Toadfish Monastery

From http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6466430.ece

QuoteMetropolitan Police officers subjected suspects to waterboarding, according to allegations at the centre of a major anti-corruption inquiry, The Times has learnt.

The torture claims are part of a wide-ranging investigation which also includes accusations that officers fabricated evidence and stole suspects' property. It has already led to the abandonment of a drug trial and the suspension of several police officers.

However, senior policing officials are most alarmed by the claim that officers in Enfield, North London, used the controversial CIA interrogation technique to simulate drowning. Scotland Yard is appointing a new borough commander in Enfield in a move that is being seen as an attempt by Sir Paul Stephenson, the Met Commissioner, to enforce a regime of "intrusive supervision"

The waterboarding claims will fuel the debate about police conduct that has raged in the wake of hundreds of public complaints of brutality at the anti-G20 protests in April.

The part of the inquiry focusing on alleged police brutality has been taken over by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. It is examining the conduct of six officers connected to drug raids in November in which four men and a woman were arrested at addresses in Enfield and Tottenham. Police said they found a large amount of cannabis and the suspects were charged with importation of a Class C drug. The case was abandoned four months later when the Crown Prosecution Service said it would not have been in the public interest to proceed. It is understood that the trial, by revealing the torture claims, would have compromised the criminal investigation into the six officers.

None of the officers under suspicion has been arrested, but the IPCC said last night: "This is an ongoing criminal investigation and as such all six officers will be criminally interviewed under caution."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Whilst the investigation is ongoing it is not appropriate to make assumptions. These are serious allegations that raise real concern. The Met does not tolerate conduct which falls below the standards that the public and the many outstanding Met officers and staff expect.

Discuss.

http://www.waterboardseanhannityforcharity.com/Hannity.htm

Dude volunteered to be waterboarded for charity. I'm going to send my next paycheck if he survives more than 16 seconds of it.

I could have sworn there was another topic on this, but searching yielded no results.

I have it now, and I know a bunch of the rest of us already do. Emails?

Therefore, any recommendations? I'm looking for something sturdy and I'm not going to be doing anything spectacular with it. I need basic functionality (though decent speakers would be nice).
Someone else suggested a Mac. Thoughts on that? Vista hasn't been super annoying to me, however, so I'm torn.

Pardon me while I sound horrible and distinctly untaddy, but it's like living in a damn soap opera and it's driving me mad!

I have known this guy for about two years--we met in high school through a mutual friend. Last spring, he got a girl pregnant, had a child, and then she left him. That threw him in a horrible depression, to the point that I had to do a suicide intervention last winter.
It's gotten a little bit better since November, but that's hardly saying anything. Last night for example, a bunch of us were hanging out and he found an unused bullet on the ground at some point and said, "Well, there's half of my solution."
He says shit like this ALL THE TIME. Everyday I've seen him since January, he said something like this and it's gotten even worse in the last few weeks--there were four separate statements like that last night alone that I heard. He promised me that when he got back to school for spring that he'd go take advantage of the *free* health care services he has through school. IT'S APRIL and he's not gone, despite the fact I've reminded him frequently and he has a class next door to the clinic. Not a damn dime would come out of his pocket for any medication and I'm starting to think he likes being miserable.

NOTHING anyone (there are three of us) says or tries seems to work--not reminding him of is daughter and the damage he'd do to her if he killed himself, not reminding him of what he would to the rest of his family and friends--nothing. I'm getting tired of listening to him bitch and refuse to do anything. I am SO tired of being frustrated and drained.

Dealing with him is emotionally draining and I just can't do it anymore! It's starting to come down to his health or mine because I feel obligated to help him even though I don't actually like him. I don't know how he's done it, but he's become a whirling vortex of awful misery and I can't afford to get sucked in. This is beyond my range of experience and I have no idea what to do.

The recent elections made me wonder about how we should have handled the aftermath of the invasion. There was apparently little to no actual planning done for what we were going to do once we had toppled the government.

We effectively shut down the country during the war--everything from water and electricity to health care services. In the past, when the US invaded a country, we generally tried to set the country up to run itself, like we did with the Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico (let's ignore for a moment the disaster the first two became and the Imperialist purposes behind all the actions).
The US built infrastructure, tried straighten out their trade, set up health and education systems, and so on, in all three cases.

