« November 2005 | Main | January 2006 »

December 26, 2005

One more bright idea...

... bites the dust:

The U.S. state department announced yesterday it was suspending publication of Hi Magazine, its glossy, monthly attempt to win the hearts and minds of young Arabs, part of a communications troika it established following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In saying 'bye to Hi, the state department acknowledged the dialogue it had sought with the Arab world had become a one-way conversation.

...

The U.S. government has been spending $4.5 million (U.S.) annually since July 2003, trying to bring its own particular take on American life to a target Arab demographic aged 18-35.

Seriously, are they this stupid, or is all this propaganda actually aimed at the U.S. public (to help convince us we are doing something)? Or maybe its all just the bureaucrats trying to convince themselves.

Posted by zeynep at 01:28 PM | Comments (1)

December 24, 2005

What About Radon?

I suggest they do something useful for a change and add radon to their monitoring:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI has been covertly monitoring mosques and Muslim homes and businesses in U.S. cities for abnormal radiation levels since 2002, several government officials confirmed Friday.

Posted by zeynep at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2005

The Good Die Young

Sorry about this but I thought I'd spread some holiday cheer by reminding us all how everyone finally gets their due in this world, and how justice prevails. Here's how it works: you torture and murder children you deem inferior. You get away with it. You publish papers using the data. You live to be 90. Cases against you get thrown out on technicalities, statute of limitations, and false claims of dementia. You die in bed.

VIENNA, Austria - Dr. Heinrich Gross, a psychiatrist who worked at a clinic where the Nazis killed and conducted cruel experiments on thousands of children, died Dec. 15, his family announced Thursday. He was 90.

Gross, who was implicated in nine deaths as part of a Nazi plot to eliminate "worthless lives," had escaped trial in March after a court ruled he suffered from severe dementia. No cause of death was given in a brief statement issued by his family.

..

He became a prominent neurologist after the war and was awarded the prestigious Austrian Honorary Cross for Science and Art in 1975. He was stripped of the medal in 2003.

He was put on trial three times, but all the cases were dismissed. In a trial in the 1950s, the case was thrown out because of legal technicalities. A second case in the 1980s was dismissed because the 30-year statute of limitations on manslaughter had expired.

A third trial in 2000, in which Gross was accused of complicity in the murder of nine handicapped children who died as the result of abuse, was suspended after a psychiatrist testified he was unfit for trial because of advanced dementia.

Immediately after the suspension, Gross gave lively interviews in a local coffeehouse.

Isn't it grand?

Posted by zeynep at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2005

The Brainwashed Report to Duty

Frankly, what kind of reporting can one expect from a journalist who can write "democratic leaning strong man" without catching on to the contradiction with that statement:

America’s preferred candidate in the Iraqi national elections last week didn’t do nearly as well as he expected, according to more preliminary results released today. America will not have the pro-western, democratic leaning strong man it wanted here.

It's the flipside of calling the thrice-elected Chavez an autocrat -- it simply means he is not our man.

Posted by zeynep at 10:36 AM | Comments (1)

December 20, 2005

Delay's high-life

I know, this is minor as things go. Still, it's a bit hard to imagine Delay's mindset. I guess he thinks he deserves it all...

As Tom DeLay became a king of campaign fundraising, he lived like one too. He visited cliff-top Caribbean resorts, golf courses designed by PGA champions and four-star restaurants — all courtesy of donors who bankrolled his political money empire.

Over the past six years, the former House majority leader and his associates have visited places of luxury most Americans have never seen, often getting there aboard corporate jets arranged by lobbyists and other special interests.

Public documents reviewed by The Associated Press tell the story: at least 48 visits to golf clubs and resorts; 100 flights aboard company planes; 200 stays at hotels, many world-class; and 500 meals at restaurants, some averaging nearly $200 for a dinner for two.

Instead of his personal expense, the meals and trips for DeLay and his associates were paid with donations collected by the campaign committees, political action committees and children's charity the Texas Republican created during his rise to the top of Congress. His lawyer says the expenses are part of DeLay's effort to raise money from Republicans and to spread the GOP message.

Put them together and a lifestyle emerges.

"A life to enjoy. The excuse to escape," Palmas del Mar, an oceanside Puerto Rican resort visited by DeLay, promised in a summer ad on its Web site as a golf ball bounced into a hole and an image of a sunset appeared.

The Caribbean vacation spot has casino gambling, horseback riding, snorkeling, deep-sea fishing and private beaches.

"He was very friendly. We always see the relaxed side of politicians," said Daniel Vassi, owner of the French bistro Chez Daniel at Palmas del Mar. Vassi said DeLay has eaten at his restaurant every year for the last three, and was last there in April with about 20 other people, including the resort's owners.

