Conversational and informational fodder for you all to ponder and pontificate over. Dig in and fire up your comments, cause it’s big word Tuesday baby!
- More reports of prisoner abuse in Iraq and Guantanamo, this time courtesy of the F.B.I. Seems as though the torturers are using the F.B.I.’s name to shield the blame from getting passed onto the Department of Defense. Sick, just sick. Does anyone else find it frightening that we’ve now lost the majority of our moral high ground when it comes to this kind of thing? For every “enemy combatant” left to defecate on themselves or pull their hair out, we give rise to two or three terrorists to replace them. Not the way to promote the splendors of democracy or ensure the safety of our nation if you ask me.
- The long rumored MTA fare hike is now official. Monthly unlimited cards are to jump up from $70 to $76 a month, among other hikes. Great, there’s another $72 a year that I have to give over to someone else. This wouldn’t irk me so much if the MTA’s books were open. As it stands now, lots of nasty corruption rumors have been circulating.
- The FCC has given the go-ahead to the use of in-flight broadband. Cell phone use in planes is also to be decided upon soon. Probably of interest to those who fly a lot, but considering my terrestrial nature this is just one of those curious policy things I like to make note of.
- Just the mental image this one-line post creates had me laughing out loud at work.
- The process is now officially underway for Turkey to be evaluate for entry into the European Union. There are many steps along the way. The process could take up to 15 years and there is no guarantee that they’ll be admitted.
- Gizmodo has a picture of the Varioptic liquid lens that will add optical zoom and autofocus to future camera phones.
- A write-up on how to build traffic to your blog. Not like having this personal indulgence of mine widely known has ever been a big issue with me, but maybe I can use some of this on another blog I get involved with.
- Some Australian game has bought a virtual island for $26,500 in cash, and not virtual cash either. The slice of digitized land is in the online role-playing game Project Entropia.
- First it was XM releasing their MyFi portable satellite radio. Now it looks like Sirius is gonna follow suit and raise the stakes at the same time: they are rumored to be talking with Apple about integrating a Sirius satellite radio into the iPod. It’s times like this that I wish O&A were on Sirius and not XM. That and their NFL coverage package.
- Title how to get a budget out of a client. Hopefully I’ll get to use this tip some day on one of my freelance gigs.
- Looks like we’ll be waiting until spring for the new season of Chappelle’s Show to begin. My funny bone is heart broken at the news.
And finally…
- A new drug called called Sativex, used to treat the central nervous system of multiple sclerosis patients, is on track to get the green light from Canadian health officials. What makes this noteworthy is that it’ll be the first cannabis-based drug approved anywhere in the world.
Tags: Blogs, Business, International, Media and Entertainment, National, New York City, Science and Technology, Stranger Than Fiction
Hey, call me crazy but if the FBI needs to beat a couple people with a hose to get shit done, I say fair game!
Okay crazy. First off it wasn’t the FBI. The report said it was another group using the FBIs name as they did their tortures and interrogations so when reports of the cruelty filtered out to the public it would be the FBI taking the blame and not the people who actually did the job. Dirty pool.
Secondly, interrogation is one thing, harsh interrogation is another, and torture is yet another. The quality of information goes down to almost nil when you start torturing people. You tell me if someone had your nuts hooked up to electrodes and would shock you with 50,000 volts if you didn’t turn over such-and-such information that you wouldn’t start telling them what they wanted to hear even if you didn’t know anything?
How much can you trust words said in self preservation under duress?
Ok, so you got right to the bottom of it. It is easy for you and me to point fingers. Just for a minute lets put ourselves in the shoes of the accused…
Guantanamo Bay, shortly after mid-night. You are half way into a double shift as janitor of the prison. You are under paid and over worked. You are about ready to pull your hair out from spending all day around the most ruthless criminals in the world. You just finnish mopin the floor when some arab spits on it in defiance of you and your cause. So, you snap. You beat him with a mop handle a little. Maybe a little vacuum cord choking. Lysol in the eyes, and toilet puck in the mouth. All of the sudden you realize you have crossed a line. Now you think fast. I am with the FBI you say. Tell me how you are connected to al Quada!! Where is Osama bin Laden?? He is only worried about protecting his cause now. He is not thinking about how funny he looks with with blue teeth!!! Well, I am sure you can see how easily this could happen to any of us.
You know I just realized what Turkey joining the union will mean. First off, if you want them involved with anything, it will cost a fourtune. Secondly, it will be a miracle to get them to do much besides read the paper and drink coffe. Thirdly, we have to contend with them going on strike if they do not get what the want come contract negotiations. Lastly, I am concerned about the mobs involvement with the unions. Will Turkey get muscled around and corrupted by some unsavory charachters in shark skin suits? The whole thing reeks of trouble if you ask me!
Nice play on words there Donny. Back in reality, I’m still not sure what to think about this. One might think tying turkey with the EU has some tangible benefits in assuring their democracy stays stable in a very unstable region and their human rights records continue to improve. Still, I’m nagged by a conversation I had with a Sweedish-born bartender over the summer reviling the EU in general, and she was quite active in her local politics before coming over to the states.