Still, I'm trying to figure out the relationship between the Walter Kaitz Foundation (which certainly seems to have laudable goals) and the NCTA (which seems to be a festering pile of...)
So... if it helps, this could be seen as something more like ALL the major cable players honoring Clyburn, rather than just Comcast and TWC. OK, maybe that doesn't help. But it certainly business as usual across a lot of different industries.
You're half right. Torture is evil. But it is never acceptable. Never.
And it's a strange thing about trying to justify an evil act for "the greater good": You tell yourself you're making an exception, "just this once", because this is a special situation, this is different, these are Bad People. And yet, you'll see, as time goes by, you'll keep finding more excuses to repeat that evil act, and more besides.
From NY Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet's statement:
When the first revelations emerged a decade ago, the situation was murky. The details about what the Central Intelligence Agency did in its interrogation rooms were vague. The word “torture” had a specialized legal meaning as well as a plain-English one. While the methods set off a national debate, the Justice Department insisted that the techniques did not rise to the legal definition of “torture.” The Times described what we knew of the program but avoided a label that was still in dispute, instead using terms like harsh or brutal interrogation methods.
We’ve known for a decade (due to the leak in 2004 of the 2002 Yoo/Bybee “Torture Memos”) that the U.S. used techniques including waterboarding against prisoners. We had reliable reports of these abuses from well before then. Even Michael Hayden admitted (in 2008) that the CIA used waterboarding against three detainees.
So the only “murkiness” that the Times could be referring to is whether these abuses constitute torture. Despite the perversion of applicable laws and definitions in the torture memos, the Times should not have had any difficulty in finding clarity. If it had had difficulty, though, it could have turned to any number of experts on torture and the law, including human rights organizations, military judges, physicians who treat survivors of torture, and many other reputable sources.
For that matter, when it comes to waterboarding as torture, the Times could have looked to the historical record, from the first documented use in the 14th century, where it was known (among other terms) as “water torture”; to after World War II, when the U.S. government convicted several Japanese soldiers of war crimes for the use of waterboarding on American POWs; and all the way up to the present. Or, at least, to 2002, when the U.S. government sought to redefine everything to serve its short-sighted agenda.
Who disputed the label of torture? Proponents of torture, apologists for torture, and those seeking to avoid prosecution for those crimes. This is not a real dispute -- This is people looking for excuses to justify illegal and immoral acts.
The Pew Research Journalism Project outlines nine core principles of journalism, among these are: - Journalism’s first obligation is the truth - Journalism must serve as an independent monitor of power
In its refusal to call these abuses torture, in sanitizing the policy as “harsh interrogation”, the New York Times failed entirely to uphold these principles. Instead, it became a willing partner in the perpetuation of a grotesque fiction, denying the reality and the criminality of U.S. policy. The executive editor’s statement from yesterday does nothing to mitigate this failure.
I can fault "Big Pharma" for a lot of things (many of which are already mentioned in the article), but the Ebola crisis is more of an example of a need to commit public health resources (government-funded) to fighting disease and equally the conditions that facilitate the transmission and spread of diseases.
Ebola is, for all its horrors, extremely rare, and it's not just companies that have very little incentive to do anything about it. Even getting purely altruistic donors or researchers to devote resources to it is challenging, given that there are so many more diseases (malaria being one example) that affect so many more people, in Africa and elsewhere. Its rarity makes it a low priority, until of course we encounter an outbreak such as this.
If people such as yourself--and most of the commenters--actually cared about Africans (you don't) you'd have been screaming for DDT to be used again in a widespread fashion since malaria kills 100k/year
Under the Stockholm Convention, DDT is banned for all uses EXCEPT to combat malaria. The World Health Organization also endorsed the use of DDT as part of its anti-malaria program in 2006. So, no, environmentalists have NOT gotten in the way of malaria control. And the effect of DDT on birds is well-documented. Here's a recent article from a source that hardly relies on "junk science": http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ddt-still-killing-birds-in-michigan/
[How this could have ended, before he went full Streisand]
Dear Escher Girls,
Someone sent me a link to your Tumblr (great stuff there!) that included some images from my early work. Looking back at that time, sometimes I cringe a bit, but please understand this was 18 years ago and I was a young artist with a lot to learn.
My work has evolved considerably since then, and I invite you to have a look at some more recent comics at [here's my website - feel free to promote it].
We intuitively know that closely held secrets would not be given up without some sort of distress. In Chinatown the director and actors decided to change the script to have Jack Nicholson slap the actress to have her confess my daughter, my sister repeatedly.
Are you able to cite something other than a work of fiction in support of your claim?