The restaurant is a cozy and popular place on the yacht-lined marina at Palmas del Mar. Dishes include bouillabaisse for about $35.50, Dover sole for $37.50 and filet mignon for $28.50. Palmas del Mar is also a DeLay donor, giving $5,000 to DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority PAC in 2000.

Since he joined the House leadership as majority whip in 1995, DeLay has raised at least $35 million for his campaign, PACs, foundation and legal defense fund. He hasn't faced a serious re-election threat in recent years, giving him more leeway than candidates in close races to spend campaign money.

AP's review found DeLay's various organizations spent at least $1 million over the last six years on hotels, restaurants, golf resorts and corporate jet flights for their boss and his associates.

Come to think of it, he probably thinks he's already retired -- except of course he occasionally has to get some paperwork together for this formality called "elections."

Posted by zeynep at 07:13 PM | Comments (3)

December 19, 2005

Some Actual Reporting

The following was an AP story:

President Bush is making selective use of an opinion poll when he tells people that Iraqis are increasingly upbeat.

The same poll that indicated a majority of Iraqis believe their lives are going well also found a majority expressing opposition to the presence of U.S. forces, and less than half saying Iraq is better off now than before the war.

Bush frequently talks in general terms about millions of Iraqis "looking forward to a future with hope and optimism," as he put it in a news conference Monday. The previous evening, he was more specific in his televised address when he declared, "Seven in 10 Iraqis say their lives are going well — and nearly two-thirds expect things to improve even more in the year ahead."

He was referring to an ABC News poll conducted with Time magazine and other media partners before the Iraqi general elections last week. Bush is dismissive of polls that reflect on his own performance, claiming not to pay attention to them.

Among the findings:

_More than two-thirds of Iraqis surveyed face-to-face opposed the U.S. presence, but only one-quarter of respondents wanted American troops to leave right away.

_44 percent said their country is better off than before the war.

_More than six in 10 said they feel safe in their neighborhoods, up from four in 10 in June 2004.

_Half said the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was wrong, up from 39 percent in February 2004.

_More than two-thirds said they expect things to get better in the coming months.

Don't you wish they'd done a bit more of that before? Before the war? When the lies were just as blatant and knowable?

Posted by zeynep at 09:19 PM | Comments (3)

December 18, 2005

Desperate Housewives, Of Course...

The President gives a speech, "assuring" the nation that he will stay on the course that was based on lies and has caused tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people their lives. What do the major networks do as soon as the speech is over? Invite critics and supporters for in-depth analysis? Put forth the usual talking heads, however unrepresentative or unsubstantive their comments might be? Hey, let their anchors ramble, even?

No. They promptly went back to Desperate Housewives, after "assuring" the viewers that it would be broadcast in its entirety, thank heavens.

Posted by zeynep at 09:42 PM | Comments (2)

December 14, 2005

Who Writes This Stuff ?

Unsurprisingly, our mistreatment of human beings is reflected more and more in our domestic policies. Of course, foreigners get killed and tortured while, as of yet, the sanctions at home generally much lighter. Still, you can see the same "mindset creep" displayed in the euphemisms.

Here's this gem from the recent revelations about spying on the anti-war activists (especially those targeting military recruiting):

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon has a secret database that indicates the U.S. military may be collecting information on Americans who oppose the Iraq war and may be also monitoring peace demonstrations, NBC reported on Tuesday. ... T he Pentagon has already acknowledged the existence of a counterintelligence program known as the "Threat and Local Observation Notice" (TALON) reporting system.

This system, the Pentagon said, is designed to gather "non-validated threat information and security anomalies indicative of possible terrorist pre-attack activity."

Security anomolies indicative of a possible terrorist pre-attack activity? Can we assume those will not be averted with pre-dawn vertical insertions? Not too much collateral damage, one hopes. And what on earth is "non-validated threat information"? Stuff that hasn't happened yet? Stuff we don't like?

Posted by zeynep at 07:07 PM | Comments (1)

December 11, 2005

Winter Soldiers and Victims

I just saw the documentary "Winter Soldier."

I already knew what the hearings were about and I knew what would be said. Still, just watching the courage of those young men talk about what they had done shook me. It was brave, horrifying, deeply repellent and one of the most honorable acts a human being could do, all at once. I think they were able to do that because there was more than one of them, and they stuck together, just like in the war.

The other thing that struck me was how un-self-absorbed they were, given their obvious, deep pain and shame. They talked about what they had done and very earnestly, repeatedly, insistently pointed out what mattered was what they had done, and what had happened to their victims.

