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April 19, 2009
Links April 19 09
  • Sadism – Justice Dept. Memos' Careful Legalese Obscured Harsh Reality – (WaPo)
  • More sadism – Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Was Waterboarded 183 Times in One Month – (Emptywheel)
  • Orwellian Sadism – Scott Horton: Revealing the Secrets in Room 101 – (Harpers)
  • No impunity – Obama Releases Memos; Promises Impunity; Misunderstands Estoppel by Entrapment – (Opinio Juris)
  • "Do you want more gas?" – Palestinian resident of Bil'in killed during weekly nonviolent protest against the Wall – (Mondoweiss)
  • Gideon Levy – Gaza, remember? – (Haaretz)
  • Chávez book gift to Obama: Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent – (Amazon)
  • Adult supervison demanded – China seeks oversight of reserve currency issuers – (Marketwatch)
  • A major cause of the current mess – Rich-Poor Gap Tripled Between 1979 and 2006 – (CBPP)
  • Some still want to lie – Bank Regulators Clash Over U.S. Stress-Tests Endgame – (Bloomberg)
  • For anna missed – Our Man In Havana (1959) – (YouTube)

Please share your links, news and views in the comments.

Posted by b on April 19, 2009 at 05:52 UTC | Permalink
Comments

Under “No Impunity” –
American Eco-Taliban Launches Stunning Attack against World Trade
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30268793#30268793
A prominent Eco-Taliban said on prime time this weekend, “Hey, we need more taxes!”
Not, “Hey, we need to preserve species”, not “Hey, we need to get through the GD2”.
No, Cap & Trade is gonna be shoved up your ass. “Hey, we need more taxes!”
Obama announced major program cuts in the wake of the Eco-Taliban onslaught.

Posted by: Electric Blue | Apr 19 2009 7:01 utc | 1

crossposting this:
Emptywheel has a post up today on the newly released torture memos, that reveal some profoundly disturbing details. According to the documents (and in spite of the presidents denials that we torture) both Al Qaeda Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah were tortured by waterboarding. While it’s disturbing enough that the president broke both domestic and international laws in authorizing the torture in the first place, had doctors and psychologists (in violation of their hippocratic oath) assist in the procedures, and had the whole process filmed repeatedly by the CIA and delivered to the White House for viewing – these are bad enough, but, now it also comes to light that both men were not only subjected to torture, but tortured so many times repeatedly that it defies all comprehension. In the course of a month Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded no less than 184 times, and Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded 84 times during one month. That averages out to being waterboarded something like 6 and 3 times a day for 30 consecutive days. Bear in mind also that these procedures were not the so called “simulated drowning” technique (used in training), but the “real drowning” technique of actually pouring water into the respiratory system. Most experts in such matters agree that these methods are unreliable as intelligence gathering tools because the terror inspired by enduring one or two of these procedures is enough for the subject to begin confessing and admitting to what ever information they think the perpetrators are after in order to make it stop. The evidence of the intelligence received from these two, according to many accounts, would also confirm this, in that the only reliable information gathered was early in their confinement. And when the information flow began to slow to a tickle, the Bush administration then ordered that the torture increase in intensity to the astronomically absurd levels now being revealed.
There is really no other way to process or account for this information other than to view it as an act of pure sadistic sickness, hell bent, and addicted on the tactile pleasure of revenge. Is it any wonder that just a year or so after this, the Abu Ghraib debacle would also be revealed repeating the same mindset, if not in the same proportions. There’s no way any of this can be reduced to euphemism or the polite nomenclature of “what if’s” – this is pure evil, in undeniably large, unfathomable, and unwieldy quantities, that will not go away quietly, because there is a big difference between someone who commits a crime of passion and one who keeps his victim alive and locked in the cellar for his personal pleasure.

Posted by: anna missed | Apr 19 2009 10:08 utc | 2

Our Man in Havana, inside joke PL e-mailed me to say he saw it when it came out. I saw it on late night TV in the 80’s and was really impressed. And tried to find it again in the video shops for years and years to no avail. It wasn’t even in their books, so eventually I gave up wondering if it was just a mirage in my fevered mind. Guess not. I’ll try again tomorrow. I swear that film just disappeared for decades.

Posted by: anna missed | Apr 19 2009 10:40 utc | 3

NYTimes
I think they got it right.

