Posts by stephen walker
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
at the bottom of page 8 of this thread, BenWilson wrote:
Shutting down CIA detention is great. Last torture loophole to close would be 'extraordinary rendition'.
near the top of page 9 of this thread, Emma Hart wrote:
It's coming, by the sounds of things
unfortunately, it looks like it's not:
The CIA's secret prisons are being shuttered. Harsh interrogation techniques are off-limits. And Guantanamo Bay will eventually go back to being a wind-swept naval base on the southeastern corner of Cuba.
But even while dismantling these discredited programs, President Barack Obama left an equally controversial counterterrorism tool intact.
Under executive orders issued by Obama last week, the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions, or the secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that cooperate with the U.S.
Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said the rendition program is poised to play an expanded role because it is the main remaining mechanism—aside from Predator missile strikes—for taking suspected terrorists off the street.
The rendition program became a source of embarrassment for the CIA, and a target of international scorn, as details emerged in recent years of botched captures, mistaken identities and allegations that prisoners were turned over to countries where they were tortured.
The European Parliament condemned renditions as an "illegal instrument used by the United States." Prisoners swept up in the program have sued the CIA as well as a subsidiary of Boeing Corp., which is accused of working with the agency on dozens of rendition flights.
But the Obama administration appears to have determined that the rendition program was one component of the Bush administration's war on terrorism that it could not afford to discard.
The decision underscores the fact that the battle with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups is far from over and that even if the U.S. is shutting down the prisons, it is not done taking prisoners.
"Obviously you need to preserve some tools, you still have to go after the bad guys," said an Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity when discussing legal reasoning behind the decision. "The legal advisers working on this looked at rendition. It is controversial in some circles and kicked up a big storm in Europe. But if done within certain parameters, it is an acceptable practice."
One provision in one of Obama's orders appears to preserve the CIA's ability to detain and interrogate terrorism suspects as long as they are not held long-term. The little-noticed provision states that the instructions to close the CIA's secret prison sites "do not refer to facilities used only to hold people on a short-term, transitory basis."
-
slightly off topic, but only slightly:
best ever article i've read about the origins of the "subprime crisis"The End by by Michael Lewis (author of 1989 book Liar's Poker )
and i have read a lot of articles on this topic, before it was even heard of in the MSM. before if even happened, ffs!
-
-
-
@Yamis, re your random thought...
answer: no (surprise!)
In Israel, detachment from reality is now the norm
Israeli society was always introverted but these days it reminds me more than ever of the Unionists in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s or the Lebanese Christians in the 1970s. Like Israel, both were communities with a highly developed siege mentality which led them always to see themselves as victims even when they were killing other people. There were no regrets or even knowledge of what they inflicted on others and therefore any retaliation by the other side appeared as unprovoked aggression inspired by unreasoning hate.
-
my guess is that most people who go back after a long time living overseas do it primarily for family reasons--they have or will soon have small children and judge it a better place for kids, or they want to be close to other family, especially elderly parents.
the "contributing" thing Russell refers to is probably a much smaller factor, but i reckon a lot of people also feel like they can "put something back in".
@linger:
i think it is a pity that you feel so separated from the place and people because of a language barrier. to me, language is a matter of motivation and environment. necessity can be a good motivation but it is not enough. you need some drive from inside--a real craving to understand and be understood. and not be too proud to make lots of mistakes in front of lots of people. but you also need the time, energy and commitment, which i know are tricky depending on a person's particular circumtances. -
@Joanna
91-92, used to go to the monthly Friday night drinks reasonably often.
"the good old days" (yes, i'm a certified codger)
i was pretty disgusted they canned that monthly social meetup in the late 90s. bastards were too lazy to run it anymore.
never see other nz-ers nowadays unless it's close friends. bit boring really.
(and you probably did babysit the kids of a former university classmate...)LOL about the ASIJ bus! OMG! i can see that would be a horror movie moment. "they've hunted me down, all the way to mooloo land!)
-
@Joanna
my steepest hill when i used to ride to work was going along the side of Yoyogi Koen towards Harajuku. that would be considered a flat piece of road in welly, no?
one road i would never ride on, ever, is Yamate Dori. that would be hell. Khyber Pass x 200!
personally i don't think anyone on a bike over 12yrs should be compelled to wear a helmet. but, if you intend to ride fast and aggressively, not wearing one is stupid, imo.
(btw, friends of mine worked at the embassy in the 90s...) -
Ben, yeah, electric-assit bikes are pretty popular here too. quite pricy though and the extra weight is something to keep in mind. but very practical for certain types of use.
-
I was running one of those
should've know you were a mole. how did they recruit you to the dark side? blackmail?