There was a small panel discussion afterwards. The panelists mostly started by talking about how hard war was on the soldiers. After listening to almost two hours of amazing testimony from the soldiers who first and foremost thought about their victims, the panelists knee-jerk reaction was to turn back to the soldiers. Someone from the audience made that point and the panelists said, yes, of course, the victims are first and foremost. Still, it felt a bit like lipservice. A high-level person from Peace Action who was on the panel said, yeah, sure victims but, well, polls don't show concern for Iraqis, unfortunately.

Sure. If we, the anti-war movement, acts like the victims of our bombs and guns and torture don't matter, why should anyone else? I'm not saying that the anti-war movement doesn't care about Iraqis. I'm sure most of them do. But many have so deeply internalized the instrumental approach to the troops that they are in a lose-lose situation. They do not confront the reality of the soldiers actions, but instead attempt to pander to them and the military families -- which doesn't work. They also don't provide the kind of moral leadership that anyone would want to follow. (I mean, if proper armor for the humvees in Iraq is your first and foremost concern, why wouldn't you just work with established Republicans and even Democrats?) In the end, we get neither the numbers nor the strength of moral clarity. And that is a shame, and I think that dishonors the very honorable path those soldiers on the Winter Soldiers hearings --and many soldiers since-- have taken, which is to stand up and take responsibility.

Posted by zeynep at 10:55 PM | Comments (1)

December 09, 2005

Christmas is for Gifts!

Umm, how shocking.

Some of the nation's most prominent megachurches have decided not to hold worship services on the Sunday that coincides with Christmas Day, a move that is generating controversy among evangelical Christians at a time when many conservative groups are battling to "put the Christ back in Christmas."

Megachurch leaders say that the decision is in keeping with their innovative and "family friendly" approach and that they are compensating in other ways. Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., always a pacesetter among megachurches, is handing out a DVD it produced for the occasion that features a heartwarming contemporary Christmas tale.

A heartwarming DVD. A predictable consequence of moves like when pushing the Mega-Retailers to make sure they mentioned Christmas in their advertisements -- further strengthening the connection between Christmas and shopping, buying, consuming and shopping more.

Posted by zeynep at 09:14 AM | Comments (2)

December 06, 2005

Torture, the TV Version

Many people would be okay, it seems, with torture under "rare circumstances." And this is not just here:

The polling, in the United States and eight of its closest allies, found that in Canada, Mexico and Germany people are divided on whether torture is ever justified. Most people opposed torture under any circumstances in Spain and Italy.

In America, 61 percent of those surveyed agreed torture is justified at least on rare occasions. Almost nine in 10 in South Korea and just over half in France and Britain felt that way.

...

In the poll, about two-thirds of the people living in Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Spain said they would oppose allowing U.S. officials to secretly interrogate terror suspects in their countries. Almost that many in Britain, France, Germany and Italy said they felt the same way. Almost two-thirds in the United States support such interrogations in the U.S. by their own government.

This is because many people have no idea how torture is actually used in practice. Torture is a tool of mass terror, and rarely a means to get specific information out of a subject. Most people, however, have learned of torture from tortured T.V. scenarios where the good white guy or the token-black-guy-standing-in-for-the-good-white-guy is shown as pondering the morality of torturing the olive-skinned man who knows the code to stop the nuclear bomb that is about to explode under Manhattan. It seems to be a relatively easy call under such conditions.

Of course, that scenario is as likely as the scenarios in which the bad guy ties up the hero in an elaborate set-up, proceeds to explain the plot and then leaves him alone to wrestle with the ropes and the weights. (While I would hate the give away the ending to 95 percent of action/suspense movies, suffice it to say that it's not a good idea to unravel *all* your plans to your nemesis and turn your back.)

If it were ever the case that someone got the codes to stop the bomb by torturing someone, that someone was likely a Klingon.

In fact, look at all historical applications of state torture. Torture is not an act against individuals, even though it is an act on individuals. Torture aims to terrorize populations, break the will of groups. Unless that is understood and brought into the debate, I doubt that we will get the "people" on our side because we are not having the same discussion.

Posted by zeynep at 07:12 PM | Comments (0)

December 03, 2005

Pat Down -- to Help Make the Passengers Feel "Secure"

TSA just announced new "pat down" procedures in airports. I am looking at my paper copy of the Washington Post and it has a picture showing exactly which areas are off-limits (the picture is not included in the online article). The news is, apparently, it is now okay for the screeners to touch the back of the passenger's thighs.

A new pat-down procedure calls for more attention to arms and legs, including touching the back of the mid-thigh.

So, attention, attention terrorists. You are now allowed to hide those dangerous objects also in your mid-thigh. Just make sure not to place them in all the clearly illustrated areas that you will not be pat down. We mean business.

Seriously, do these pat downs have any purpose other than make passengers feel more "secure"? (Besides the occasional inappropriate groping?)

Posted by zeynep at 04:19 PM | Comments (1)