After the invasion was over and as successful as it was going to get, nothing like that really happened. The health care system deteriorated, there's a zillion orphans and refugees, and we've done very little to assist Iraqis in rebuilding their country. What we've tried as frequently failed.

Should we have done something more for rebuilding? The world is a very different place now than it was in the early 20th century, so was such a plan even feasible?

Videos don't embed here very well from Countdown, but here it is.
Think his admission will lead to the ICC?

We all get spam. Sometimes it's really great. Post it here.

QuoteDear Beneficiary,
On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Eng. John
Ferguson; I once again try to notify you as my earlier letter was returned
undelivered.I hereby attempt to reach you again by this same email address
stated on the WILL. I wish to notify you that late Eng. John Ferguson made
you a beneficiary to his WILL. He left the sum of Seven Million One Hundred
Thousand Dollars (USD$7,100.000.00) to you in the codicil and last testament
to his WILL.Being a widely traveled man, he must have been in contact with
you in the past or simply you were recommended to him by one of his numerous
friends abroad who wished you good. Eng. John Ferguson until his death was a
member of the Helicopter Society and the Institute of Electronic &
Electrical Engineers. He was a very dedicated Christian who loved to be
involved in charitable projects. His great philanthropy earned him numerous
awards during his lifetime.Late Eng. John Ferguson died on the 13th day of
December 2005 at the age of 80 years, and his WILL is now ready for
execution. According to him this money is to support your humanitarian
activities and to help the poor and the needy in our society. Please if I
reach you this time, as I am hopeful, endeavor to get back to me as soon as
possible to enable me conclude my job.I hope to hear from you in no distant
time. Yours in Service,
BARRISTER CINDY RICHEY

I think Swato would like this. I dunno about anyone else, but I WANT that necklace! Damn if it's not beautiful.

Oh yeah, he's pathetic all right.

That said, Big Fricking Deal. He can go play of his new Dallas estate, drop off the world's radar, and we'll all be happy. I doubt he'll be welcome anywhere but at fundie fundraisers, with even less public appeal than Nixon post-resignation.

What a mess. 125 killed, 372 injured, one hotels, two hospitals, and a busy train station attacked.
Gun fire

QuoteRegular gun fire and blasts could be heard at the Oberoi and Taj Mahal hotels and a Jewish center in the city.

hostages

QuoteUp to 20 more people were believed trapped or held hostage at the hotel, said CNN correspondent Andrew Stevens citing an official.
...
Indian officials have told Canada that they believe six Canadians are being held hostage, according to a senior aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
...
Gunmen also remained holed up in a building called Chabad House, where several Jewish families live. Rabbi Gabriel Holtzberg, the city's envoy for the community, was being held inside with his wife, a member of the Hasidic Jewish movement said. The couple's 18-month-old baby was released unharmed.

Hijacking and indiscriminate violence

QuotePolice said gunmen fired indiscriminately from the building. Stray bullets killed a couple in their home and a 16-year-old boy who stepped outside, police said.
...
The gunmen then hijacked cars -- including a police van -- and broke up into at least three groups to carry out the attacks, police said.
One group headed toward the Cafe Leopold, a popular hangout for Western tourists, firing indiscriminately at passers-by on the street. They then opened fire and lobbed grenades at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, a Victorian building.
As police rushed to the scene of the attacks, gunmen attacked the Cama Hospital. Two other groups attacked the Oberoi and Taj hotels.

And the appearance of a new group?

QuoteSeveral Indian news outlets reported receiving e-mails from a group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen, claiming responsibility for the attacks. CNN was not able to verify the reports.

Looks like this was an Indian New York style attack--Mumbai is India's financial capital.

_{edited to fix quotes}

...Remember Bush is still the sitting President and Cheney isn't wasting his last two months in office.

QuotePresident Bush's aides have been scrambling to change rules and regulations on the environment, civil liberties and abortion rights, among others — few for the good. Most presidents put on a last-minute policy stamp, but in Mr. Bush's case it is more like a wrecking ball. We fear it could take months, or years, for the next president to identify and then undo all of the damage.

More attacks on civil liberties

QuoteAgents will be allowed to use informants to infiltrate lawful groups, engage in prolonged physical surveillance and lie about their identity while questioning a subject's neighbors, relatives, co-workers and friends. The changes also give the F.B.I. — which has a long history of spying on civil rights groups and others — expanded latitude to use these techniques on people identified by racial, ethnic and religious background.