No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. - Article 2.2, United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (ratified by the U.S. in 1988)
"We're giving our customers the 'a la carte' plan they've been asking for." Without context, this argument sounds good. I'm almost tempted to believe it. ... Fortunately, we know a bit about the context, so we don't have to take their arguments at face value. (And yes, I pledged to the Techdirt net neutrality reporting campaign.)
So one wonders how they discovered it was a photo of their relative.
It was his mother and his sister. I'm guessing they recognized him.
I can't even imagine what that must have been like for them.
All legal concerns aside... WHAT THE %$*&#$# WERE THE MAKERS OF THIS SHOW THINKING? "Ooh hey here's a murder victim, wouldn't it be cool if we could get a photo and use it to heighten the drama!"
"The only proven effect is separating patients from their money." — Dr. Jeffrey Saver
I was able to find a link to the original article at the L.A. Times' site, but there was no way to click past the headline and photo to the text of the article. Maybe they're afraid of being sued.
At the moment my pocket litter consists of a Starburst wrapper (sadly empty), a small piece of paper with the words "cat food" written in all caps (highly suspicious), a tissue (possibly Kleenex brand but I can't be sure), and a coin inscribed with the words "Live Free or Die".
Clearly that last item is incitement to terrorism and qualifies me for the "threat-based expedited upgrade".
- Me
P.S. If you try to take my terroristic coin from me I will cut you. I have laundry to do.
Having read both of these articles, I'm kind of wondering if they're both a form of satire, mocking the idea of nationalization or even the anti-internet populism we've been seeing lately -- but it looks as if they're both serious, if totally ridiculous.
I don't know. I'm still half-convinced it was brilliantly deadpan satire.
When this government is stymied in its efforts to fuck over someone that most of us do not like because of a constitutional guarantee things are working exactly the way they are supposed to.
Well said.
- An ACLU member, whose politics are generally liberal (See... We CAN work together!)
On the post: Comcast, Time Warner Cable Spend Big To 'Honor' FCC Commissioner Overseeing Their Merger Review
"Questionable optics"?
The NCTA website seems to imply that the Kaitz Foundation is one of its projects. (See https://www.ncta.com/who-we-are .)
So... if it helps, this could be seen as something more like ALL the major cable players honoring Clyburn, rather than just Comcast and TWC. OK, maybe that doesn't help. But it certainly business as usual across a lot of different industries.
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
Re:
On the post: About Freaking Time: New York Times Will Finally Start Calling CIA Torture Practices 'Torture'
Re: Re:
And it's a strange thing about trying to justify an evil act for "the greater good": You tell yourself you're making an exception, "just this once", because this is a special situation, this is different, these are Bad People. And yet, you'll see, as time goes by, you'll keep finding more excuses to repeat that evil act, and more besides.
Have we learned nothing from all this?
On the post: About Freaking Time: New York Times Will Finally Start Calling CIA Torture Practices 'Torture'
We’ve known for a decade (due to the leak in 2004 of the 2002 Yoo/Bybee “Torture Memos”) that the U.S. used techniques including waterboarding against prisoners. We had reliable reports of these abuses from well before then. Even Michael Hayden admitted (in 2008) that the CIA used waterboarding against three detainees.
So the only “murkiness” that the Times could be referring to is whether these abuses constitute torture. Despite the perversion of applicable laws and definitions in the torture memos, the Times should not have had any difficulty in finding clarity. If it had had difficulty, though, it could have turned to any number of experts on torture and the law, including human rights organizations, military judges, physicians who treat survivors of torture, and many other reputable sources.
For that matter, when it comes to waterboarding as torture, the Times could have looked to the historical record, from the first documented use in the 14th century, where it was known (among other terms) as “water torture”; to after World War II, when the U.S. government convicted several Japanese soldiers of war crimes for the use of waterboarding on American POWs; and all the way up to the present. Or, at least, to 2002, when the U.S. government sought to redefine everything to serve its short-sighted agenda.
Who disputed the label of torture? Proponents of torture, apologists for torture, and those seeking to avoid prosecution for those crimes. This is not a real dispute -- This is people looking for excuses to justify illegal and immoral acts.
The Pew Research Journalism Project outlines nine core principles of journalism, among these are:
- Journalism’s first obligation is the truth
- Journalism must serve as an independent monitor of power
In its refusal to call these abuses torture, in sanitizing the policy as “harsh interrogation”, the New York Times failed entirely to uphold these principles. Instead, it became a willing partner in the perpetuation of a grotesque fiction, denying the reality and the criminality of U.S. policy. The executive editor’s statement from yesterday does nothing to mitigate this failure.