Posted by: alabama | Apr 19 2009 11:07 utc | 4

From that Market Watch article, i also noted this:
China’s taking the first steps to set itself up as “a” reserve currency for Asia.
Interesting how the CCP has suddenly shifted its rhetoric to talk about “reserve currencies” in the plural, while at the very same time moving to start pouring money into such traditional U.S. strongholds as Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
I have never been much of a reader of the “business pages” or economic news, so i might be wrong about this; but —
isn’t that a change from, even, just last week, when folks were talking about the U.S. dollar as “the” reserve currency?
Please, correct me if i’m wrong. I’m curious about that.

Posted by: china_hand2 | Apr 19 2009 12:17 utc | 5

@china hand 2 – first China send up a trial balloon of using IMF Special Drawing Rights as world-reserve currency. Russia and a bunch of Asian countries supported that. The first U.S. reaction was positive but a day later that changed and the role of the dollar was reaffirmed by the U.S. (and the Gulf states). But talk about China as a “currency manipulator” was shut down too.
Then came the Chinese move to make Swap agreements with other countries giving them RMB liquidity. That will do well for trade with China and will over time establish the RMB as a world currency (next to $ and Euro).
Then the call for supervision of reserve currencies.
I do not see that as a change in the Chinese intentions, but as parts of a carefully choreographed move to push the $ aside a bit and pressure the U.S. for more fiscal sanity.

Posted by: b | Apr 19 2009 12:36 utc | 6

Thanks, b. Much obliged.

Posted by: china_hand2 | Apr 19 2009 13:02 utc | 7

must be another way here

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Apr 19 2009 13:47 utc | 8

sorry again for not posting – i have recently has to return to the urgences here because they thought i was having another heart attack but it has turned out surprisingly to be chronic pancreaitis -that i was producing 10 time the enzymes i ought – look i don’t know the difference between an enema & an enzyme – biology was not one of my brilliant etudes – but what i do know is that it is connected to the love of the bottle closer to serge gainsbourg than i who has not touched a drop in over 20 years
sickness seems to follow me like a savage & errant dog

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 19 2009 15:09 utc | 9

R’giap, good to see your name appear in the comments list. Missed you. Hope you’ll have a speedy recovery, my thoughts are with you 🙂

Posted by: Juan Moment | Apr 19 2009 17:23 utc | 10

April 14 (Bloomberg) — Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is sitting on enough uranium cake to make a nuclear bomb as it waits for prices of the commodity to rebound, according to traders and nuclear experts.

Posted by: biklett | Apr 19 2009 18:18 utc | 11

biklett, i read this the other day and it occurred to me in the future we may stop identifying the enemies w/their countries labels and group identify in the names of their corporate identities.

Posted by: annie | Apr 19 2009 18:32 utc | 12

This is a good watch:
http://fora.tv/2009/02/27/US-Iran_Lessons_from_the_Past_for_the_Present

Posted by: Anthony | Apr 19 2009 18:40 utc | 13

Obama’s stance worries Israelis
apparently obama isn’t open arms to bibs when he arrives in may for the aipac conference because he won’t be ‘in town’

Then on Thursday came the news that Mr Netanyahu’s planned first meeting with President Obama in Washington next month had been called off.
Mr Netanyahu had hoped to capitalise on his attendance at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington to visit the White House.
But Administration officials informed Mr Netanyahu’s office that the President would not be “in town”.
*
Washington sources added that the Obama Administration would not be continuing the tradition that had developed during the Bush years of hosting Israeli prime ministers whenever they showed up in town, sometimes with just a phone call’s notice.
It might have been no more than coincidence, but yesterday Israeli defence officials told the liberal daily Haaretz that Israel’s $US15 billion ($A21 billion) purchase of 75 US-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets was now under review due to “the unexpected high cost and disagreements with the manufacturer”.

another source here.

Rahm Emanuel told an (unnamed) Jewish leader; “In the next four years there is going to be a permanent status arrangement between Israel and the Palestinians on the basis of two states for two peoples, and it doesn’t matter to us at all who is prime minister.”
He also said that the United States will exert pressure to see that deal is put into place.”Any treatment of the Iranian nuclear problem will be contingent upon progress in the negotiations and an Israeli withdrawal from West Bank territory,” the paper reports Emanuel as saying.

hmm

Posted by: annie | Apr 19 2009 18:45 utc | 14

@annie – @14 – there seems to be clash building up between the Obama administration and the Netanjahu admin in Israel. But that “clash” talk is all promoted by anonymous sources and may very well be a ruse. The Angry Arab thinks it is.