Weakening environmental laws and regulations
In coming weeks, we expect the Environmental Protection Agency to issue a final rule that would weaken a program created by the Clean Air Act, which requires utilities to install modern pollution controls when they upgrade their plants to produce more power. The agency is also expected to issue a final rule that would make it easier for coal-fired power plants to locate near national parks in defiance of longstanding Congressional mandates to protect air quality in areas of special natural or recreational value.

Interior also is awaiting E.P.A.'s concurrence on a proposal that would make it easier for mining companies to dump toxic mine wastes in valleys and streams. [/quote]
_{I guess I'm lucky there's no mining companies near my water table.}

The ever-present attacks on abortion rights

QuoteABORTION RIGHTS Soon after the election, Michael Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, is expected to issue new regulations aimed at further limiting women's access to abortion, contraceptives and information about their reproductive health care options.

Existing law allows doctors and nurses to refuse to participate in an abortion. These changes would extend the so-called right to refuse to a wide range of health care workers and activities including abortion referrals, unbiased counseling and provision of birth control pills or emergency contraception, even for rape victims.

Gitmo will also stay open.

QuoteWe suppose there is some good news in all of this. While Mr. Bush leaves office on Jan. 20, 2009, he has only until Nov. 20 to issue "economically significant" rule changes and until Dec. 20 to issue other changes. Anything after that is merely a draft and can be easily withdrawn by the next president.

Unfortunately, the White House is well aware of those deadlines.

I find I tend to write more shorts than much else, so here's their home here on TTM. They cove

"Indra, Indra, Indra, why did you feel compelled to cheat with Ahlaya?" Bramaha asked Indra, shaking his gigantic head, rolling each set of eyes at the other deity.
       Indra wouldn't make eye contact, and his uneasy shifting made an unpleasant squelching noise. "But she's so pretty!" he whined.
       "So's your wife. How do you think she's going to feel about this when you get home? She's going to know, you know. I don't think Indrani is going to enjoy living with you now—you need to douche those or something because they smell."
       "Do you know how long that would take? There's a thousand of them!"
       "So I heard."
       Indra sniffed his arm, "I do smell...ew..."
       "You didn't seem to mind one of them earlier," Indra pointed out.
       "But that's just one of them! And besides, it was attached to a lovely lady."
       Bramaha sighed, "You know what? I don't think I can manage to live with you on the same planet I'm on in that condition. And I pity Indrani. So I'm going to ask Gautama to change the curse, to I dunno, six hundred livers in your nose or something."
       "Oh thank you, Bramaha! Thanks so much!"

:sigh: It begins.
[youtube=425,350]MWZHTJsR4Bc[/youtube]

So Palin is completely insane. Remember that little blessing, I suppose, by that Kenyan minister Muthee on Palin before she ran for governor? That's the tip of the crazy-berg.
The religious organization she's affiliated with, called the New Apostolic Reformation, wants to redistribute the wealth of the godless to the godly.

Quote...the movement's head, C. Peter Wagner. In June 2006 Wagner proclaimed that "God has declared through His prophets that the wealth of the wicked will be released to the Kingdom of God," and declared, threateningly, "the enemies' camp will be plundered.
The New Apostolic Reformation is not a small movement: an apostle of C. Peter Wagner, one of the 500 apostles in Wagner's International Coalition of Apostles, owns what will be one of the tallest buildings in the world, the Jakarta Tower. One of the NAR's branches is successfully supplanting the Catholic Church in Brazil. The movement holds international conferences on advancing Christian hegemony in the business sector. "

They're also pushing for theocracy.

QuoteIn particular, this movement preaches a particularly bare-knuckles form of theocracy, which amounts to little more than licensing the "godly" to steal away whatever they can from the "ungodly".  As Muthee stated, shortly before he anointed Palin, "The Bible says the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous."

From Talk to Action:

QuoteA video starring Thomas Muthee as a prayer warrior and witch hunter was released in 1999. "Transformations" was the first in a series of videos that would soon become the heart of the Transformations franchise, a network of prayer warriors, ministries, organizations, and businesses, brought together for the purpose of promoting Christian theocracies. They share the goal of bringing their own communities and nations into the "Kingdom." These videos would play a major role in the teaching and promotion of spiritual mapping and spiritual warfare. Following is the story of those videos and how the Transformations brand has propelled the development of an emerging international belief system, the New Apostolic Reformation, and how it is bringing that movement into your community and your government.