On the post: Ebola Cure Not Fully Developed Because Big Pharma Not Interested In Saving Lives Of Poor People In Africa
Re: Re: Re: A perfect example
Ebola is, for all its horrors, extremely rare, and it's not just companies that have very little incentive to do anything about it. Even getting purely altruistic donors or researchers to devote resources to it is challenging, given that there are so many more diseases (malaria being one example) that affect so many more people, in Africa and elsewhere. Its rarity makes it a low priority, until of course we encounter an outbreak such as this.
On the post: Ebola Cure Not Fully Developed Because Big Pharma Not Interested In Saving Lives Of Poor People In Africa
Re:
Under the Stockholm Convention, DDT is banned for all uses EXCEPT to combat malaria. The World Health Organization also endorsed the use of DDT as part of its anti-malaria program in 2006. So, no, environmentalists have NOT gotten in the way of malaria control. And the effect of DDT on birds is well-documented. Here's a recent article from a source that hardly relies on "junk science": http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ddt-still-killing-birds-in-michigan/
On the post: Randy Queen Keeps Digging: Issues DMCA Takedown On Blog Post About Him Issuing DMCA Takedowns
https://twitter.com/ami_angelwings/status/497042606270857216
Later is better than never.
On the post: Comic Artist Randy Queen Now Claims Post About His Abuse Of Copyright To Stifle Criticism Is Defamatory
Alternate Reality Version
Dear Escher Girls,
Someone sent me a link to your Tumblr (great stuff there!) that included some images from my early work. Looking back at that time, sometimes I cringe a bit, but please understand this was 18 years ago and I was a young artist with a lot to learn.
My work has evolved considerably since then, and I invite you to have a look at some more recent comics at [here's my website - feel free to promote it].
Thanks!
All the best,
Randy Queen
On the post: President Obama Claims CIA Torture Was Okay Because People Were Scared And The CIA Is A 'Tough Job'
Re: Re: Re: Torture never works
Are you able to cite something other than a work of fiction in support of your claim?
On the post: President Obama Claims CIA Torture Was Okay Because People Were Scared And The CIA Is A 'Tough Job'
Justification?
On the post: Peak Internet Dismisses Defamation Suit Against Former Customer Who Complained About Its Lousy Connection Speeds
Re: "Techdirt signal"
On the post: Peak Internet Dismisses Defamation Suit Against Former Customer Who Complained About Its Lousy Connection Speeds
On the post: Language School's Blogger Fired For Writing A Post On Homophones; Director Fears Association With 'Gay Sex'
On the post: Language School's Blogger Fired For Writing A Post On Homophones; Director Fears Association With 'Gay Sex'
Re: What.
On the post: Pay Different Prices To Access Different Sites: Virgin Mobile Leaps Through Net Neutrality Exemption With Gusto
Their Marketing Plan
Without context, this argument sounds good. I'm almost tempted to believe it.
...
Fortunately, we know a bit about the context, so we don't have to take their arguments at face value.
(And yes, I pledged to the Techdirt net neutrality reporting campaign.)
On the post: Family Sues Over Autopsy Images Appearing In Southland Opening Montage
Re:
It was his mother and his sister. I'm guessing they recognized him.
I can't even imagine what that must have been like for them.
All legal concerns aside...
WHAT THE %$*&#$# WERE THE MAKERS OF THIS SHOW THINKING? "Ooh hey here's a murder victim, wouldn't it be cool if we could get a photo and use it to heighten the drama!"
Basic human decency. Seriously.
On the post: Doctor Criticized For His Questionable 'Treatment' For Alzheimer's Patients Files SLAPP Suit To Silence Critic
L.A. Times article
http://cached.newslookup.com/cached.php?ref_id=49&siteid=2040&id=1949490&t=13677684 86
It includes this gem of a quote:
I was able to find a link to the original article at the L.A. Times' site, but there was no way to click past the headline and photo to the text of the article. Maybe they're afraid of being sued.
On the post: Revealed: What Kind Of 'Extra Scrutiny' The Government Gives To Folks On The Terrorist Watchlist
At the moment my pocket litter consists of a Starburst wrapper (sadly empty), a small piece of paper with the words "cat food" written in all caps (highly suspicious), a tissue (possibly Kleenex brand but I can't be sure), and a coin inscribed with the words "Live Free or Die".
Clearly that last item is incitement to terrorism and qualifies me for the "threat-based expedited upgrade".
- Me
P.S. If you try to take my terroristic coin from me I will cut you. I have laundry to do.
On the post: Internet Industry Hate Taken To Insane Levels: Ridiculous Proposals To 'Nationalize' Successful Internet Companies
A Modest Proposal?
I don't know. I'm still half-convinced it was brilliantly deadpan satire.
On the post: Saying That You're Not Concerned Because The NSA Isn't Interested In You Is Obnoxious And Dangerous
Re: Conservative member of ACLU
Well said.
- An ACLU member, whose politics are generally liberal (See... We CAN work together!)
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