Posted by: b | Apr 19 2009 19:02 utc | 15

@annie – @14 – there seems to be clash building up between the Obama administration and the Netanjahu admin in Israel. But that “clash” talk is all promoted by anonymous sources and may very well be a ruse. The Angry Arab thinks it is.

Posted by: b | Apr 19 2009 19:02 utc | 16

hang in there r’giap. not of the chronic variety, but i was hospitalized w/ acute pancreatitis three yrs ago due to gallstones blocking my bile duct – on admission my lipase count was 36372 (normal range in 23-300) and amylase was at 1869 (normal is 50-130). everyone commented that it was the highest they’d ever seen. can’t recall the pain nowadays, but it was hell for awhile.

Posted by: b real | Apr 19 2009 19:02 utc | 17

U.S.: Palestinians need not recognize Israel as Jewish state before talks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people as a condition for renewing peace talks is unacceptable to the United States, the State Department said during special envoy George Mitchell’s visits over the weekend to Ramallah and Cairo.
The State Department released statements saying that the United States would continue to promote a two-state solution. In Ramallah, Mitchell met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Mitchell’s talks also seem to indicate that the United States does not accept Netanyahu’s position that the renewal of negotiations should be postponed until the Iranian nuclear threat is removed.
While Defense Minister and Labor Party leader Ehud Barak has not spoken publicly on the issue, his associates said Saturday he is obligated to the party platform, which supports the establishment of a Palestinian state. The platform does not mention Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people as a precondition for establishing a Palestinian state.
Barak also reportedly opposes linking the renewal of the peace process with the Iranian threat and supports a regional peace agreement that includes dealing with that threat.

Posted by: annie | Apr 19 2009 19:06 utc | 18

r’giap, sending you hugs and kisses. be well and heal. missed you.

Posted by: annie | Apr 19 2009 19:08 utc | 19

that “clash” talk is all promoted by anonymous sources and may very well be a ruse.
b, yes of course i thought of that. i am eating this hook line and sinker by any means. also i am very suspicious whenever they talk of a 2 state solution they mean liebermans wayw/the WB ending up w/israel and some carved out space of undesirable land for palestine. but i’m reporting it non the less.
also i am cognizant whoever becomes responsible for the eventuality of a resolution (yes, there WILL be either a palestinian state or one state) will go down in history. i’ve been really focused on this issue for a long time and regularly read and assess the pulse of the comment section in msm sources especially here in the US. it is pretty hard not to notice the weight shifting dramatically in favor of resolution w/the pro israelbots sounding like operatives from some official hasbara committee.
i still have a lot of hope. it is going to happen, i do believe because stagnation is untenable.

Posted by: annie | Apr 19 2009 19:16 utc | 20

i meant i am not eating this hook line and sinker!

Posted by: annie | Apr 19 2009 19:16 utc | 21

scott @ 17:
I oppose the death penalty simply because it is far more costly than life in prison, and irrevocable. Death penalty opponents far too often appeal for pity on the convicted. Hell, I don’t oppose torturing these murderers who tortured their victims.
I oppose the death penalty because it is too often bestowed upon the innocent. Killing the innocent is murder and the discovery of dna evidence prevented a lot of it. If a court of law cannot to be relied upon to determine guilt or innocence then support for the death penalty cannot be justified without supporting killing the innocent. Pity for the convicted has nothing to do with it.
Here we are not even talking about a court of law but a round up of Muslims by CIA renditions, bounty hunters, military raids and police arrests. We are talking thousands of people tortured and at least a hundred tortured to death just for being suspects and not convicted of anything. We are talking a White House that not only condoned this debacle but voted to abolish habeas corpus, returning us from the rule of law, to the dark ages where rulers determined guilt or innocence.
I oppose torturing the architects of 9/11 not because I have pity for them or that I oppose punishing them for thier evil, but for the countless innoccent victims tortured with them. No human being on this earth should have the power to determine guilt or innoccence on thier own. That is the vestige of a dictator or mob boss. This is the very reason why the rule of law and habeas corpus was established in the first place. Man is simply not capable of being judge, jury and executioner.