Give the GOP the finger!
[youtube=425,350]KPZzFXxofbg[/youtube]

From Syria Comment

QuoteThe Bush administration seems to be ratcheting up action against Syria during its last days in power. The cross border raid undertaken on Sunday, which killed eight people, seems to fit into a broader pattern of the Bush administration initiating cross boarder attacks into countries that it is not officially at war with. The recent attacks in Northwest Pakistan are a case in point.

Quote[Syria] has refused to restart intelligence sharing with the US, which was broken off following the deterioration of relations in 2005. Petraeus sought to go to Damascus in December 2007 to restart intelligence sharing, but was forbidden from doing so by the White House.

Syria has been eager to restart intelligence sharing which would help to reduce cross border violations, but it demands a price - that the US recognize Syria's assistance by returning an ambassador to Damascus. The White House has refused to do this, preferring to use sticks to force Syrian compliance. One must presume that the most recent killing of Syrians is designed to be just such a stick.

It will, of course, not force compliance, but the Bush administration must assume that an Obama victory on November 4 will force Syria to behave nicely in order to win favor with the new administration. Thus, White House analysts may assume that it can have a 'freebee" — taking a bit of personal revenge on Syria without the US paying a price. Damascus may just have to write it off as a good bye salute from its friends in Washington

Whut?

Trying a new (sort of) tactic to prove Darwin wrong!
Welcome the Cartesian Dualism Tactic back to the STAGE!

QuoteThey are attempting to resurrect Cartesian dualism - the idea that brain and mind are two fundamentally different kinds of things, material and immaterial - in the hope that it will make room in science both for supernatural forces and for a soul. The two have signed the "Scientific dissent from Darwinism" petition, spearheaded by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, headquarters of the intelligent design movement. ID argues that biological life is too complex to have arisen through evolution.

http://www.palinaspresident.us/
I seriously spent like fifteen minutes playing with this.

edit!
This is too funny!
[youtube=425,350]XR9V_aOCga0[/youtube]

Wow. McCain: scuzbag, total FUBAR, mediocre, lying, selfish, petty, conniving, angry, abusive, evil attention whore.

QuoteJust then, one of his bombs "cooked off," blowing a crater in the deck and incinerating the sailors who had rushed past McCain with hoses and fire extinguishers. McCain was stung by tiny bits of shrapnel in his legs and chest, but the wounds weren't serious; his father would later report to friends that Johnny "came through without a scratch."

The damage to the Forrestal was far more grievous: The explosion set off a chain reaction of bombs, creating a devastating inferno that would kill 134 of the carrier's 5,000-man crew, injure 161 and threaten to sink the ship.
...
McCain took no part in dousing the flames himself. After going belowdecks and briefly helping sailors who were frantically trying to unload bombs from an elevator to the flight deck, McCain retreated to the safety of the "ready room," where off-duty pilots spent their noncombat hours talking trash and playing poker. There, McCain watched the conflagration unfold on the room's closed-circuit television — bearing distant witness to the valiant self-sacrifice of others who died trying to save the ship, pushing jets into the sea to keep their bombs from exploding on deck.

Why the hell hasn't this been plastered all over the New York Times and every major paper in the country? He doesn't even deny it! He wrote about it one of his umpteen memoirs and it was in the New York Times when it happened. He's directly responsible for the deaths of over a hundred people!
He staggers me repeatedly.

QuoteBecause of his experience in Vietnam, he said, he didn't favor the deployment of U.S. forces unless there was a clear and attainable military objective.

Ha! What's Iraq, then?
If, god forbid, he gets into office, that temper of his is going to get the US in a hell of a lot of trouble.

QuoteAt least three of McCain's GOP colleagues have gone on record to say that they consider him temperamentally unsuited to be commander in chief. Smith, the former senator from New Hampshire, has said that McCain's "temper would place this country at risk in international affairs, and the world perhaps in danger. In my mind, it should disqualify him." Sen. Domenici of New Mexico has said he doesn't "want this guy anywhere near a trigger." And Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi weighed in that "the thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded."

Interestingly,

Quote..."Always telling the truth in a political campaign," he writes in Worth the Fighting For, "is a great test of character." He adds: "Patriotism that only serves and never risks one's self-interest isn't patriotism at all. It's selfishness. That's a lesson worth relearning from time to time."

Hopefully, that'll get him in the end.