans.

* Iran is Shia, so the Shia are the enemy. Except, in Iraq, the Shias are the oppressed minority, so we are working with the Shia government in Iraq.

* Sunnis fight Shias, so, according to the principle of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Sunnis should be our allies.

* Unfortunately, Sunni militants = al-Qaida, also our enemies.

* In Lebanon, Hezbollah (a Shia organization aided by Iran) is trying to gain more power in the government, and to lessen the power of the Sunni government.

* The US is supporting Salafi Sunnis (aka al-Qaida & Co.) in Lebanon, because they will fight Hezbollah (Shias), to prevent Hezbollah from gaining power in Lebanon, and indirectly, prevent Iran and Hezbollah from getting the bomb. In other words, the US is supporting al-Qaida-related terrorist organizationsm because they are the enemies of our enemies.

* But wait, I thought al-Qaida was public enemy #1.

* Except for the fact that it was the US pursuing the same strategy, namely supporting religiously motivated militants (Afghani mujahedeen and Osama bin Laden) who are the enemies of our enemies (the Soviets), that created al-Qaida in the first place, and therefore precipitated 9/11.

* So, what was that about Americans' safety? Lather, rinse, repeat.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it?