Posted by: Sam | Apr 19 2009 20:21 utc | 22

22 is wrovg thread sorry

Posted by: Sam | Apr 19 2009 20:30 utc | 23

test

Posted by: annie | Apr 19 2009 23:04 utc | 24

i just met paul larudee from the free gaza movement. he talked about what it was like to bring the boats of aid into the port @ gaza. he passed around his passport so we could see the stamp just made for their trip since nobody had ever done it before. it was amazing to see that stamp. he said thousands of people were on the beach waiting and it made me cry.

Posted by: annie | Apr 19 2009 23:04 utc | 25

having trouble posting this song for some reason. it keeps saying it won’t allow it. gaza town.
New track about gaza town by the upcoming palestinian artist deir yassin

Posted by: annie | Apr 19 2009 23:09 utc | 26

Under “Do You Want More Gas”? – http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1892281,00.html EPA Declares Greenhouse Gases Hazardous but that same EPA allows the nations BioPharms to dump 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090419/ap_on_re_us/pharmawater_factories not counting AgraHerbi/Pesticide releases in the 100 millions of TONS into US drinking water and then the EPA even allows industrial polluters to self-monitor and voluntarily report their dumping! http://www.epa.gov/sfipmtn1/facility_search.htm and http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/pcs/pcs_query_java.html
Al Gore is the Mullah Omar of the Americanistan Taliban! They are going to crawl right up every Americans ass and turn out the lights, in order to grow this new Federal Level $100Bs Department of Climate Change, by raising whatever taxes it takes to fund Gore’s Americanistan Taliban nightmare, no matter if it destroys US in order to ‘save it’.
How do you reconcile 100’s of millions of tons of industrial chemicals legally released or dumped into our drinking water supplies, but “the air is hazardous.”
The air! Oxygen, nitrogen and a trace of carbon dioxide is now “hazardous”, and people are finishing their dinners, and watching TVs and planning their weeks!!
Where are the torches and the pitchforks? The Taxmen are coming!

Posted by: Paul Revier | Apr 20 2009 4:42 utc | 27

Bank of International Settlements? chain yanking or end game?

Posted by: Lizard | Apr 20 2009 5:04 utc | 28

Under “major cause of the current mess” – EPA Declares Cold Fusion Hazardous,
‘Gas May Contribute to Global Warming’ – Obama Vows Crackdown on New Research
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/17/60minutes/main4952167.shtml

Posted by: Larry Summers | Apr 20 2009 5:19 utc | 29

b 6) Were you aware that US:UK electronic traffic, including wire transfers for currency exchange, now 100% monitored and debit banks are reporting long
delays before credit is showing up in the deposit banks at the other end. What
do you see as a reasonable risk premium for USD:GBP, now that it’s Terminator’d?
What do you think is actually happening with these delays? Are they manipulating
currency swings? I have heard rumors of large US currency transfers to offshore.
Would transfers from USD to Dubai or Riyadh have to go through London banks first?
Doesn’t the Patriot Act II totally restrict direct wire transfers with GCC banks?
Wouldn’t the new US:UK ‘monitoring’ law be a way to totally ‘cork’ USD:SAR plays?
Is a rumor true that new China/Saudi Treasury purchases have fallen off a cliff?
Is a rumor true that Cap & Trade will impose a new 10% tax on US by this December?

Posted by: Toynbe Carmichel | Apr 20 2009 5:31 utc | 30

Under ‘Sadism’ – http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/g-090419-cvr-obama-12p.grid-2×2.jpg You are getting sleepy, sleepy!

Posted by: Trisha Underwood | Apr 20 2009 5:50 utc | 31

Sorry to hear about your troubles, r’g. I’ve missed y’r pricks and kicks.

Posted by: china_hand2 | Apr 20 2009 8:04 utc | 32

than you my comrades
i’m always a little bereft when i am in hospital & b real i am feeling a little hopeful because through this dark doo some light comes explaining all the grave problems of my stomach in a way the doctors had not previouslly thought of
concentration, listening, attention – & absolutely no agitation – has been a central part of my work & also what i do here at mmon as a writer/reader & its been a little difficult when you feel your throax & stomach are being napalmed
not only are my comreades here bright – they are also caring
today in france they are all hysteric over – ahmindijad – so much theatre, so little sense
& in the last three months – a fairly systemati but sophisticated project of demonisation of jacob zuma

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 20 2009 17:52 utc | 33

take care of yourself, r’giap. sorry to hear that your in hospital, i dropped in for a regular fix of your analysis…get well very soon

Posted by: theodor | Apr 22 2009 3:42 utc | 34

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